A summer away from the bombing of Ukraine, thanks to the Spanish province of Jaén

Kateryna, Denys and Oleksander can’t hide their grins upon first seeing the majesty of the Amurjo swimming pool in Orcera, in the Spanish province of Jaén. Coming from an orphanage in Dolbysh, a Ukrainian town with a little over 6,000 inhabitants located just 31 miles from the Russian border, which is subject to nearly daily bombings, the three adolescents, along with another 42 peers, have been given the opportunity to escape the hostile environment for three weeks. During that time, they’ll be on the receiving end of love and solidarity from the Spanish community.

“Seeing happy faces on these children and getting a hug from them is priceless,” says Antonio Funes, the resident who designed the A Breath of Hope program in the hope that the youngsters will, at least for a few days, get back the smiles they’ve lost after three years of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Many of the children have lost their parents in the war and are either coming from a Dolbysh orphanage that specializes in mental disabilities or are Kulikówka high schoolers from low-income families. “They are children who are suffering from the powerful emotional and psychological stress of living amid falling bombs, but who will now be able to leave their cell phones and put the daily notifications about the armed conflict on hold for a little while,” explains Funes, a civil guard from Jaén who is using his vacation days to accompany the children during their stay in Andalusia.

Previously, at the start of the armed conflict, he traveled the nearly 3,100 miles that separate Jaén and Ukraine to bring back various Ukrainian families to provide them with temporary shelter. One of them, Andrey and Jana and their daughter Karyna, already had roots in Jaén.

A Breath of Hope is a pioneering initiative in Spain, similar to a program for Saharawi children called Vacations in Peace. Though in the case of the former, participating children do not stay with host families, but rather form small groups who are accompanied by chaperones from their country of origin and volunteers from Jaén. Their stay is paid for through a crowdfunding campaign that has received contributions from all over the country as well as France, Germany and Italy.

Before arriving in Orcera (population 1,700), where they will be staying in a rural shelter that carries the name of famed local resident David Broncano, the kids take a dip at Málaga’s Rincón de la Victoria beach. In Ukraine, it’s not possible to go swimming due to landmines and bombs, says Funes. They also discover the Sierra de Andújar natural park, are received by the Jaén local government, and swim in a pool in the Renaissance town of Úbeda.

“It’s moving to see these kids smile again in our country because war is humanity’s great terror. I hope that their stay will be an injection of optimism for them that helps them to believe that the turmoil that they are living through will soon be resolved,” says Manuel Carlos Vallejo, the deputy mayor of Jaén, during a reception for the children at Jaén City Hall.

“We’ve done what we had to do as an administration for a citizen’s request of this kind, lending a hand however possible,” says Juan Francisco Fernández, mayor of Orcera, where the children will be housed until August 22. The local government has prepared a packed vacation schedule with the aim of not only sharing with them the solidarity and affection of Orcera residents, but also the people of other towns in the Sierra de Segura, which the children will visit during their stay.

But it hasn’t been easy to fulfill the strict requirements involved with removing children from conflict zones. Sergio Rodríguez is an Orcera council member who, along with Ramón Alba and Álex González, had to work hard to complete a dossier of 700-plus pages that needed to be sent to both provincial and federal governments in order to receive proper authorization. “It has been a very complex procedure, it’s important to note that the regulation for leaving Ukraine involves a series of rigorous formal processes that include civil liability, accident, death and repatriation insurance,” Rodríguez says.

In addition to making city housing available to the youngsters, the Orcera City Council had to sign a letter expressing its awareness that the children’s trip is not for the purposes of adoption or permanent foster care. They had to prove their commitment to returning the kids to their place of origin, as well as showing proof of proper insurance for the children’s legal and health care fees if necessary.

“I don’t have the words to thank the army of good hearts who have moved Earth and sky to make this dream possible, that of the children smiling again and seeing the kids like they were before the war,” says an emotional Funes. The program organizer is already thinking about his next solidarity challenge: finding the necessary funds to buy a van for the Dolbysh orphanage.

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