Interview 24. Coping with PTSD. Olena Yakovchuk
Educator from Chernihiv, Olena Yakovchuk, tells us how her school and community survived the siege of Chernihiv in the first month of the war and what impact those terrible events have on children and adults.
Children who have survived active hostilities experience profound psychological changes: some began to stammer; others become silent; still others show aggression — and many want to take revenge on russia. This is what Olena Yakovchuk, a mathematics teacher and director of Chernihiv School No.3, tells us. During the siege, the school became a shelter for many people, while the teachers tried to support, distract, entertain and educate the children even under fire and shelling. Olena believes that the war experience must be considered and used in the future – particularly in treating PTSD in people who suffered during the war.
The main lesson
You must always trust your heart and the people around you – teachers, parents, and the community; they are close by and will never betray you. This war confirmed what I felt before. Today, I am once again convinced that you don’t need to wait for someone’s instructions; you don’t need to think that the majority is always right, and you are not; you need to act according to what your heart and conscience dictate.
Our school, built in 1954, has a vibrant history. But, for many decades, it was, unfortunately, called the “prison of nations”. I have always faced this challenge – to change the situation so that the school could demonstrate our best features to society. I think the war showed everyone that our priority was not to run away or hide, but to act and be a center for humanism. For our team, the value of life is undeniable, and the war proved that the school strives to do its best to save people.
Schools are our shelters
We helped hundreds of people who found shelter in our school shelters during the worst periods of shelling. We helped them organize their lives and solve current problems; we reassured families in crisis and provided food and medical care. March 2022 showed the power of unity and the transformation of a group into a team. The school has two basements that are not connected. It was essential for us that people who worked at the school were present in each basement; they knew where the communications were, where to get the necessary things for the night, and how to communicate with the volunteer community and accompany people in crisis.
For a month and a half, I lived in one basement, and in the other lived a married couple of teachers from our institution, Oleksandr and Nataliya Miroshnykov. More than a hundred different people found shelter in these basements (by the way, we arranged and cleaned them up a bit in January-February… almost as if we were expecting something to happen). All kinds of people were there – a woman at ninth months pregnant, 68 children of various ages, people with disabilities, people who were seriously ill and some in critical condition, both men and women — anyone that needed help. Some lost loved ones and found out about it in the shelter. Others left their families in the shelter and went to defend the country. The way these people coped with emotions, made decisions, and acted, was very inspiring and supportive.
How did the residents find out about the shelter? Our students’ parents knew about the shelter, because we had prepared it together the day before: we brought water, filled the holes with sand, talked about how to get the children to their parents, and even conducted evacuation drills in February. After the first air raid alert, I posted my phone number and direction to the shelter at the central entrance to the school; we drew arrows on the sidewalk from the gate to the entrance… In two days, both shelters were full, and periodically, 100-140 people came to spend the night before the actual evacuation process began.
In my opinion, we lived among some incredible people! Dmytro Martynenko, whose family lived in the shelter, is worth hundreds of assistants and guardian angels; books are written and films are made about such people. He can do anything and he did just that for the common good: from organizing shifts and equipping a charging station to arranging a street toilet. If it weren’t for him, I don’t know if we could have managed to survive and save hundreds of lives. The family of the Khomenko brothers, our graduates, who blacked out all the windows, cared for people every night, found and removed markers, and much more. We all remember how they carried a sofa for Serhiy’s pregnant wife, and Serhiy kept saying to me: “Don’t worry, Olena Mykolaivna, we know that there aren’t many men working at the school; we’ll be back after the war to help you move everything back.” I wasn’t at all worried about the sofas, but Serhiy will never come to the school again; he was in the Territorial Defense Forces and died in the first days of March.
I remember everyone and realize that I am fortunate to have met such good people. We rallied together, not only for ourselves and our loved ones, but for everyone. The Municipal Enterprise Shkilne and manager Vitaliy Anatoliiovych Losev helped a lot with the food! Our maintenance worker Feodosiy Pynchuk, who figured out where to get technical water when everything was turned off, searched for drinking water every day and brought it to the shelter by bicycle. Four girls – technical workers Nataliya, Valentyna, Tamara, and Nina, took turns coming to the school under fire to ensure sanitary and hygienic conditions. The people from the shelter spent some of their time cooking for the Armed Forces and the Territorial Defense Forces in our canteen. Shelter residents Oleksandr Kuts and Yefym Volkov brought food; several young ladies, under the coordination of our colleague from school No.2, Oksana Kovalenko and her daughter Iryna Dasiuk, prepared and delivered delicious borshch and casseroles to our defenders. Oksana Ivanivna motivated the boys at the checkpoints with her words: “Glory to Ukraine!”, and helped the elderly who were isolated in the city and could not get to any shops, volunteer centers, and shelters. Together, we systematically delivered food and water to them. I am grateful to the head of our canteen, Olena Oliynyk, who managed the cooking. Olena and Tetiana, who run the school canteen, said: “As long as we can get food, we won’t go anywhere, but will stay here, cook and feed the people.” When the volunteer centers responsible for cooking for the military became more organized, my colleagues were somewhat disappointed that their input was not needed anymore.
On the third day, volunteers sent by the parents came to visit us (special thanks for this); they asked about our needs and helped in any way they could. Ihor Yakimenko and Khrystyna Poplavska came quite systematically; Nina Lemesh and the State Emergency Service in Chernihiv Region were with us constantly. I remember one of the volunteers – Oleksiy, who brought humanitarian aid from Kyiv. On the way back, he took people with animals, wheelchairs and belongings in a freight van for free. In particular, he came to our school 5-6 times a month. Saving 27 lives each time. The residents of our shelter waited for him and prayed for Oleksiy, who did his job in silence; they also prayed for all the people who risked leaving the city with him. They prayed until we got a call from the Kyiv railway station, where the evacuees got on the evacuation trains. Mykola Zlobin, who managed to send us gasoline for our generator from Kyiv, and Valentyna Vasylenko – tablets for water purification!
Svitlana Bysko, who saved all the shelter residents by putting us in touch with pharmacy workers; Oksana Kolotylo and her hot soup, which she brought on a bicycle across the city and under fire — when there was no light, heat, or water. And modest Viacheslav Vernydub from the State Emergency Service, who not only systematically helped the people to survive, but also periodically organized evacuations.
The last one was when a family with three children, the youngest of whom was only eight months old, travelled for almost two days at the end of March using four types of transport, including boats (because the bridge had been destroyed). All these stories are so amazing, so important, and so poignant! Incredible people all around us; I am grateful to everyone whom I mentioned and to those whom I did not mention. Thank you! All the above-mentioned people do not advertise their contributions and never say that they did something special. I am thrilled by their deeds; I am proud to live next to such people! During the full-scale phase of the war, we witnessed the best in people; together we coped with our emotions, fears, and daily obstacles.
I remember all of them and realize that I am fortunate to have met such good people. We rallied together not only for ourselves and our loved ones, but for everyone.
Chernivhiv – a Hero City with heroic people
Our community’s challenge was that almost no one believed that war could happen, as no clear algorithms had been developed for certain professions and job positions. How should the school administration act when war begins? Thank God it didn’t happen in the daytime when more than 1,500 children were at school. How to act when the security forces leave the city to defend the capital, and the city lives in the “save yourself” mode? But, our city coped with these challenges, and we managed to organize ourselves. In Chernihiv, thanks to the mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko, a territorial self-defense unit was formed very quickly; weapons were distributed, and the city continued to function.
Everyone in Chernihiv witnessed the heroism of our utility employees, who did not stop working for a single minute. One minute they fire at the enemy, the next minute they take out the garbage; then again, they shoot, and go to clean the main square; and once again, they shoot, and then proceed to fix the power grids. Vodokanal delivered water and drilled wells. All these people have done incredible things. Therefore, whenever we meet communal workers, we stop to thank them. Our municipal and regional authorities were always in touch, and all issues could be resolved.
From the very first day, Vasyl Bilohura, head of the Education Department, systematically visited the shelters in all the schools, talked with everyone, helped and supported us, delivered bread to the shelter, and engaged all the necessary services. The city’s critical infrastructure workers became an example for us all. We had a family living in the shelter, and one of its members left every morning at six to work at either Oblenerho or Misksvitlo, I didn’t ask him where. Every day, under shelling, this brave man went to work, and in the evening returned to his family and to all of us in the shelter with news about what was happening in the city, which districts were being shelled, how communications were being repaired, while all this time mortars were falling at a distance of 50 meters.
Therefore, our city – Chernihiv – did not just survive. It is a true Hero City, and its people are heroes who fulfilled their mission – to protect the northern region of our country. During the invasion, we, Ukrainian men and women, unite, defend our land, and fight for independence. Today, there is a new challenge – we understand that school shelters should be completely different, and the city is working on that issue. The suburbs of Chernihiv are destroyed; there is nothing but ruins. Our region has never been very productive, even in peacetime. Just recently, the city began to grow and develop thanks to the decentralization program; many exciting projects appeared, and we all hoped for renewal and development. Then, the active phase of the full-scale war began, which threw Chernihiv back decades. We do not know how many inhabitants will return, but we believe Chernihiv will be rebuilt. That is why we need help, because restoring everything on our own will be very difficult.
One minute they fire at the enemy, the next minute they take out the garbage; then again, they shoot, and go to clean the square; and once again, they shoot, and then proceed to fix the power grids. All these people have done incredible things.
The war is like a heavy stone
I associate the war with a heavy stone, something solid and frozen in time, a nightmare from which I cannot wake up. I am a dynamic person; I’m used to moving around and implementing new ideas and projects. Suddenly, it seemed that life had stopped. Although we did a lot of things in the shelter, I felt that my life was on pause; it was a stop to all my dreams and plans. It was something like frozen volcanic lava that I could not overcome, no matter how hard I tried. At the same time, I was aware of the importance and epochal nature of this battle between good and evil and its significance for Ukraine and Ukrainians. We believe that we will achieve victory and peace at the lowest possible price.
Educational Front
The siege brought a lot of destruction to Chernihiv. In particular, according to the city council, 27 of the city’s 34 schools were damaged, and two were completely destroyed. However, Chernihiv is preparing to start the new school year on September 1: school shelters are checked and equipped thanks to local budget funds. Also, according to Viacheslav Chaus, head of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration, reserves of drinking water and medicines should be organized in the shelters in case children and teachers have to stay there for a longer time.
In order to help Ukrainian educators to continue teaching children during the war, the EdCamp Ukraine community launched a crowdfunding campaign — collecting funds for computer equipment and Internet access for teachers who lost their pedagogical equipment in the war. The funds will be used for psychological support for teachers and to organize conferences where they can share their pedagogical experiences during the war. Both foreign colleagues – on the GoFundMe platform, and Ukrainians – on the EdCamp Ukraine page, can join the campaign by adding the comment My War. Lessons to the payment.
Forgetting about the war and shelling
My source of strength lies in people and the school. I do not get tired when I work; my job gives me a lot of satisfaction; I feel that I am fulfilling my mission. When I care about someone, I forget about my problems. We all felt good when we looked after each other in the shelter. I understood that people arrived at the shelter because it was their last refuge; they had no one else to turn to. So, I had to be resourceful, positive, and supportive, even when my heart and soul were crying. Later, people said that they often remembered how it helped to hear me repeating: “Are you alive? Are your loved ones and relatives alive? Are you relatively safe? You have given me three YESes. And that’s good, because that means at least three pieces of good news.” It helped people a lot. In the second half of March, not more than 80 people remained in the shelter. In addition, we had set up good communications with the volunteers, so everyone was fed and clothed. Arrangements were made with Natalka and Vika, who lived in nearby buildings where there was gas; in the morning, they brought hot tea and porridge, and in the afternoon, a big pot of steaming borshch.
Back in March, we started holding lessons in the schoolyard and in the shelter. I remember my first lesson very well. It was the first day that the sun appeared after the cold weather, so we took the flip chart outside, grabbed some markers, and started a math lesson for the collective 8th and 9th grades. I talked about quadratic equations, but my tongue got twisted and confused, even though this is a banal topic for an experienced teacher. Towards the end of the lesson, I realized that I had forgotten about the war, shelling, and danger. Because I was doing my favorite thing – teaching; it inspired me, gave me a lot of joy, and saved me.
All children are our children
In the first two days of the war, when active shelling began, Chernihiv schools decided to teach remotely and asynchronously. We thanked the COVID pandemic, which had taught us how to work online. As of February 28, all the city schools announced a two-week vacation until March 13. We entertained the children who lived in our shelter with books and games that librarian Iryna Rudenko left for us before leaving. Some Kharkiv residents suggested that we join the drawing competition – What I see around me – in order to preserve our historical memory, switch our minds to something else, place our children’s drawings on the NFT platform, and collect resources to help internally displaced persons.
As of March 14, it seemed that the war was about to end, and that we could continue teaching and studying. But, we had practically no stable electricity supply or Internet at our school and in our shelter until the end of March. Active daily shelling continued, and more and more people came to the shelter in waves. The mobile Internet worked intermittently, and it was impossible to post teaching material to help the children. The only thing we saw were little green dots in messenger services, which ensured us that our loved ones, friends, and colleagues were still alive and had been online recently. In addition, at the beginning of the war, we did not have a generator at our school, so we could not recharge our gadgets. Therefore, there was no question of organizing systematic studies with all the students. More than half of the teachers remained in the city under fire and without the possibility of working online.
Only the colleagues who had left the city were able to teach. For example, our primary school teacher, Alla Mykhailiuk, left the city and did not miss a single lesson. From March 14, she was in touch with all the children from her classes and parallel classes, who had an Internet connection, and she was able to work according to the schedule.
Shelling in Chernihiv has stopped since the beginning of April, and students from our school and other municipal institutions have started attending our courses. They heard that we were holding lessons in the shelter and they really wanted to study. Similarly, teachers who had no students and no work began gathering. At the end of the first week of April, our school was functioning again – all the grades were represented in the nine classrooms closest to the shelter, where all the subjects were taught. We had a schedule, and we taught the children offline, no matter which school they had previously attended. It was obvious that both the students and the teachers really wanted to go back to school!
Then, a more systematic electricity supply began to appear; the Internet was stabilized. As of April 11, the online educational process was systematically launched in all Chernihiv schools, and all the children were able to connect. We worked in this mode until June 24 and managed to catch up with the curriculum. There were a lot of kids studying with us – out of 1,716 of our students, almost all of them joined at the start. Teachers also connected to our grid, regardless of where they were, whether in Chernihiv, elsewhere in Ukraine, in Australia, or in Ireland.
Unfortunately, our school lost something irreplaceable – three children who died during their family’s attempt to evacuate independently. It’s very painful for all of us; it’s something you can never retrieve. It is terrible to see the grief of the grandfather, who brought the school books and death certificates of his two grandsons – Bohdan and Danylo Kharchenko, 8th and 5th grade students. It is terrible to hear the story of how his daughter and grandchildren died in front of his eyes as soon as they left the house, how he made coffins for them, and when he did not have enough boards, he made a separate one for his daughter and another one for his two grandchildren, and how he buried them together. The exhumation was done later. It hurts, it hurts terribly… It is so sad to learn how the mother of Maksym Shelupets, a 9th-grade student, could not find her son’s grave for almost a month. Maksym, his brother and his fiancée tried to flee from the war, and came under fire from a tank. How they ran, were wounded, how they fainted and lost their family. Such a thing cannot be forgotten or forgiven. Such are the terrible lessons of war.
It’s everybody’s tragedy
After the shelling of Chernihiv, we will never be the same again; we all suffered, and we have all changed. It was frightening to listen to the children and teachers when they told us what they had experienced. Each person has a tragic story: some lived in basements for a month; some survived the horrors of the occupation; others left, fled through the fields under shelling; people who managed to get out earlier were terribly worried about those who remained. Some saved their own lives, while others saved the lives of other people. Of course, we changed our approach to the lessons and paid a lot more attention to relaxation exercises. We didn’t talk to the children about the war unless they started it themselves. We tried not to pay attention when the children turned off their cameras; they had to be comfortable with it. There were children who began to stutter or could not speak at all due to what they had experienced. Some children turned off their microphones, not because they didn’t know the answer, but because they forgot what they wanted to say… once again, due to stress, or they were simply in a trance and were unable to recover from what they had seen and heard, what they were still experiencing.
Also, in the first month, we supported the children in every possible way, talked for hours and hours on the phone with each other and our students, and wrote motivating comments in the daybook. We did not assign grades, except when the children wanted them and asked for them. We did not assign any homework or give any tests. Instead, game exercises were added, and the simplest things were repeated thousands of times, as much as needed.
All the previously imposed strict rules were gone. Instead, the teachers tried to support the children in every possible way, to instill in them the belief that their childhood was not wasted and that we would definitely achieve victory and peace.
We have also changed, and not only due to the shelling that we have experienced. Since the beginning of April, our school has become a point of delivery of humanitarian aid to residents of the microdistrict and the entire city. More than 7,000 families have been provided for by state support alone. Several families with bedridden patients in our neighborhood were put under constant surveillance.
Working with aggression
Even before the war, our young people were fully aware that they were citizens of a certain country. The children needed no convincing that it was important not only to sing the national anthem with pride but also to pay attention to the country that produces the goods that they buy. However, the language of interpersonal communication in our region was mostly russian. Nowadays, things have improved; there is more Ukrainian. During the active war period, the students showed a lot of aggression towards russia, towards each other, and even children, who were previously very calm and tolerant of everything and everybody, adopted an aggressive attitude.
Young teenagers talk openly about revenge, which horrifies the teachers. These signs of aggression have us thinking about how to organize trauma support, cope with PTSD, ensure that students learn to defend our Ukrainian identity, grow up as active patriots and citizens, and realize that the enemy must be punished. But, they should not transfer their aggression to the school or to their peers. After all, we always teach children that conflicts can and should be resolved with words, as long as one’s life is not in danger. The hatred sown in the souls of the children of our peaceful people cannot be forgiven.
Educators should talk to children about how important it is to be patriotic, but not only on paper; it is important to continue raising patriots in an environment that has not known war for decades.
Overcoming the consequences of war
In my opinion, the topical subject of future EdCamp (non)conferences should be helping yourself and your children to survive the consequences of war; how to save yourself and others, primarily psychologically. What we will be like in the future and what kind of education we will build depend on how professionally and qualitatively we manage to cope with PTSD. Will we be able to build a good educational process and improve it daily as it was before February 24, 2022? Although we are now psychologically exhausted, we have something important to share with the world. There are many techniques that we have mastered in this period of time. For example, our school currently has a joint project with UNICEF; we work a lot with children offline and online.
Building respect for our native land
As the proverb says: the well-fed man does not understand the wants of the hungry. I hope no one ever has to go through what we went through. But, I am sure that the world’s educational community has always been the most advanced and the most humane. It is aware of the importance of Ukraine’s mission, the fact that our country has become a buffer between putin’s russia and the world, and restrains its onslaught on the rest of the continent.
There are many wonderful teachers in Ukraine who, despite everything, continue to act as missionaries and educate children on the absolute values of love and citizenship; their influence is very important. Therefore, we can share with our foreign colleagues the established principles that we use to educate the younger generation. These include respect for one’s native land, resilience, courage to defend one’s borders, independence, and freedom. Educators should talk to children about how important it is to be patriotic, but not only on paper. It is important to continue raising patriots in an environment that has not known war for decades. It is essential to respect, accept and support the countries that live next to a terrorist state. Despite such terrible events, these countries continue to defend the universal values of democracy and development and do not surrender to the enemy. Educators all over the world should see our cities and our people fighting against a terrorist state and not giving up as shining examples for all to follow.
Text — Halyna Kovalchuk.
The interview series My War. Lessons was prepared with financial support from the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation – a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Ed Camp Ukraine and the Foundation.
