Tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are. A friend in Roots is someone who shares the idea of peace and justice for all; someone that walks the walk to live by these values, someone that finds new friends and builds up a team of those who love their […]
Lesya Kalenychenko is an active member of YMCA Boyarka and one of the most outstanding participants of the Roots Be a Voice Not an Echo project held in September 2021. During the project, Lesya demonstrated incredible critical thinking skills, creativity, open-mindedness, and a kind and friendly attitude towards every participant. Unfortunately, like millions of Ukrainians, […]
Alina Revenko has been in the YMCA for many years, as she says – almost forever. She is a part of YMCA Kremenchuk, a board member of the national YMCA movement in Ukraine and a youth trainer. For her, it was always important to be a part of the work for the community and especially […]
“It all started so quickly, nobody expected that a war would occur right in the heart of Europe. And yet, here we are, silently watching the news feed reporting on the horrors of an ongoing war in Ukraine. It was a very strange feeling. I was thinking about all those friends and colleagues of mine […]
ROUA Community Center is a safe space with integrated services and activities co-created by a Coalition made by Asociatia DEIS, YMCA Romania, City Makers, ASNV, Fundația de Voluntari Somaschi, YMCA Baia Mare, Rotaract Baia Mare, Rotaract T.E.A.M. Baia Mare, ASNV, together with Ukrainian refugees with the support of Action Aid, funded by Disaster Emergency Committee […]
While the terrifying sound of sirens from the other side of the border was freezing the blood in people’s veins, the air got filled with the beautiful voice of a young girl singing about love. Lina, a 24 years old artist from Kharkiv, had just crossed the bridge and was sitting in the middle of […]
Maria is an ethnic Romanian, born and raised in Ukraine, in a small bordering town between Romania and Ukraine called Apsha de Jos/ Nizhna Apsha. She was an art teacher at the local school, meanwhile contributing to her community as an ambassador of the organisation Colors of Peace/I Colori Per la Pace, living an active […]
A know-how toolkit of The Roots project, Peacework Guidebook has been published as YMCA celebrated its 175th anniversary. Subtitled “Peace Roots: From Seeds to Fruits”, the resource was always intended to be available and easy to use for a wider public, therefore we decided to translate it into one of the local languages chiefly used […]
There were many turning points in the history of mankind that inspired hope that the worst was left behind and the times of irreversible progress, coexistence and peace have finally arrived.. Yet, every time and unfortunately rather soon, these hopes were dashed and relinquished… And if to single out one such occasion, the aftermath of […]
But how can something that is meant to divide people, become the connector? While speaking about solidarity and unity, the last location that might occur in one’s mind is the border post, as since the inception of times, borders were administrative units that served the purpose of separating, not connecting; however, this story tells how […]
