Our programme to create children's libraries is continuing, thanks to your donations, and again in partnership with the Ukrainian publisher Stary Lev, renowned worldwide for the quality of its publications. 

In February, we were able to install them in a number of child-friendly locations in various regions.

First in Lviv, at the centre set up by the organisation run by American paediatrician Irwin Redlener and his wife Karen. Irwin, founder of the NGO https://www.childrenshealthfund.orgis a remarkable figure who has devoted decades to helping disadvantaged children in the United States and around the world. He is a tireless advocate for children's rights, whether on television, at conferences or within the world's largest philanthropic foundations. In Ukraine, he has set up a reception and support centre in Lviv, focusing in particular on children's mental health and the management of their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We had the privilege of meeting him, and he is one of the people who inspire us. We are happy to contribute, however modestly, to the development of this centre, which we were able to visit during our last visit to Lviv.

The second children's centre where we installed a small library is on the other side of the country, in Jovti Vody, a town in the Dnipro oblast. These books were supplied to a community centre focusing on information, learning and creativity. Incidentally, the books were purchased with funds raised in collaboration with Iryna Orshak and the Ukrainian NGO CF Volunteering and Help Center (vdc.in.ua) during the online tombola we organised to win the jacket decorated in the colours of Ukraine (see our article on https://thesmallprojects.org/tombola-urkaine/https://thesmallprojects.org/tombola-urkaine/) and won by a donor in the Netherlands.

The coming days will see the creation of three new libraries in Dnipro and Zaporijia, which will be the subject of another article.