In the spring we held the School for Women in Irpin. And now — a regional camp in Lviv. Both can be counted a success. The full cycle, from idea to delivery, was done by us alone, through the joint effort of our leaders.

They were also very telling examples of friendraising, the Lviv camp especially. We had to raise the money for this project ourselves, because we had no confirmed funding. It became possible thanks to the support of friends and of people who had been following GAR’s work and wanted to join the fundraiser.

The 203,200 hryvnias needed were raised.

Our thanks to each and every person who believed in us and in our idea — the camp happened because of you:

• the family of Dmytro and Olena Borysov;
• Volodymyr Nechyporuk and ZhBK;
• Alyona Gudkova and the Kurazh Bazar team;
• Olesia Yaskevych;
• the Ukrainian Charity Exchange;
• Fest Lokal — Taras Maselko and Mariia Rostotska;
• Kateryna Kit-Sadova;
• Solomiia Vitvitska;
• Natalia Pipa;
• Anton Nikulin;
• Oksana Leha;
• Iryna Shurpiak.

The organisational strength of the Lviv branch (Tetiana Fomina, Karyna Kardash, Iryna Tsaruk), the partnership with the School of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Ukrainian Catholic University and the solid administration of every process by the central office (Uliana and Vitalii Pcholkin) made an explosive mixture — and from 7 to 14 August the camp took place.

Its distinctive feature was that places were offered to people who, during 2018 and 2019, had received counselling at the hospitals where our coach-mentors worked, as part of the Ukrainian Association of Physical Therapy project. That created a logical, step-by-step path for the nine participants who had only recently begun adapting to changed circumstances. Knowledge, skills, motivation, the personal example of the instructors and the coordinated work of the service team volunteers produced the result.

What the participants said

Thank you for your enoooormous work. The camp really opens your eyes, and things are not as bleak as they seem at first glance. So forward, and only forward!

Oksana Prokopchuk

Your strong team gave us the chance to achieve enormous change! It was real happiness to be with you, to see how you worry about us and give yourselves completely so that every participant reaches their maximum. I am endlessly grateful that I could be with you!

Valentyna Boldenko

An active rehabilitation camp is a great thing! Thank you to the organisers and to all our instructors. You are our incentive to move forward and not to give up in the face of obstacles. Thank you to the volunteers: you were always there, keeping the camp safe. Here I found new friends and learned a great deal that is useful, and gained new skills! I was the youngest member of our GAR gang. It was interesting, cheerful and fun! I will be glad to meet you again.

Serhii Tkachuk

For several years now we have been saying at our meetings that we must return to working in the regions — on the ground. To go to the people who began using wheelchairs after a spinal cord injury. We are on that road and walking it confidently; we are decentralising.

Several decades after the first camp near Lviv (1992, Vynnyky), new leaders in that same city, where it all once began, wrote a new page in the history of the Active Rehabilitation Group. And Yaroslav Hrybalskyi is still working as actively as he did then: an activist of the movement in 1992, today the chair of the organisation’s board.

It is good to know we are not alone: we are supported by strong professionals — the School of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Ukrainian Catholic University, the Ukrainian Association of Physical Therapy, and the Military Medical Clinical Centre of the Western Region. It is this synergy that leads to real change in the lives of people with spinal cord injuries.

By the way, eight physical and occupational therapists were able to do a placement during the camp and to learn the basics of working with this group of people, or to improve their practical skills.

And the sheer number of people who supported the camp with their donations is a great inspiration. Among them are former camp participants, volunteers, ordinary citizens, readers of our social media pages, friends, and friends of friends. A strong community that cares.

Thank you all for your trust and for working with us. Together we can do more!

Independence matters. Freedom and equality are our values.

Camp organisers: Tetiana Fomina, Karyna Kardash.