Palacký University is organising and coordinating aid and support for students and employees from Ukraine who are finding themselves in existential situations due to the war. At the same time, UP is working with the Regional Assistance Centre to Aid Ukraine. Here, we bring you up-to-date information on the ongoing situation.
– The UP Volunteering Centre, as of today has 673 registered volunteers.
– Our volunteers are actively engaged at the Regional Assistance Centre to Aid Ukraine (Krajské asistenční centrum pomoci Ukrajině: KACPU), where they have already logged in a total of 5000 hours, with another 700 hours at the university contact point in the Armoury/Zbrojnice and on telephone hot lines.
– The university is also taking care of its volunteers: it is doing what it can to help them during their difficult work, offering them psychosocial help (enlisting psychologists from the Czech Fire and Rescue Service and from our own Department of Psychology), and arranging relaxation and regeneration activities (on-site massages, vouchers donated by Omega and AC BALUO, nature hikes).
– A number of cultural events and concerts are taking place to support Ukraine. For example, the Faculty of Education fine arts students came up with the event Art for UKR, where donated student art works are for sale, with proceeds going to charity. The exhibition is taking place in the UP Arts Centre.
– Faculties and departments are also informing the general public about the situation in Ukraine, hosting discussions and lectures. For example, the Faculty of Law organised a round table discussion entitled “The Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impacts on safety, legal, and other consequences”. Guests were Petr Kolář, former Czech ambassador to Russia and the USA, and Miroslav Karas, director of Czech Television’s studio in Ostrava and former Czech Television reporter in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine.
– On March 17th, the university organised the talk The War: A First-Hand Report with Ukrainian students, academics, and others whose lives have been transformed by the war.
– On the evening of 17 March a prayer meeting for peace in Ukraine took place in the Church of St. Mary of the Snows. It was held under the auspices of the Academic Parish of Olomouc, together with the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology.
– Several collections have been started to help people in Ukraine. For example, a material collection was started at the Faculty of Science. Students of Dentistry held a financial collection (more details are available here) at their congress. Students of Medicine held a collection for much needed medical goods and medicines for Ukrainian soldiers.
– The Faculty of Education is preparing a “Scribbled Notebook” for Ukrainian children – i.e. materials for drawing and writing with art therapy elements.
– The Faculty of Arts Language Centre, together with the Olomouc Employment Office, is preparing qualification courses in Czech. They are aimed at the labour market and are intended not only for Ukrainian students and academics, but for all Ukrainians interested. We have written about it in more detail here.
– The Faculty of Arts, with contributions from volunteers, is organising English lessons for Ukrainian teenagers.
– The UP Communications Office has prepared an exhibition by Betty Fahrner, a Faculty of Arts student and volunteer, who has mapped the route of one evacuation train. The exhibition is located in the reception area of the Zbrojnice/Armoury Library. More information is available here.
A selection of planned events:
- A lecture by Hynek Melichar from the Department of Political Science and European Studies on the theme “The Russian invasion of Ukraine in the context of international relations: Competing perspectives” will take place on 23 March from 1:15–3 pm.
– The Department of Sociology, Andragogy, and Cultural Anthropology invites you to an exhibition of photographs by Jakub Joachim – War Refugees – in the Gallery of Social Photography. The opening will take place at 4 pm on 30 March in the gallery.