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(JTA) — Virtually a yr and a half into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 13-year-old Artur Dotsenko has grow to be accustomed to sleepless nights. With all of the bombings and shellings in his hometown of Kyiv, Dotsenko stated he will get about 2-3 hours of sleep every night time.
For a couple of weeks this summer season, Dotsenko will go away war-torn Ukraine for the Pacific coast, the place he and 6 different Ukrainian teenagers will spend 4 weeks at Ramah Sports activities Academy, the Jewish sports activities camp operated by Ramah of Northern California.
The journey was orchestrated by Maccabi USA, the American arm of the Maccabi World Union, the Jewish sports activities group that places on the Maccabiah Video games in Israel.
After the conflict broke out final yr, Arnie Fielkow, the previous head of New Orleans’ Jewish federation and now a vp at Maccabi USA, approached Maccabi’s CEO, Marshall Einhorn, to counsel methods the group might assist Ukrainian Jewry.
One in every of his concepts was to companion with the Ramah system to supply a Jewish summer season camp expertise to Ukrainian teenagers.
“This initiative is de facto essential to me personally and professionally, and to my whole household,” stated Fielkow, who adopted two daughters from Ukraine in 2007. “The Ukrainian individuals are combating so courageously, and it’s essential as Amerians that we do all the things we are able to to assist.”
Fielkow stated “it took actually one telephone name” with Amy Skopp Cooper, the Ramah system’s nationwide director, to place the wheels in movement. The sports activities camp, which opened 5 years in the past in Connecticut, introduced earlier this yr that it was shifting to California and becoming a member of forces with Ramah of Northern California.
“We’re excited in regards to the alternative to convey collectively high-level athletes from Jewish communities everywhere in the world, and we’re hopeful that a couple of weeks on the shores of the Pacific Ocean shall be fulfilling for these campers who’ve survived circumstances unimaginable to lots of our campers,” Alex Rubin, Ramah Sports activities Academy’s assistant director, stated in a Maccabi USA assertion asserting the partnership.
The kids vary from 13 to 17 years previous, plus an 18-year previous counselor who shall be accompanying them. Fielkow held a fundraiser in New Orleans to lift cash to cowl journey bills, and he stated Ramah was waiving their camp tuition.
“For these youngsters, who primarily at the moment are in Ukraine, it’s actually a great alternative to have a great relaxation, to see one other nation, to talk with teenagers the identical age as they’re,” stated Galina Pechaiko, who lives in Kyiv and serves as Makkabi Ukraine’s deputy director.
Throughout a gaggle Zoom with JTA, a number of of the teenagers shared their experiences throughout the 16-month conflict, and what they’re trying ahead to throughout their time at camp — which for a lot of of them included engaged on their English, enjoyable and enjoying sports activities.
Ilya Miroshnichenko, 18, would be the group’s counselor. He’s initially from Kharkov, and has been residing in Bratislava, Slovakia, along with his mother and father for the previous yr. Miroshnichenko studied at a Jewish college in Ukraine, and has been concerned within the Makkabi group.
Miroshnichenko recalled being residence alone when the conflict broke out in February 2022. His mother and father had been on a visit, so his family members got here to be with him. Of the various methods life modified with Russia’s invasion, one stood out to him: how tough it turned to get groceries.
Nikita Novitsky can also be from Kharkov, the place he spent 4 years learning at a yeshiva. Novitsky, 17, stated he and his household left Kharkov due to the destruction on the metropolis’s heart. He’s been residing in Budapest, Hungary, for a yr, whereas taking on-line courses from Kharkov.
“I wish to get new experiences and meet new folks,” Novitsky advised JTA in regards to the upcoming camp expertise. “I wish to enhance my English and sports activities life. In my thoughts, will probably be a great expertise, this program.”
Novitsky runs, swims and performs soccer. He stated he hopes to enhance his type whereas at camp.
Most of the teenagers have already got deep Makkabi connections. Leonid Bereslavich, a 15-year-old from Zaporozhye, participated within the Maccabiah Video games final summer season in Israel. Alexey Kulik, 13, is the son of the chairman of the Makkabi chapter in Nikolaev. And Dotsenko stated his mother and father, who’re concerned in humanitarian support efforts, met at a Makkabi seminar.
In accordance with Einhorn, Makkabi Ukraine can also be partnering with the JCC Affiliation of North America to ship delegations to the JCC Maccabi Video games in Israel in July, and to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in August.
As the teenagers put together to fly to San Francisco subsequent week, Pechaiko stated she remains to be shocked they pulled it off.
The U.S. embassy in Kyiv shouldn’t be presently offering consular assist, so Pechaiko stated they needed to get visas for the teenagers by the embassy in Bratislava. And they’re flying out of Vienna, with a layover in Frankfurt.
“It’s proof that one Jew might help one other one,” Pechaiko stated. “We’re not even speaking in regards to the time after we are pleased, it’s additionally when now we have an enormous downside, a conflict. We now have bought a serving to hand from Maccabi USA on this state of affairs.”
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