The windows have tightly closed curtains,
Outside the windows, there is a confused whistle of rockets.
Tanks are coming from behind the roundabout
With a vomit-inducing «Z» sign.
Eyelids sting from direct ether
Round-the-clock «Where?», «When?» and «How?»
APCs are treated to cocktails.
There are no more branches for the Muscovites...
Children are born to the sound of sirens.
In the basements, the children blink their eyes.
As a proof: We are alive! We will live!
Under the blue sky on our own land!

Olesia Likhachova, teacher, poet:
Before the outbreak of the full-scale war, the author of this poem could not even imagine writing it from her own experience.
«The calendar says July 2023, but I still don't have the realization that there is a full-scale war going on. A part of me still resists, wants to wake up and cannot believe that this has happened to our country!» says Olesya Likhacheva, a teacher and poet from Kharkiv.
Since March of last year, she has been in Poland, where she works as a speech therapist with Ukrainian children.

Olesia, who was genuinely in love with her hometown, considered moving to another country almost a betrayal. After all, she felt really happy and needed here: a wonderful family, a favorite well-paid job, and a lot of realized ideas and projects.
We talked to Olesya about the joy of «kindred labor,» difficult decisions, and lively hopes.

«I am a social pedagogue by education. I work at the Korolenko Special School for Children with Visual Impairments in Kharkiv and am a classroom teacher for children with visual impairments combined with intellectual disabilities.
I studied at this school myself, and I sincerely love it.
Working with children with mental disabilities is interesting for those who see it as their destiny. It may sound loud, but not everyone has the inclination to do this. I realized that this was really my thing when I was 16. That was the first time I visited an early intervention center as a volunteer, where I got acquainted with the phenomenon of children with autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy. I came there just to do a good deed, but left with a clear realization that I wanted to do this!
I saw that I could find contact with those children who are said to be uncooperative, including children with autism.
By no means is this work my cross to bear. Of course, it is not easy to socialize such children, to raise them to be independent. And not only in our society in general. In some cases, despite all efforts, it is impossible. But I see this as my purpose - I like it and I'm good at it,» says Lesia.

Sometimes children with autism experience certain setbacks in their development. The child loses the skills and knowledge he or she has acquired, and has to start all over again. Olesya takes it hard. It hurts her a lot when, despite a long time and efforts, no result is achieved. She begins to reproach herself and doubt her own competence. She has misunderstandings with her parents, who feed her doubts with accusations. Olesia does not justify herself, realizing that she will sound unconvincing.
But she pulls herself together: she realizes that in these situations it is not her who is having the hardest time.
«First of all, it's hard for parents who live with their children around the clock. They need support much more than I do. Yes, many of my students have relapses, but they also happen to normal people.
On February 24 last year, the rollback happened to all of us. But we managed: we did not give up and moved on. That's why I am recharged and charge others with the understanding that it happened, but today it is different. Not worse, not the same as before - just different. So, we are learning to live in new conditions,» Olesya advises.

And these are not empty words - she perceives her own difficulties just as calmly, talking about them as if she had trouble remembering them. Lesia's visual impairment is, so to speak, invisible, so it can be difficult to explain why she needs help. «It's written there, look!» she says in response to a request to read a small inscription.
Perhaps that is why Lesia values the concept of inclusion, understanding it not as accessibility of the environment for people with disabilities, but as universal accessibility for everyone.
This understanding and love for board games gave rise to the idea of creating original games with a universal design to bring people with and without disabilities together at the game table.
Such flooring is difficult and expensive to produce, but Lesia doesn't give up and believes in the project's potential.
She and her team have planned a promotional tour of Ukraine. The games are almost finished printing, and the route and locations have been finalized... on February 23, 2022!
Later, in one of the photos of the ruins of her partner's bombed-out printing house, Olesia recognized the characteristic cube of her destroyed game, an exact visual image of a painful loss.

There was no shortage of pain and destruction in Lesia's life when the full-scale invasion began. When she looked at the bombed streets and parks she had walked in since childhood, at her home school, she was simply numb!
Lesia had no clear idea what she should do next: leave or stay in Ukraine?

«In the end, my parents decided for me. From the third day of the invasion, they convinced me that I had to be responsible. «You have children, they need to be safe and they don't deserve to live in such conditions! They shouldn't have to spend the night in basements and shudder from sirens!»
I took this decision as a pill to calm everyone down. So, on March 10 last year, we found ourselves in Poland,» Lesia recalls.

In Poland, she adapted quickly. In addition, she did not lose her job in Ukraine. She conducts online classes with students who were in different countries. Later, she took her mother and grandmother, who had been in the occupation, to live with her.

Lesia is sincerely grateful for the tremendous support shown to her and her family by ordinary Poles and international organizations. She is happy to have found a great job. But she dreams of returning to Ukraine: to participate in the restoration of her hometown, to work in her native school.

«I am greatly inspired by the cases of our ordinary people: queues at blood donation points, putting bags on monuments. It touches me when mothers with children are allowed to go ahead at the points of invincibility.
I really liked the story of a woman from Odesa who came to the indestructibility point with a mixer and said that she needed to whip up the cream for a cake her child had ordered for his birthday.
This shows that life goes on, and we continue to move forward,» says Olesya.

Written by Denys Ivanchenko.

"Unbreakable" is a series of articles about Ukrainian women and girls that motivate, delight and inspire!
This initiative is being implemented within the framework of the project "Promoting the rights of women and girls with disabilities by strengthening their participation and leadership in communities", implemented by the National Assembly of Persons with Disabilities of Ukraine with the support of UN Women Ukraine and the Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund.

About the United Nations Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF)
The Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) is the only global financing mechanism exclusively dedicated to supporting women’s participation in peace and security processes and humanitarian action. Governed by a diverse group of civil society, government, and UN representatives, WPHF is a multi-partner trust fund that mobilizes urgently needed funding for local, women-led organizations and works alongside women on the front lines to build lasting peace. Since 2016, WPHF has provided funding and strengthened the capacities of over 1,000 local women’s civil society organizations advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda and delivering humanitarian action in 41 crisis-affected countries.
This publication has been prepared with the financial support of the United Nations Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), which does not imply that the views and contents expressed herein are officially endorsed or recognized by the United Nations."

********

• “Working with children with mental disorders is interesting for those who see their purpose in it”

The tightly closed curtains on the windows,

The whistle of chaotic rockets outside.

And heavy tanks approaching the ring road,

With the “Z” label on them - a disgusting sight.

Your eyes are blinking from non-stop broadcasts

Projecting “Where?”, “When?” and “How?” day and night.

The enemy's armored vehicles are offered burning cocktails.

For Muscovites, no punishment will be enough...

For babies being born amidst the sound of sirens.

For little blinking eyes inside the shelter basements.

But they are our proof: We are alive! We will continue living!

Under the blue sky our homeland will stand!

Olesia Likhachova, a teacher and a poet:

Before the outbreak of the full-scale war, the author of this poem could not even imagine writing it from her own experience.

“The calendar shows July 2023, but I still haven't fully realized that a full-scale war is going on. A part of me still resists, wants to wake up, and cannot believe that this has happened to our country!” says Olesia Likhachova, a teacher and a poet from Kharkiv.

Since March last year, she has been staying in Poland, where she works as a speech therapist with Ukrainian children.

For Olesia, who, without exaggeration, had been genuinely in love with her hometown, moving to another country seemed almost like a betrayal. After all, she felt really happy and needed in Kharkiv: a wonderful family, her favorite and well-paid job, and a lot of fulfilled ideas and projects.

We talked to Olesia about the happiness of one's “truly related work,” about difficult decisions and lively hopes.

“I am a social teacher by education. I work at Korolenko Special School for Children with Visual Impairments in Kharkiv, and I am a class teacher for children with visual impairments combined with intellectual disabilities.

I studied at this school myself, and I sincerely love it.

Working with children with mental disorders is interesting for those who see it as their purpose in life. It may sound too loud, but not every person has an aptitude for doing this. I realized that it was really mine when I was 16. At that time, I first visited an early childhood intervention center as a volunteer, where I learned about such phenomenon as children with autism, Down syndrome, and infantile cerebral palsy. I had come there just to do something good, but I left with a clear understanding that I wanted to be involved in it!

I realized I can establish contacts with those children who are said to be reluctant to get in contact, including children with autism.

By no means is this work my cross to bear. Of course, it is not easy to socialize such children and to raise them so that they become independent. And not only in our society, but in general. In some cases, despite all efforts, it is impossible. But I perceive it as my purpose - I like it and I'm good at it,” says Lesia.

Sometimes children with autism experience certain setbacks in their development. A child loses the acquired skills and knowledge, and you have to start all over again. Olesya takes it hard. It hurts her a lot when, despite a long time and efforts, no result is achieved. She begins to reproach herself and doubt her own competence. Misunderstandings with the child's parents emerge, feeding her doubts with accusations. Olesia does not make excuses in such cases, realizing that nothing will sound convincing.

However, she pulls herself together: she realizes that in such situations it is not her who is having the hardest time.

“First of all, it is difficult for parents who live with their children day and night. They need support much more than I do. Yes, many of my students have setbacks, but they happen to regular people as well.

On the 24th of February last year, we all had a setback. But we managed to handle it: we did not give up and we moved on. That's why I am charging myself and charging others with the understanding: it was then, but today it is different. Not worse, not the same as before - just different. So, we are learning to live in new conditions,” Olesia advises.

And these are not empty words - this woman perceives her own difficulties just as calmly. She is talking about them as if she had difficulty remembering them. Lesia's visual impairment is, so to speak, invisible, so it can be difficult to explain why she needs help. “It's written there, just have a look!” she hears back when she asks someone to read a small-font inscription.

Perhaps this is why Lesia values the concept of inclusion, understanding it not just as an accessible environment for people with disabilities, but as universal accessibility for everyone.

This understanding and love for board games gave rise to the idea of creating original games with a universal design to bring people with and without disabilities together at the game table.

Such games are difficult and expensive to produce, but Lesia doesn't give up and believes in the project's potential.

Together with her team, she planned a promotional tour of Ukraine. The games had almost been printed, and the route and locations had been finally agreed... And then the 23rd of February 2022 came!

Later, in one of the photos showing the ruins of the bombed-out partner printing house, Olesia would recognize the distinctive dice of her destroyed game - a precise visual representation of the painful loss.

There has been no shortage of pain and destruction in Lesia's life since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion. When she looked at the bombed-out streets and parks she had walked along since childhood, at her destroyed native school, she simply felt paralyzed!

Lesia had no clear idea what she should do next: should she leave or stay in Ukraine?

“In the end, my parents made the decision for me. Since the third day of the invasion, they had been convincing me that I had to be responsible. “You have children, they need to be safe, and they don't deserve to live in such conditions! They shouldn't have to spend nights in basements and shudder from sirens!”

I took this decision as a pill to calm everyone down. So, on March 10 last year, we found ourselves in Poland,” Lesia recalls.

The woman adapted quickly in Poland. In addition, she did not lose her job in Ukraine - she is teaching online classes for students who are now staying in different countries. Later, she took her mother and grandmother, who had gone through the occupation by that time, to live with her.

Lesia is sincerely grateful for the tremendous support that she and her family have received from ordinary Polish people and international organizations. She is happy to have found a great job. But she dreams of returning to Ukraine: to take part in the renovation of her home city and work in her native school.

“I am immensely inspired by the cases of our ordinary people: waiting in lines at blood donation centers or protecting monuments with sandbags. It touches me when mothers with children are asked to be the first to enter points of invincibility.

I really liked the story of a woman from Odesa who came to an invincibility point with a kitchen mixer and said she needed to whip cream for a cake her child had asked to make for the birthday.

It shows that life goes on, and we keep moving forward,” Olesia believes.
Prepared by Denys Ivanchenko

"THE INVINCIBLE LADY" is a series of articles about Ukrainian women and girls that motivate, fascinate, and inspire.

This initiative is part of the project "Empowerment of Women and Girls with Disabilities by Strengthening their Involvement and Leadership in Communities," which is being implemented by the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine with the support of UN Women Ukraine and the Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund.

About the UN Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF)

The UN Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund is a unified global financial mechanism designed exclusively to support the participation of women in peace and security building and humanitarian responses. Governed by a range of civil society, governments, and UN actors, WPHF is a multi-partner trust fund that mobilizes urgently needed funding for local women-led organizations and works together with women on the frontlines to build lasting peace. WPHF has provided funding and supported capacity building for more than 500 local civil society organizations working with the Women, Peace, and Security agenda and implementing humanitarian activities in 28 crisis-affected countries.

This publication has been prepared with the financial support of the United Nations Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), but the views and contents expressed herein do not necessarily represent the official endorsement or recognition of the United Nations.