Priyanka Chopra, who is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, has joined forces with the agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide, to meet and amplify support for children and women refugees from Ukraine who have crossed the border into Poland and are currently staying in Blue Dot centers set up by UNICEF and UNHCR. She is currently on a trip to Poland to meet the refugees – men, women, and children – who have been displaced due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The star has been sharing detailed posts about her various interactions with the refugees. She dropped some pictures on her Instagram handle in which she is seen playing and painting with Ukrainian children. Some children even gifted her cards and handmade dolls. In one video, we also see Priyanka breaking down at one point as she hears the refugees’ stories.
Chopra shared a heart-wrenching note and said, “An aspect that is not often discussed but is very prevalent in a time of crisis is the psychological impact on these refugees. I met with so many women and children who are trying to cope with the horrors they have witnessed in this war. UNICEF responded in Poland and in the region by ensuring that teams of psychologists are available to help mothers and children at the Blue Dot centres, the Child Development centres, the Education Hubs, and other touch points. One of the most effective tools in helping children regain a sense of normalcy is playful interaction…When children are driven from their homes by war, conflict, or displacement of any kind, access to nurturing relationships with parents, caregivers, and peers are critical buffers to the effects of violence, distress, and other adverse experiences.”
Speaking, in particular, about the children she met in Poland, Priyanka Chopra added, “The kids I met on this mission love working with art. Coffee beans, salts, and regular household items are used for art therapy and sensitivity therapy. When they work with different materials, as well as paints and colours, the therapists are able to understand their emotions. In the beginning, for example, the children would draw with very dark colours, and over time the colours got brighter. Another example is handmade dolls that I was gifted by Ukrainian children at each Programme I visited with UNICEF. Each is unique and is believed to have the power of protection, which these children really need right now as the war is upending the lives and futures of the country’s 5.7 million school-aged children.”
In an earlier post shared on Monday, the actor-producer-entrepreneur wrote, “The invisible wounds of war are the ones we don’t usually see on the news. Yet, they were so evident to me today as I started day 1 of my UNICEF mission in Warsaw. 2/3 of Children from Ukraine have been displaced (internally and externally). This HUGE number is the devastating reality of war where 90% of the people crossing the border are women and children.”
