The project had the following objectives: 1) to create NETWORK of social workers, care givers, educators, NGOs working with Ukrainian refugees and other vulnerable groups in Latvia, Lithuania and Brussels via 1 online kick off meeting, 1 online Toolkit developed by all the partners, 2 dissemination activities in LV and 1 dissemination activity in LT, 3 country briefings (pdf files) about the used emotional well being approaches in LT, BE, LV, communication activities in social media of LV and LT, project management activities, including monitoring and evaluation. 2) to provide TRAININGS for social workers, care givers, educators, NGOs working with Ukrainian refugees and other vulnerable groups via 1 transnational interim meeting in LT, 1 transnational workshop in Brussels, 1 transnational dissemination meeting in LV.
In Latvia and Lithuania, there is an increasing number of the socially vulnerable groups who need the resilience skills in the challenging life circumstances, f.ex. violence in the family, disease, poverty etc. The war in Ukraine has highlighted one more vulnerable group, refugees, mostly Ukrainian women and children. The war and negative life experiences can be direct or indirect, but both can have a negative impact on the people's mental health and well-being. The vulnerable groups often do not know how to deal with emotional and psychological factors in their lives. The best mediators who can help the vulnerable people to stand against different crises and problems are social workers, family specialists, NGO representatives who work with such groups on daily bases and who need the skills and knowledge not only how to support the vulnerable groups but also how not to burn themselves in this work. The project idea was not only to train the trainers but also help the social workers integrate the emotional well-being exercises in the daily work with different socially vulnerable groups so helping them to move from victimhood to the belief that everybody can have potential for resilience and strength.