“When lessons are over, I come straight here,” says eight-year-old Kristina.

After school, her route often leads to the EduHive, a learning space in the village of Vykhvostiv in the Chernihiv region. Snizhana also comes here, primarily to spend time with her friends, while Liuba finds opportunities to be creative and gradually become more confident.

To provide children with a comfortable, spacious place for creative activities, the savED Charitable Foundation expanded the learning centre in partnership with Kindernothilfe (KNH), with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Kristina and her friends can now draw, cut things out, make crafts, and bring new ideas to life together. Sometimes, Kristina finds something online that she would like to make and asks the tutors to help her prepare the materials. She also dreams of having dance classes at the EduHive.

For many children, the space has already become part of their everyday lives. They come here after school, at weekends, and during the school holidays to meet their friends, learn something new, create things with their own hands, or spend time together.

This is how Vykhvostiv gained a larger EduHive – more room for children’s ideas, creativity, learning, social interaction, and support.

“I’m barely awake, and my daughter is already shouting, ‘Mum, I’m off to the EduHive!’”

Snizhana is eight years old and also lives in Vykhvostiv. When asked what she enjoys doing most at the EduHive, she answers without hesitation:

“Playing with my friends.”

During the school holidays, the EduHive became a place she wanted to visit almost every day.

“I’m barely awake, and my daughter is already shouting, ‘Mum, I’m off to the EduHive!’” says Snizhana’s mother, Mariana.

Behind these simple childhood responses lie several years of living and learning during the full-scale war.

Snizhana was not yet five when Russian forces occupied Vykhvostiv. Her family remained in the village. She later started school, but her education, like that of other children in the community, now takes place amid air-raid alerts, lessons in the shelter, and occasional returns to online learning.

Snizhana’s mother says that these conditions are particularly difficult for younger pupils. During air-raid alerts, many children have to move to the shelter at the same time, and some of the material must then be covered again at home.

Yet homework can’t make up for time spent with other children. That is why, for Snizhana, the EduHive is first and foremost about friends.

For Mariana, the space has another important benefit. In the past, during the school holidays, she had to take her daughter to work with her, leave her with her grandmother, or ask relatives for help.

“This year, it has spared me the constant worry of who could look after my child during the day while I was at work. At the same time, she had something to do every day. She brought home lots of drawings and different crafts,” her mother says.

While Snizhana spends time with her peers, plays, and learns new things, her mother knows that she is in a familiar place, surrounded by trusted adults.

“The EduHive is where I spend my school holidays”

While the EduHive is primarily about friends for Snizhana, nine-year-old Liuba finds a space for creativity and self-expression here.

When asked how often she came during the summer, she replies with just three words: “The whole summer holidays.”

Liuba enjoys drawing, singing, sport, and creative activities. What she likes most at the EduHive is “when we make different crafts”. If she could add something to the programme, she would like to have more competitions.

Her mother says that Liuba has many interests, although she is sometimes too shy to talk about them herself. Among other things, she drew a portrait of Taras Shevchenko and won first prize in a creative competition.

“She comes home full of impressions, with joy in her eyes,” says her mother, Liudmyla.

At the EduHive, Liuba also made crafts for Ukrainian service members. She created one especially for her father, who is currently serving in the military.

Her mother has noticed more than her daughter’s new creative work. Liuba has always been a quiet, shy child who found it difficult to approach other children first. Now, she increasingly comes to the EduHive on her own.

“For her, the EduHive is a place for self-expression,” Liudmyla explains.

Here, Liuba can develop her abilities at her own pace, try new things, and gradually become more confident around other children.

A place where a child’s idea is heard

Kristina Homovych is eight years old and attends the third year at Vykhvostiv Gymnasium. After lessons, she often heads to the EduHive.

“When lessons are over, I come straight here,” Kristina says.

She enjoys playing and taking part in creative activities the most.

“We draw, cut things out, and make crafts,” she explains.

Kristina sometimes finds ideas for new projects online. She then turns to the tutors, Nadiia Viktorivna or Nataliia Mykolaivna, who help her print the materials she needs. She often starts a project at the EduHive and continues working on it at home with her mother.

“She really loves making different crafts. She finds something online, the tutors print it out for her, and then we carry on at home,” says Kristina’s mother, Aliona Krasnozhen.

If Kristina could add a new activity to the EduHive, she would choose dancing. She says she would like to attend dance classes every day.

For her mother, her daughter must have a familiar place after school where she can relax, play, spend time with other children, and bring her own ideas to life.

“I know she will play and relax here. I don’t have to worry about her. If anything happens, they will contact me,” Aliona says.

The family has lived in Vykhvostiv for around seven years. Aliona and Kristina previously lived in Kharkiv and Kupiansk but moved to the village before the full-scale invasion began.

For Kristina, the EduHive has become a natural continuation of her school day: after her final lesson, she comes here to see her friends, picks up some paper and scissors, and starts creating something new.

The children themselves asked for more space

Today, the expanded EduHive gives children more room for activities, creativity, social interaction, and relaxation. The additional premises also make it possible to run more activities simultaneously and involve pupils from the gymnasium, children from the nearby kindergarten, and other members of the community.

“Have you seen these children? They are wonderful. It is impossible not to respond to a request like this. It is especially important to support those who want to make something happen, who work hard, and who keep trying,” says Anna Putsova, co-founder of the savED Charitable Foundation.

According to Anna, the decision to support the community did not require lengthy negotiations.

“We knew for certain that we wanted to support this community and this particular school,” the co-founder concludes.

The space has grown, but the reason behind it remains very simple: children living in a village should also have access to comfortable conditions for development and self-expression, as well as a place where they can spend time with friends and enjoy themselves.

Behind these short phrases lies something that cannot be measured in square metres: a place where friends are waiting, where a child’s idea is heard, where they can create something with their own hands, learn something new, or simply spend a few hours with other children.

During the war, spaces like this help restore routine, social connection, adult support, and a sense of ordinary childhood. They remain in the community and continue serving children after individual programmes and projects end.

That is why the EduHive in Vykhvostiv was expanded: the children had already shown how much they needed it.

The EduHive learning centre at Vykhvostiv Gymnasium was expanded as part of the project “Resilient Education: Comprehensive Support for Children”, implemented by the savED Charitable Foundation in partnership with Kindernothilfe (KNH), with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The project combines improvements to educational infrastructure with access to learning and psychosocial support for children and educators in communities across the Chernihiv region.