Ukrainian Refugee Support at AISB

In February 2022, as AISB families were spending their ski break with family and friends, war began in neighboring Ukraine. Life changed overnight for millions of families, as the normality of safety was suddenly taken away from them. Millions were forced to leave their homes, part from fathers and grandparents, and cross borders to safety. Many of these refugees arrived in Hungary. Some headed further, but thousands made Hungary their temporary home. Helpers appeared at every train station and meeting point; others organized comprehensive support online. The scale of grass-root support— set up to respond immediately to the crisis—was heartwarming. The AISB community quickly mobilized into a hub of community help, and hundreds of displaced children and mothers were hosted and supported by our families.

On March 8, 2022, the ‘Ukrainian Refugee Education Program’, a school-within-a-school model, was established on the grounds of the AISB campus by volunteer educators. The program has served over 200 displaced children and continues to teach over 130 children in their home curriculum, while circumstances allow. A learning support class for children is currently being started.

This program arose from the sudden disruption of Ukrainian families and aligns closely with our school values of service and respect for home languages. Our response aimed to address the need for displaced Ukrainian children to be educated in their native language, using their national curriculum. The project quickly became a supportive, in-person community of friends and teachers. We currently run 11 classes delivered by qualified Ukrainian professionals, with over 120 children attending four after-school sessions a week. The UNHCR, UNICEF, and the Ukrainian Embassy have all visited and endorsed this program of hope.

When there is need, we help. If we can help, we believe we must.

Our continued goals are:

Maintaining and growing in-person learning for these children by Ukrainian professionals. Offering displaced families a safe and supportive environment.

Developing the confidence of the children to balance their daytime education within the Hungarian system.

Providing English and Hungarian language experiences for the children. Modeling a project and partnership to inspire similar mother-language support projects in the region.

Sharing our experiences through workshops and inspiration. Developing a partnership with leading educational institutions, thus making a difference that the world can benefit from.

For more information on this and our other ‘AISB Cares’ initiatives, please see our web page and follow us on social media. For ideas about how you can help/ contribute to this ongoing project, please contact Oksana Matviishyna matviishynaoksana@gmail.com

Please watch stories from our journey with this project on our YouTube playlist here.

We have launched a remembrance video ‘Mourning of the Twenty Fourth’ which was filmed by a community filmmaker and the students in our project, available to watch here.