A letter from Steve with The Novi Community

Dear Chuck,

Thank you for the support your community gave to Novi last month. It helped us push forward with Novi Life Kit orders and continue with distribution along the front lines of the conflict. Right now the Life Kits are being sent to summer camp locations along the front line and are being used as a tool to train children to self regulate and have fun even though their world is a battlefield. 

As of last week, we’ve also trained more than 600 adults (since January) to use the kits and a few other tools developed by our psychologist mentors we use to help children in war zones self-regulate and find their way through the conflicts trauma free.  Our work is affecting the lives of tens of thousands of children now. We’ve only been working in Ukraine since last June so it feels miraculous to us that we are making such a large impact. This knowledge is a deal changer for the children and their parents who can’t figure out how to get their children’s emotional life back on track.

I’m attaching a few photos from Novi’s last trip to the front line. My wife was on this team as you can see. The top photo is of Jon playing through the activities of the Novi Life Kit with kids living within five miles of the front line. Artillery hits this village every night and explosions were heard throughout the day while our team showed children creative and fun ways to be in a calm, instead of shut down and fearful, state. It was beautiful to see children respond so positively and even more inspiring to watch as the adults realized that they could have their beautiful children back at the dinner table with a giggle instead of a depressed and sad demeanor. Many parents told us their greatest concern was that they’ve permanently lost their children emotional health to the war and when they saw things change, begged us for more training. This was in Donetsk and Kherson and was organized by churches that remain at the center of these humble communities.

Please thank the generous souls at Reflexion for being part of this. I am grateful and empowered by your practical actions of love.

Best Regards,
Steve
Steven Gumaer | The Novi Community
www.novi.ngo