Support Ukrainian Kindergarten in Budapest

Dear friends,

There is a Ukrainian kindergarten (daycare) for refugee kids aged 2-6 years old in Budapest, Hungary, which needs financial help to stay open. The kindergarten was opened by volunteers on March 9th, after Russia started the war against Ukraine. The kindergarten works 9am-4pm and offers care to about 30 kids every day.

Since its opening, the kindergarten has helped dozens of women and children. The kindergarten offers care in Ukrainian language and provides tremendous help to kids and their mothers who are trying to adapt to an unfamiliar environment in a foreign country, without the usual support of their families. This daycare provides critically needed help to mothers who work while the kids are in daycare.

Many kids found a second home in this daycare because they could communicate with other kids in the language they know and understand. Before joining the daycare, some kids felt isolated in city playgrounds, where locals could not understand their language and were happy to communicate with other kids in their native language.

Two of the young kids are autistic, and for them, it would be tough to adapt to and learn a new language - especially, considering that most children are in Hungary temporarily and waiting to come back home to Ukraine as soon as the war is over.

This entire project became possible after a Ukrainian Hungarian mother of three kids who works full time at a bank and lives permanently in Budapest came up with the daycare idea and searched for ways to realize it. She got support from a Hungarian woman, a mother of two and an owner of the private Montessori kindergarten, who provided space to host the Ukrainian kids. Several Ukrainian refugee women volunteered as teachers, other volunteers helped with cooking, various companies helped with toys and food, and parents volunteered with daily cleaning. And soon after, some charity donations helped pay small wages to teachers, who started as volunteers but inevitably needed financial support as they were refugees themselves. Since July, the parents are also required to pay 1000 forint (about $2.5) a day to help finance the food purchases.

The kindergarten’s funds are expected to run out by mid September. The kindergarten founder applied for money donations to several companies and organizations, and we are awaiting a response, which may take time.

The kindergarten needs 7650 euro ($7678) per month to keep functioning. That includes 27.5% tax. If we fail to collect the funds by September 16th, the kindergarten would have to close.

I am a former journalist, and currently a stay at home mom to two young kids. I am Ukrainian myself, and have been living in Budapest for several years. I’ve been volunteering in this kindergarten since the end of March. I care for a group of toddlers on a daily basis for free. I created this fund-raising appeal to help us collect the amount for at least one more month of the kindergarten’s work. That will help to keep the project going and give us time to get responses from potential business donors, whom the founder appealed to for charity donations.

Please help with whatever you can and please know that your help provides incredibly important support for kids and mothers in the time of need.

If you are donating from Ukraine, please donate via paypal (if possible) directly to Maryna. Please send a message here. The GoFundMe does not currently work in Ukraine.

You could also contact the daycare Перший Український Двомовний Садочок Монтесорі в Будапешті in FB.

With my wholehearted thanks,

Maryna Sysoyeva!