Rokada Staff, Left to right_Alisa, Tetiana, Anna, Oleksandra_ Credit Anna Romandash_Oxfam
“After the war, social work will be even more in demand,” says Oleksandra Nahorna, “There is already a great need for social services, but after the war there will be even more of it because there will be reconstruction, adaptation, and rehabilitation of military personnel.”
Oleksandra, 22, is a community social worker on gender-based violence. She is a part of the dynamic team of Rokada, a Ukrainian charitable foundation that works with internally displaced people (IDPs) and other vulnerable communities whose lives have been strongly affected by the war.
In her role, Oleksandra gets to communicate with people who had to flee their homes with nothing – and who are now facing enormous difficulties integrating into new communities, making ends meet, and dealing with trauma. She is also helping address the issue of gender-based violence both among IDPs as well as Ukrainian society in general – and she’s focusing on young people.
“My priority is to involve youth and students through various training sessions on gender-based violence,” Oleksandra explains, “Some students still have a lot of prejudices and stereotypes, and we need to continue to work very carefully on this.”
There is already a great need for social services, but after the war there will be even more of it because there will be reconstruction, adaptation, and rehabilitation of military personnel.
The path to Rokada
Oleksandra is a fresh graduate herself – which makes it easier for her to connect with young people. She got her Bachelor’s degree amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – so she didn’t have a traditional graduation ceremony and didn’t get to celebrate with her classmates. Everything was remote.
Graduating in the middle of the war was bittersweet – more so because Oleksandra was far away from Ukraine. She spent the first six months of the invasion in 2022 in Germany, away from her family and friends. It was rather by accident – when Russia invaded, Oleksandra was abroad, and her loved ones urged her to stay there.
“I wanted to return to Ukraine, but my parents categorically forbade me,” she recalls, “They said that if I come, they’d have to meet me under the bullets and shelling, so we’re all going to be in danger.”
During her stay in Germany, Oleksandra became actively involved with the Ukrainian community – helping refugees find their way around the local bureaucracy, translating, and supporting parents with children.
“I thought that I would bring more benefit to the Ukrainian people if I stayed in Berlin,” she continues, “And so it happened. I was very happy that even abroad I could communicate with Ukrainians and help them; and I hope that my work did help. It was very important for me and gave me joy.”
However, Oleksandra missed her home too much. In late 2022, she came back to Kyiv, despite the danger.
“When I returned to Ukraine, the first sirens were very scary for me,” she recalls, “Now, there is no such reaction. The body and psyche are tired of being in a state of constant fear, and the fear is almost gone.”
Being home reignited her passion for social work – and this is how Oleksandra found Rokada. She has always loved meeting people and communicating important ideas – so she was very happy about the opportunity to work with young people at the organization.
“I adore doing training sessions with youth,” Oleksandra says, “I really hope that I change their attitude to gender-based violence.”
"When I returned to Ukraine, the first sirens were very scary for me, now, there is no such reaction. The body and psyche are tired of being in a state of constant fear, and the fear is almost gone.”
Changing attitudes, one training at a time
Oleksandra’s work with youth includes visiting colleges and vocational schools. These are usually located in small towns and villages, further away from large cities. In rural areas, access to educational activities is limited, and young people don’t get as many opportunities to talk about sensitive issues – and besides, there is still a lot of biases and stigma when talking about gender-based violence or sex.
“The further from Kyiv, the more stereotypes there are,” Oleksandra says, “For example, in a training for a group of students which I did in one college, I remember an insight from one girl. For context, I often asked provocative question, to spark discussion – I find the students are so keen to respond that they interrupt each other answering me. In this particular training, I asked if it was possible to provoke violence. In general, I ethe students answer, “No.” The aggressor is always to blame. But I remember how the girl answered. She said: “If we are talking about parents and children, and the parents said that if the child gets a bad grade, then they will beat the child. And so, a child gets a bad grade and the parents warned the child. That is, the child is to blame.” This insight struck me. I thought: “And this was said by a student who can be in this scenario.” In our society, parents beating children for poor performance in school still exist, so it is still relevant, and we must continue to work on it.”
When working with young people, Oleksandra practices an “equal to equal” approach and tries to make the conversation as open as possible – so the students feel more relaxed and comfortable raising challenging issues.
She also relies strongly on group exercises – helping young people imagine different scenarios and how they should respond to violence, seek help, and avoid dangerous situations.
“Group exercises really unite students, and they also energize them,” Oleksandra says, “Students tend to constantly sit and write texts, but here, they learn in a playful way and do something, and they like it.”
Oleksandra remembers a recent case when informal education and group work helped students overcome their initial reluctance to talk about gender-based violence. She was running a training as the last session of the day, and the college students were already very tired. They kept checking the time and didn’t appear very energetic at first.
However, when the group exercise started, the attitudes changed completely. The students were eager to discuss more in groups, and they no longer felt tired or timid about the topic.
“This is an informal approach, but at the same time, useful information is shared,” Oleksandra says, “I often joke and attract attention that way. When they hear a joke at the very beginning, they raise their heads and listen even if they were staring at their phones before.”
Oleksandra plans to revisit some of the colleges where she conducted her Rokada training – and compare how students respond when asked about gender-based violence.
“So, we will be able to see the impact we’re having on students,” Oleksandra concludes, “I hope it is there.”