July 18 sees the start of the first term of the LUkraine asbl day camp, named “Super U”, for children of refugees from Ukraine. A total of 3 such terms are planned, which will make the camp run till end of August. The camp takes place in the municipality of Leudelange, in the scout chalet Schwengsweed, which was kindly provided by the commune of Leudelange with the great support of Alex Ganzen. The camp will run daily from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm. The children are provided with two snacks and a hot lunch from the company "Sodexo" thanks to the personal involvement and great help in catering from the employee of the company, Philippe Nicolet (Business Development Manager).

Around 145 children are to participate in the camp. These are children, from different regions of Ukraine, who were forced to leave their homes, friends, ordinary and daily routines because of the aggressive fighting that Russia unleashed on the territory of Ukraine, causing an ongoing war.

"The development of projects for children is one of our priorities as the Ukrainian association of Luxembourg. There are about 1500 Ukrainian children here who have had to flee due to the war. Our aim is to make them feel comfortable and forget all the terrible things they had to go through, to help them adapt to their new life in this country.

The summer camp also provides a safe space for newly arrived parents, often mothers who have traveled to Luxembourg alone with their children, to focus on their job search or attend language courses while their children are being taken care of.”- says Inna Yaremenko, a vice-president of LUkraine asbl.

The camp will not only entertain, but also educate. Various topics are embedded in the camp program in order to help the children familiarize themselves with Luxembourg: its culture and history, symbols and holidays, ecology and recycling, volunteering, scouting and so on. Of course, sports, creativity, dances and songs will not be forgotten. The team of animators will try to show these children, who have been through unspeakable trauma of war, that a world that is carefree, fun, and full of friendship still exists.

"I believe that there is no better way to spend the summer than to be with your peers. Learn to make new friends, to win and lose, to support, ultimately to discover new hobbies and talents. There is no better place to do this than a summer camp. We named our camp "Super U" because we strongly believe that every little kid is a superhero with their own superpowers and we adults simply need to give them a cape and a little help!" – adds Elena Berkovich, a camp leader.

Photos (by Julia Yamkova) can be uploaded here:

To visit the camp or to orginise the interview, please contact Inna Yaremenko: inna.yaremenko@ukrainians.lu