pme donates: Support for children and young people
pme Familienservice is celebrating World Children's Day on September 20 in a special way. We would like to draw attention to three remarkable associations that we supported in 2022 with a donation totaling 22,500 euros: Zerbrechliche Mütter, Gefangene helfen e.V. and Jugenderholungswerk e.V.
The associations and their projects make a valuable contribution to the well-being of children and young people and therefore also to the development of a better society. The pme Familienservice is pleased to be able to support the associations. (The interviews were conducted by the pme Familienservice Hamburg team).
Fragile mothers
The "Unbreakable Mom " project was founded by the state organization Masha Fund 2022 in the wake of the war in Ukraine. The aim of the project is to provide quick psychological help to mothers and children affected by the war. Project manager Lesya Ivanenko spoke to us about her work.
What are the biggest challenges of "Unbreakable Mom"?
Lesya Ivanenko: The main difficulty of the project is that it cannot reach everyone who needs help, as the number of victims during the war in Ukraine is enormous and unfortunately continues to increase, so that our capacities cannot meet the society's high demand for psychological help. There is a lack of financial resources and specialists (psychologists, psychotherapists) with relevant experience in working with war trauma.
What has been your best success so far?
We are proud that in a relatively short time we have managed to develop a methodology that helps to stabilize the psycho-emotional state of the victims who suffered during the war. The first changes to Unbreakable Mom began in June 2022, three months after the large-scale invasion began. As we gained experience, we also improved the methodology of our aid. We have come together and helped different groups depending on the trauma - these are people who have been released from captivity, people who have suffered a war crime such as rape or torture, those who have lived in a blockade or occupation, and people who have experienced the loss of a family member or the loss of their home.
Another achievement we are proud of is that we have managed to form a group with a supportive environment for female graduates of "Unbreakable Mom". In the group, they find support and understand that they are not alone in their grief. Because supporting each other is one of the essential elements on the road to healing, stabilizing emotional state and restoring resources. This is extremely necessary for women to learn to live under new conditions and to have the resources to start a new life.
Many of the women are forced to start their lives from scratch for the second time. Among our participants are people who have been displaced twice - first in 2014 during the occupation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and now during the large-scale invasion in 2022.
Our programs are based on the best psychological practices of working with trauma, developed in Europe and Israel and well adapted to the Ukrainian mentality and background.
Unbreakable Mom has been able to help many families in need.
What contribution does "Unbreakable Mom" make for children and young people?
Separate classes have been developed for children and young people as part of the "Unbreakable Mom" project. These classes include art therapy courses, physiotherapy and groups for children of different age categories. In each of these groups, child psychologists and art therapists work with children and young people, depending on their age, to provide them with help in difficult, stressful situations. Participants learn how to respond to stress, monitor their emotional state and understand when they are not feeling well. Children and young people also learn self-help techniques to better deal with their situation.
The mental health of children and young people is vital to the health of the nation, and young people are the future of the nation. Timely help is essential for their happy future, their self-realization and the formation of their personality.
What makes the project unique?
There is currently no comparable project in Ukraine. The project includes systematic work with a group of psychologists, when a mother and her children stay in a safe space for 21 days, where we create all the conditions for her to restore her emotional state, learn psychological self-help practices and feel that she is not alone in her grief, but surrounded by women who are in a similar situation. As our experience shows, this support lasts for a long time. The women from our first camp groups are still communicating, supporting and helping each other.
The project is unique in the way it helps families. After all, the vast majority of psychological aid projects that currently exist in Ukraine are either only for adults or only for children, they are compartmentalized, but our choice is comprehensive work with the family. It is important that the mother stays in her comfort zone and knows that the child is close to her, and the child in return feels that the mother is close to him. It is a collaborative effort that is very important. We run separate courses for families when sometimes contact is lost between a teenager and a mother or a young child and a mother - and the project re-establishes this lost contact. The mother begins to understand that it is not just her who is stressed, but also the child, and she learns to react appropriately to tantrums, screams, aggression and so on. So we teach them to live in new realities with new circumstances that none of us have faced before. And family contact is extremely important to maintain the family and support each other.
Prisoners help e.V.
The association "Gefangene helfen e.V." offers prevention lessons at schools to raise awareness among children and young people about issues such as violence, bullying and drugs and to prevent juvenile delinquency. Henry-Oliver Jakobs - himself a convicted offender - is the founder and face of the association. He helps to prevent criminal activity through unprecedented educational work.
What are the biggest challenges in your daily work?
Henry-Oliver Jakobs: Acquiring donations is indeed a major challenge. The demand from schools for prevention lessons is very high, especially after corona, the demand has increased enormously. However, the schools' financial resources are very limited. We keep asking large foundations and are told that we are doing a great job and should definitely keep it up, but unfortunately they can't support us for various reasons!
What has been your best success so far?
As we have been teaching prevention classes at some schools for years, we are known to the pupils and, of course, the teachers. We are asked for advice in the event of particular incidents. According to feedback from teachers, everyday school life (playground) has changed for the better. The content of our lessons is repeatedly discussed in class and the pupils also take this topic back to their families and friends.
What contribution does the association make to children and young people?
Children and young people are educated about what crimes are and, above all, who the victims of a crime are, namely the parents and friends of the direct victim as well as the parents and friends of the perpetrator. Certain clichés from films, media or rap songs are broken down and confronted with reality. The pupils are offered other options for dealing with insults, bullying, etc. through role-playing.
What makes "Gefangene helfen e.V." unique?
Due to his biography, our speaker experienced a lot of violence and crime in his youth. He conveys this at eye level and is therefore very authentic. With the support of VR goggles, we enable the students to take a virtual visit to a Hamburg prison cell. Here, reality is shown up close.
How does the donation from pme Familienservice help?
Part of your donation has so far enabled us to offer two social boxing courses at a school that has been particularly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The fifth and sixth graders have few social skills. These are strengthened and promoted through the course. The courses run regularly over six months. We will distribute the remaining amount to various schools for prevention lessons.
Jugenderholungswerk e.V.
The Jugenderholungswerk e.V. organizes vacation trips and enables children and young people from Hamburg to enjoy a relaxing vacation even if they are on a tight budget. Managing Director Ulrike Kutsch is delighted with the donation from pme Familienservice.
What are the biggest challenges of your association's work?
Ulrike Kutsch : The price increases with a capped financial budget on the part of the social welfare authority, which finances the Jugenderholungswerk as a provider of child and youth welfare, is an increasing challenge. The JEW tries to compensate for this through donations, but there are hurdles here too.
The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic have also left their mark on children and young people. The withdrawal from group life, whether at school, in clubs or in other social contexts, has led to a certain degree of isolation. The ability to adapt in groups and cope with social interactions has been impaired. Many children and young people exhibit insecure and challenging behavior on trips, which requires an appropriate educational response.
What has been your best success so far?
It is thanks to the great commitment and hard work of the volunteer youth leaders that JEW is able to offer so many trips in the first place. Over the years, JEW has built up valuable partnerships and enables children and young people to go on special themed vacation trips, such as a soccer camp with FC St. Pauli, a stage camp with the Kinderkulturkarawane and the hip-hop camp with the HiphopGang. Another special trip is the TheaterSprachCamp for language education for third graders, a project of the Hamburg school authorities.
What contribution does the association make to the children/young people?
The focus is on Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: "[...] the right of the child to rest and leisure [...], to engage in play and age-appropriate active recreation and to participate freely in cultural and artistic life. [...]". The JEW enables children from families on a budget in particular to go on vacation. In addition to wonderful vacation experiences, the children and young people experience group socialization and can build new relationships. At the same time, family bottlenecks are alleviated to a certain extent.
The JEW gives children a carefree time.
What makes the work of the Jugenderholungswerk so unique?
The JEW offers a variety of different travel options, both in terms of destination and thematic focus. Due to the length of the trip (14-19 days), the children and young people have the opportunity to create and discover a new microcosm and gain new group experiences.
How does the donation from pme Familienservice help?
The donation directly helps to ensure that more children and young people from low-income families can travel and benefit.
Social commitment of the pme Familienservice
Whether in refugee aid, projects for children or the homeless - many team members at pme Familienservice volunteer in their free time. The pme Familienservice also supports social projects in Germany and around the world. In 2022, the company donated a total of 100,000 euros to eight charitable organizations that work on a daily basis for disadvantaged people, children and young people or climate issues, among others. All 2000 team members had the opportunity to submit suggestions for social projects that they thought were particularly worthy of support. The associations with the most votes received a donation to enable them to implement their projects.
