On Friday, May 20, for example, in cooperation with the Slovakian sponsoring company "MPS," the Salesians organized an outing for twenty-six Ukrainian boys from the Salesian children's home in Lviv who were received in Slovakia at the end of February, immediately after the start of military actions. Participating in the outing on this occasion were the older boys, aged eleven to seventeen, who were truly happy with this initiative, as it allowed them to meet again in a cheerful atmosphere after three months of separation, having been scattered across Slovakia - particularly in the cities of Bratislava, Galanta, Žilina, Kremnica, and Poprad.
The excursion began in Liptov, with an initial meeting, and continued with a visit to the Demänovská Freedom Cave, one of the largest and most beautiful in the entire country. Then, given the favorable and sunny weather, the minors were treated to a day at the Bešeňová water park. "It was a joy to observe the enthusiastic expressions of the children, who had a great time on the various slides and thoroughly enjoyed the water attractions," testified some of the organizers.
Also, many young Slovak Salesian animators volunteer with Ukrainian refugees housed in state facilities. Their service is carried out thus: on the way to the destination, they discuss the program of activities, which has already been prearranged; then, once on-site, they begin the dynamics with prayer, in Slovak, as a stimulus to learn the new language; then, they kick off the introductory games, aimed at fostering mutual acquaintance among those present, who are, however, divided based on age. Afterward, in this healthy use of free time, there is room for dance and music activities, games, and bans, until the end of the afternoon.
Upon returning to the oratory, volunteers share their experiences, express their feelings and discuss possible improvements to be implemented for the following days' activities.
And with an eye to the near future, the Salesians in Slovakia are preparing 3-4 rounds of "sub-urban" (on city outskirts) summer camps for Ukrainian children. The camps will be organized in cooperation with other organizations, such as the Salesian NGOs "Savio "and "VIDES" and foreign volunteers from Great Britain, which will be added to the Slovak ones that are already preparing for the occasion. These days the training and formation sessions are underway: to the normal lessons on how to work in a team, attract and keep the attention of the youngest or safely manage spaces, specific topics are also being addressed, such as working with post-traumatic children, crisis intervention or how to communicate sensitive topics and provide psychological support.
Finally, ordinary activities to foster the integration of Ukrainian refugees into the Slovak social fabric also continue: thanks to the cooperation of many generous volunteers, the Salesian center in Trnávka, Bratislava, has managed to increase its efforts again and currently offers language classes for a total of four afternoons a week, thus allowing more Ukrainian citizens to learn the basics of the Slovak language.
