After three long years, the beautiful CYM campground Werchovyna near Montreal Quebec was once again filled with the joyful sounds of children at summer camp – tabir. Entitled “Glory to Ukraine” named after St. Michael the Archangel, the camp for youth aged 6-13 ran during July 17-31 of 2022.

Camp officially began with a Divine Liturgy and opening ceremonies on Sunday July 17. 73 children attended – from Canada and the United States, but also children from Ukraine, fleeing the war. The numbers were quite even – about half of the attendees were from Ukraine – from all regions, including those from Western Ukraine, but also some from areas which had seen the worst fighting, including Bucha and Mariupol.

The 21 volunteer counselors were also international – from Canada and US, but also Belgium and quite a few from Ukraine. In fact, we had 2 doctors on site, both from Ukraine! 

During the same time, a day camp for the youngest CYM members – sumeniata, aged 3-6 – ran parallel on the mornings of Monday to Friday.

Every day during tabir we “visited” different cities across Ukraine, and during the daily evening closing ceremony children would share fun facts they learned during the day.  The most important one was that “Kherson – or Kyiv – or Krym/Crimea – is Ukraine!” We also learned about historical dates associated with various regions of Ukraine – for instance the 80th anniversary of the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) when we “visited” Western Ukraine, or about the 90th anniversary of the Famine-Genocide-Holodomor when we talked about southern and eastern regions of Ukraine.

Every morning and evening we prayed for Ukraine, its citizens, leadership and its heroic defenders. One evening the children wrote letters and cards for our wounded soldiers, which was mailed to the Military Hospital in Kyiv. We had 2 prayer walks during camp – one for the victims of the Holodomor, another for Ukraine – praying for victory and remembering the victims. We also recorded a video greeting supporting the defenders of Ukraine on the day of Ukrainian Statehood.

Apart from serious topics, during the two weeks we also had many, many opportunities for typical camp activities – every day the children played sports and swam in the beautiful lake, we had arts and crafts, celebrated the Feast of St. John the Baptist/Ivana Kupala (even though it wasn’t the correct date,) went for nature hikes, enjoyed roasting marshmallows at a campfire, sang many songs, played games, had a scavenger hunt – did all the things regular children do at summer camp. We even had a chance to go bowling to the nearby town of Rawdon and partake in a camp-wide Olympiada. It was heartwarming to see the children from Ukraine, some of whom had directly experienced the horrors of war, slowly destressing, opening up, playing and having fun. 

Camp officially came to a close on Sunday July 31 with a Divine Liturgy and closing ceremonies. At the end of camp, all the families from Ukraine received a package with Canadian souvenirs and a letter inviting them to attend CYM in the fall. God willing, our ranks will increase with some of these children.

Many, many people contributed to the success of this camp – organizing, planning, funding and actually running it. May God bless everyone who contributed to this extremely successful and truly worthy endeavour. 

Slava Ukraini – Heroyam Slava!

Tanya Choly

For additional pictures, please visit the following link: Werchowyna

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR