Ukrainian children's hospital patients arrive in Riga for psychological support camp

RIGA - Patients of the Ukrainian Children's Hospital in Kyiv Ohmatdyt with their parents and doctors have arrived in Riga for a psychological support camp, Liene Dambina, a representative of the Children's Hospital Foundation, told LETA.

Most of the guests are children with oncological diseases, as well as medical staff. According to Dambina, the head of the Children's Hospital Foundation, most of the people who have arrived in Latvia experienced the missile explosion while they were on the hospital grounds on the day of the Russian missile strike.

The children will spend ten days in Riga, during which they and their carers will be provided with psychological support groups. They will be led by specialists from the Child and Adolescent Resource Center. At the same time, the children will be offered physiotherapy classes, a swimming pool and creative workshops, as well as various fun activities, such as a visit to Livu Aquapark and the Riga Zoo.

One camp - accommodation, meals, transport, including the Kyiv-Riga-Kiyiv route, psychological support, physiotherapy and some recreational activities - costs around EUR 35,000. The camp is staffed by eight volunteers, and many of the activities for the children are donated by service providers, including Raksi Zoo, Riga Zoo and the Latvian National Museum of Art. On average, the camp costs EUR 900 per participant.

Dambina thanks everyone who donates to the psychological support camps and helps Ukrainian children recover from severe emotional trauma.

To help children in Ukraine, the Children's Hospital Foundation started working with Okhmatdyt in 2022. During the cooperation, six psychological support camps have already been held in Riga and more than 120 children and 90 mothers and fathers have received help.