Last weekend (2 - 3 November 2024) on the outskirts of Hamburg, when golden autumn is still in no hurry to hand over its rights to winter, the seventh seminar-training ‘Psychological support for victims of war in Ukraine’ was held at the ‘Samaritan Workers’ Foundation of Germany ASB.

The seminar was attended by Ukrainian women from Odessa, Kiev, Kherson, Dnipro, Zhitomir and Zaporozhye, Donetsk and Mykolayiv regions, who by fate, fleeing the Russian military aggression found themselves in Germany.

The project is implemented by a married couple of doctors, political emigrants from Russia, Alexander and Galina Goncharenko.

Natalia Stepanenko from Chernihiv participated in this seminar as a psychologist.

She managed to master most of the theoretical and practical skills of psychological self-help with the participants of the seminar and to create a friendly team.

The friendly atmosphere and Ukrainian cuisine contributed to the positive result at the end of the seminar.

According to the tradition, at the end of the seminar the project team and the participants of the seminar-training summarised the results.

A lot of warm words were said by women to the project organisers, psychologist and cooks of ASB.

Recommendations and comments were made to improve the training process at the seminar.

Project manager Alexander Goncharenko noted that seventy nine Ukrainian refugees received psychological assistance during seven training seminars and promised to take into account the recommendations during the next similar events.

Communication with the women was not limited to the seminar. All of them became participants of the WhatsApp group: ‘Psychological help to victims of war in Ukraine’.

The project manager, on behalf of the team and the participants of the workshop, expresses her gratitude to the sponsors of the workshop, the Toepfer Foundation from Hamburg, the team and the head of ASB, Günter Arndt, and the managing director of Hamburg Foundation for Politically Persecuted Persons, Martina Baeurle, for their support to the project.

Photo 1 Collective photo is already a tradition;

Photo 2 Alexander Goncharenko tells about the project;

Photo 3 Psychologist Natalia Stepanenko;

Photo 4. On the first day for lunch cutlets with mashed potatoes;

Photo 5 Outsiders do not enter, there is a seminar;

Photo 6 Training in active psychological methods;

Photo 7. At the dinner table on the second day of the seminar;

Photo 8. Ukrainian dumplings.

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Today, 14 October 2024, press freedom week opened in the free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg at the City Hall .

It has become a good tradition to hold a press freedom forum in Hamburg in autumn, during which journalists, public figures and government representatives discuss the relationship between the authorities and the journalistic community in the world.

Whereas last year the main guest of the forum was Dmitry Muratov, winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize and editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, this year's key topic was a speech by Mr Glauton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders USA.

Dr. Carsten Brosda, Senator of the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media, addressed the event with a welcoming speech.

He was followed by dialogue speeches by Dr. Lothar Dittmer, Chairman of the Board of the Körber Foundation and Prof. Manuel J. Hartung, Chairman of the Board of the Time Bucerius Foundation.

This was followed by a presentation by Glauton Weimers.

The forum concluded with a discussion on the role and challenges of the modern press, in which, in addition to the American guest, Mrs Grit Baldauf, Regional Manager for Central Saxony, Free Press and Dr Christian-Mathias Welbrock, Head of Innovation and Research at the Hamburg Media School, took part.

After the official part of the event was over, the forum participants had the opportunity to socialise amongst themselves in an informal setting.

Galina and I really enjoyed meeting and talking to Ilya Politkovsky.

Ilya flew to Hamburg to attend the opening ceremony of the Anna Politkovskaya Square  named after his mother and, at the invitation of the event organisers, took part in the opening of the Hamburg Free Press Week.

Photo 1: Hamburg Free Press Week;

Photo 2. Town Hall Hall where the forum was held;

Photo 3. Hamburg's Senator for Culture and Media, Dr Carsten Brosda;

Photo 4. From left to right: Professor Manuel J. Hartung and Dr Lothar Dittmer;

Photo 5. Glauton Wymers' presentation;

Photo 6. From left to right: Dr Christian-Mathias Welbrock, Mrs Grit Baldauf and Glauton Weimers;

Photo 7. From left to right: Galina Goncharenko, Ilya Politkovsky and Alexander Goncharenko.

Alexander Goncharenko, Russian political émigré