In the midst of war, hope grows in the depths.
In the eastern Ukrainian town ofIzium, the fighting has left entire districts in ruins. Yet it was in the bowels of the earth that one of the most moving initiatives of the conflict was organized: a kindergarten set up in a bomb shelter.
A classroom under the rubble
When bombing reduced schools to rubble, teachers and families decided that education couldn’t wait for peace. So they transformed a fortified basement into a makeshift school for young children.
With a few carpets, LED lights and hand-painted pictures, the place has gradually been transformed. It teaches colors, letters, numbers… but also listening, calm and hope. Because in this context, learning to tame fear becomes an educational priority.
More than lessons: emotional support
Supervised by volunteers – teachers, psychologists, educators – Izium’s underground school offers a place of safety and resilience. Each activity is designed to heal invisible wounds: birds are drawn to dream of freedom, stories are read where light always triumphs.
Children, many of whom have grown up under warning sirens, find here a breath of childhood, sometimes the very first.
A survival organization
Running a school in an underground shelter is a huge logistical challenge. The supply of water, food, electricity and teaching materials depends on local solidarity and a few NGOs. Despite frequent power cuts, classes continue by torchlight, with disarming perseverance.
Childhood, an act of resistance
This kindergarten buried under Izium has become a symbol of silent resistance. A gesture of survival, certainly, but above all a fierce commitment: to preserve humanity through its children, even under the bombs.
As the world above collapses, the world below tries to rebuild, page by page, the very idea of a future.
What children teach us
At Izium, children aren’t just pupils. They are also teachers of hope. Their ability to laugh, sing and learn in a dark shelter reminds us of an essential truth: education is an act of faith, a refusal of despair.
Protecting children, even in basements, means rebuilding for tomorrow.
