Young people need a future, but it won’t come without investment
In Ukraine, young people’s belief in the future requires action to ensure that the future exists, writes FCA’s Erik Nyström.
I HAVE A STANDARD QUESTION for young people attending school: what are your dreams?
On the threshold of adulthood, everyone has an idea of the answer to this question. Getting into university. Returning to their home country. A job that will support their family Their dream career: maybe even being President. But dreams require more than just willpower. Tomorrow must also exist.
In Ukraine, it has become difficult to believe in anything that lies ahead. How can one imagine the future when the present swallows everything?
And yet people continue to live, study, work, and care for one another. Resilience in Ukraine is admirable in every way. Everyday life goes on under new conditions, and people refuse to give up.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN is a reality where survival is the only goal. The very question of future dreams sounds off-key, perhaps even privileged. Bomb shelters and the previous night’s air raids don’t give the feeling that tomorrow lies in your hands.
Dreams need fuel, such as optimism and realistic role models. This is according to Ruslan Shalamov, a high school teacher who was named Teacher of the Year in Ukraine, whom we met at a school in Kharkiv supported by Finn Church Aid. That is why Shalamov takes his young biology students to universities where research is conducted and to workplaces where new things are being built.
Ruslan believes that the most important thing is to have living examples who are trying to do more than just survive. Before the war, students drew well-being from their free time. Now, the more time they spend at school or work instead of free time, the better they feel.
REPAIRING THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY WAR sends a message of moving forward. Ukraine has long been rebuilt as Russia’s war of aggression destroys it.
People outside of Ukraine can help with reconstruction in many ways. Aid organisations support, for example, the renovation of schools, healthcare, and local experts, but reconstruction is also a good investment for private companies.
Here in Finland, among other things, we have expertise and technology in the fields of energy, transport, and logistics that could be harnessed for the benefit of Ukraine’s infrastructure, construction, and industry. Support is certainly needed, as expert estimates put the cost of rebuilding Ukraine at least $500 billion.
Education, employment, and investment—alongside psychosocial support—are essential for Ukraine’s future. But there is another condition that must be met for any of this to be sufficient.
The war must end.
