“Now, during the war, many children with disabilities are primarily concerned with safety and basic necessities,” says project coordinator Lesya Levko. “That makes it all the more important for them to see that even in these difficult times, positive changes are possible.”

There is a less frequently considered group of children in Ukraine who are suffering particularly, and increasingly so, from the Russian attacks: those who already needed medical and therapeutic assistance.

Before Russia expanded its war of aggression beyond Crimea in 2022, an estimated 164,000 children with physical or mental disabilities lived in Ukraine. New estimates indicate that this number has more than doubled due to war injuries. 

Meanwhile, health and social services have been destroyed in many places. Millions of people are internally displaced. Although parents are doing everything they can to give their daughters and sons a dignified childhood, life in war robs them of all stability and leaves them with hardly any safe places.



Creating such safe, child-friendly spaces is a key focus of the project that Terre des Hommes sufficient therapy rooms are being established. Eighty professionals are being trained, for example in the fields of physiotherapy and psychology. More than 4,000 vulnerable people will finally be able to receive the help they need and deserve.

A key element of the project: In the town of Vilshany, the partner organization CAMZ renovated a care center – for children with particularly severe disabilities who therefore needed continuous, inpatient care.

Vilshany is located in a remote area in the mountainous region of Transcarpathia in western Ukraine. Precisely because the location is relatively safe, the orphanage has had to provide refuge for far more children since the beginning of the war than ever planned. 

“The war has changed a lot,” explains Lesya Levko, who coordinates the CAMZ projects in Ukraine. “Especially from the east of the country, many more children had to be taken in by the center. In dormitories that were already completely full, the caregivers had to make room for extra beds. Some children were only able to stay in converted play and exercise rooms. And the staff were working at their limit the whole time.”

One of the young adults already living here is Edita. She grew up in Vilshany and is now 29 years old. Here she has made friends, discovered and developed her creative abilities. She regularly attends workshops, is a member of the facility's artistic ensemble, and now also works in the café. Moving into the small, accessible house on the facility's grounds fundamentally changed Edita's daily life—even though her new home is only a few hundred meters from the main buildings.

In her new daily routine, Edita takes on responsibilities in the kitchen and helps the children in a neighboring house. She decides for herself how her room looks. She chooses where her pictures hang, invites staff members for coffee, and enjoys her own private space. Closeness and security remain – but on a new, more self-determined level.
 

The path to greater autonomy and independence

The new housing option also yielded important insights for the professionals. Residents learned many everyday skills, such as cooking, household management, and using appliances, significantly faster than expected. The next focus is now on more complex topics: financial literacy, self-advocacy, and external communication – skills that are crucial for a more independent life.

Edita is already actively using the new opportunities: She sends friends photos of home-cooked meals, her creative work, or the festive decorations in her house. Small gestures – with great significance. Edita's story is representative of the path now open to children and young people in Vilshany: Despite severe and complex disabilities, they are given a real chance here for a more independent, dignified, and fulfilling life.

16.02.2026