Klubovna
Tábor Solidarity Klubovna is an independent initiative based in Prague, which was established in the immediate aftermath of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Our current focus is to provide free leisure, educational and artistic activities for children from families fleeing the Russian war in Ukraine.
We consider it important to create a space for Ukrainian families in Prague that allows both children and adults to meet and create together. In addition to various art, theater, drama and sound workshops, we provide art therapy and Czech language lessons to the children.
Our activities are in Ukrainian and Czech and are free and open to anyone who wish to participate.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
We are currently focusing on providing leisure activities that can contribute to the development of creativity in children and the acquisition of basic approaches in various creative fields. At the same time, it is crucial for us to create a safe and friendly collective where children can establish mutual friendships and parents can make new bonds. We are very sensitive to children’s individual needs and ways of self-expression, emphasizing the healing and collective potential of art-making and prioritizing these aspects over traditional notions of art education. It is important for us to provide activities for children completely free of charge (or with a voluntary contribution), so that they are accessible to all social groups. Leisure and artistic activities are not part of the everyday education in Czech schools and are, especially in Prague, very expensive and inaccessible for many.
HISTORY
From February 2022 to August 2023, our initiative operated as a self-help daily kindergarten for Ukrainian children in Prague. Our kindergarten was created spontaneously, a few days after the invasion, as a reaction to the lack of day care from the official structures. The absence of daycare made the already difficult process of finding employment for parents almost impossible. The educational programme of our kindergarten was designed to prepare the children for entry into Czech primary schools. We also provided the children with regular art therapy, psychological help or English language lessons.
SUPPORT
Our organizational work was on a volunteer basis and all the funds we raised (through public fundraising, fundraising events, support from larger non-profit organizations and foundations) were used to pay the salaries of Ukrainian teachers. The functioning of the kindergarten was made possible by cooperation with various organizations such as the VIA Foundation, People in Need, AMIGA, Prague Scouts (who provided us with space for a long time) and also many individuals who helped us with material, financial and other means. In the last six months of our operation, our pedagogical team was also enriched by two Czech pedagogues, and since we fulfilled the conditions for the functioning of the adaptation group, our activities were supported by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Unfortunately, the Ministry did not issue a grant for adaptation groups again and we had to stop our daily operations due to unsustainable funding. After closing the daily operation of the kindergarten, we decided, based on conversations with parents, to focus on providing leisure and educational activities, which are often expensive in Prague and thus unaffordable for many families. In the past year, we have organized several series of workshops and, in collaboration with the Kafkárna Center for Arts and Ecology, a summer camp.
If you are willing to make a small donation, please visit out donation page by clicking here.
