In the Carpathians, Ukrainian war veterans and their families are trying to reclaim their lives by climbing, breathing and processing trauma – not as patients, but as future pillars of Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Chapter 3: A dozen war veterans are sitting around a long table. A circle on a piece of paper is to be filled with plasticine. The colors and motifs they choose are to represent emotions and show how they feel. At first glance, it may seem like a strange task for a group of warriors. But everything here has a purpose and a purpose.
“Are you going to use the pictures we take to diagnose us?” one of them says jokingly. The rest of the group laughs.
Despite a lot of laughter, there is a seriousness in the air.
Prosthetic legs and scars are clear signs of the experiences they carry with them. But the scars they are there to process are not visible.
Everyone around the table takes the task seriously. Silence fills the room as they color their circles. The veterans talk about what they have made. They talk about a time before war. A time they hope to experience again.
One of them has filled his circle with black plasticine. A few light stripes extend from the center of the circle all the way to the top. It looks like sprouts breaking the earth’s crust.
Many close themselves in their own darkness after the trauma of war. But somewhere inside there is still the light that can find its way out again. That is what I want to illustrate with my picture, he tells the others.
Source: Forsvarets Forum
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