“WE CAME WITH OUR STORIES — WE GROW IN EUROPE” [Stories of Ukrainian children about war, Latvia, integration, and Europe]

The main message of our event: “We are not just war refugees. We are children who have come from Ukraine to Europe, learning, growing, making friends, and building our future.”

Event format: a 60 minute international online school event, which includes:

1. Opening – what Erasmus Days are and why we are sharing our European story today.
2. “My Ukraine” – short personal stories from 10 students.
3. “Why Latvia?” – photos, maps, children’s stories. “My first day at a Latvian school” – interesting, emotional, and also humorous.
4. “What connects us?” – Ukraine + Latvia + Europe. “Europe means to me…” – each student defines their story with one word: freedom, education, friendship, opportunities, safety, culture, future…
5. Cultural part – Ukrainian and Latvian music, dance, poetry, and artworks. Conclusion – “Our Europe 2030” – students will share what kind of Europe they want to see in the future. A map, where each child places a point in Ukraine where they come from, and then a line leads to Riga. At the end, the whole map transforms.