The Room of Happiness project was created to provide psychological and emotional support to children who are temporarily without parental care. These are children who have been removed from their families due to abuse, domestic violence or threats to their lives. These children are often found on the streets. And until the court decides their fate — whether they will return to their biological parents, be placed in a foster family, or sent to an institutional care facility — they remain in hospitals (in accordance with current legislation). On average, a child spends two weeks to three months in the hospital, sometimes longer. During this time, they remain in a hospital ward around the clock, without the company of loved ones and without specialised support to help them cope with their traumatic experiences.
‘My Path to Happiness’ is a psycho-emotional support guide for children who are temporarily without parental care and are in hospitals.
Its goal is to help children learn more about various aspects of personal development that influence awareness and feelings of happiness. This guide includes several stops: Self-Awareness, Interpersonal Relationships with Friends, Social Relationships with Society, as well as sections on Relaxation and Happiness itself.
This guide for inspiration and self-development is designed for children of all ages — teenagers can work with it independently, while younger children can use it with the help of those around them — our volunteers or other adults they trust.
We are convinced that the concept of happiness is not limited to the emotion of joy. A truly happy child is one who can understand themselves, build relationships with others, learn about the world and be a part of it. Therefore, in this guide, we have attempted to compile as many factors as possible in order to inform children about them and provide them with useful tools.
The guide was created by the foundation thanks to a grant from the Children’s Resilience Fund: Providing Capacity Building and Funding to Ukrainian Civil Society Organisations in Ukraine. The programme is implemented by Crown Agents Ukraine and Integrity Action. The contents of the manual do not necessarily reflect the views of Integrity Action and Crown Agents in Ukraine.
