A weekend school to keep Ukrainian children connected to home is up and running in Carrick-on-Shannon in county Leitrim.
The school which holds classes on Saturday afternoons is a pilot project designed to help Ukrainian children stay in touch with their native language and culture.
Organisers also hope it will help young refugees to integrate more into their local communities.
A total of 40 children aged between eight and 12, from across Leitrim are attending the school which was set up with the help of Leitrim Development Company. The non-profit group works with new Ukrainian arrivals and refugees relocated to the county from other parts of Ireland.
"The children have already survived big changes in their life, coming from Ukraine. They are struggling to adapt," says Nataliya Byelyakova who has worked with refugees from her native Ukraine since spring of 2022.
"By creating a weekend camp it helps them to find new friends, settle faster, and maintain their roots."
Michael Bruen, Training and Education Co-ordinator with Leitrim Development Company says the weekend camp is one of the first for Ukranian's in Ireland.
"Its quite normal in Ukraine for people to have education outside their normal school week.
"This has been missing from their culture since they got here.
"We've kids from different parts of Leitrim coming together. They attend different schools but are getting to meet a wider Ukrainian community at the weekends."
But Mr Bruen stresses that it’s a two-way street. Locals learn about Ukrainian culture too.
"We ensure that there’s integration in all of the activities, for the benefit of the wider community.
"In two classrooms at the Breffni Family Resource Centre, children recite Ukrainian literature and brush up on their written language skills."
Parents say children who came to Ireland after Russia invaded Ukraine are missing out on their native language and culture.
"My son said 'mommy I’ve even forgotten how to write my name in Ukrainian,’" says Erica who lives in Dromod. She has two children attending the school.
Erica explains that her son and daughter needed to focus on English for school.
"It was difficult to teach them both English and Ukrainian at one time. Now we can do both!"
Two years ago nine-year-old Anastasia and her mother fled the city of Irpin. She is delighted that her mother has agreed to bring her to the Carrick-on-Shannon camp each Saturday.
"I like this school", she says, adding that she made art, played games, and met new teachers and friends.
Anastasia lives in the Leitrim town of Aughavas. Her mother agrees that’s its hard to stay connected to home while living so far away.
"It’s a really important thing for our family to keep our Ukrainian language and culture," Anastasia’s mother says.
Irpin, near Kiev, remains dangerous.
"Unfortunately we don’t have a safe place yet in Ukraine. Russia bombs our towns and villages with drones every night. I’m happy that I’m in a safe place in a safe country with my family."
The Leitrim Development Company has funded the weekend school with the help of money from European funds and the Department of Rural and Community Affairs.
"It’s a pilot and it is funded for the rest of this year," says Michael Bruen.
"We’ll look at it again, but parents, I think, will be happy to contribute towards the cost of it."
