As part of the national project “Side by Side: United Communities,” an online art event titled “We Are Different, But United” was held, bringing together schoolchildren from the Bakhmut and Hostomel communities.
The participants included young people from Bakhmut who are attending an educational facility in the city of Dnipro, as well as students currently located in various regions of the country. Despite the distance, the children were able to feel a genuine connection and support for one another.
A symbolic part of the event was an exercise with a string, which represented the unity between Bakhmut and Hostomel. The participants held hands in their minds, creating a sense of a large, shared family.
The central element of the meeting was the creation of a Ukrainian motanka doll named “Podorozhnitsa”—a talisman symbolizing home, the journey, and faith. Each part of the doll had its own meaning: the head symbolized thoughts, the hands symbolized support, and the bright clothing symbolized joy and rebirth.
A special moment was the creation of a “bag of dreams,” into which participants placed notes with the names of places they long to return to or dream of visiting.
At the end, the children presented their work and joined a shared online board, where they shared photos of the dolls and warm wishes.
The art gathering was not only a creative activity but also an important step toward strengthening ties between communities, fostering a sense of support, and building faith in a shared future. It proved once again that despite all the difficulties, Ukrainians remain united, strong, and unbreakable.