“Become my friend” is a social volunteer project, built on the concept of creating friendly couples for young disabled people, started a few months ago at once in four regions of Ukraine (Ivano-Frankivsk, Transcarpathia, Lviv and Chernivtsi). On the 20^th of December in Uzhgorod the headchefs of regional projects, volunteers and journalists gathered to discuss the first results and share the experiences of the project.

In Ivano-Frankivsk the project “Help others - become a friend” started in August on the base of the Charitable Foundation “Caritas of Ivano-Frankivsk UGCC”.

“During this time, 20 mentally handicapped young people found themselves fellow volunteers. Friend is a person who is always with you, who can listen, can trust, with whom you can spend time together. Our friendly pairs had various mutual events: lessons from manufacturing products from beads, paper, decoupage, had a friendly football match, celebrating birthday Day together and Volunteer Day” - summed up the first project results the coordinator in Ivano-Frankivsk region, Lyudmyla Maximjuk. Ms. Lyudmyla observes that disabled children really trust and share their fellows, and that’s why an individual approach is so effective.

Volunteers, who want to become friends, take the responsibility to spend time with his friends regularly on weekdays or weekends. “Disabled children don’t have an opportunity to build relationships with their peers, have permanent friends, so this project gives them a new experience. We hope that this will help disabled people to integrate into society without any problems” - explained the essence of the project the head of Uzhgorod Foundation “Project Touch” Zita Batori. Participation in the project helps not only disabled, but most of the volunteers, - said the journalist Anna Semenyuk, who became a friend for disabled girl Julia: “To communicate with these children is not easy, but very interesting. This wealth of experience that changes you and your friend. When we communicate with Julia who is considered closed and closed, she is talking so much so that it is difficult to stop”.

The project “Help others - become a friend” is implemented in Ukraine by support of the Carpathian Foundation, the Dutch charity SKAN network and the Netherland Fund for Central and Eastern Europe.

If you have a wish to become a friend for a disabled child, call Caritas in Ivano-Frankivsk: 0342-77-99-89, 098-80-35-331.