Future Rehabilitation Therapists and Artists Take Part in a Polish and Ukrainian Educational Project

In October 2020, the Polish NGO “Inicjatywa Local Communities Development Foundation” realized a project titled Hippology Workshop “Education, Rehabilitation, Sport” within the Erasmus+ Programme together with the Center of Culture and Education “Horyzont”. Polish youth from the town Jasło met Ukrainian youth, and there were 23 participants from each country. United with their love to horseback riding, they studied this sport in detail, trained at different clubs, tried to reach mutual cultural integration, practiced in foreign languages, exchanges experience and developed their artistic skills.

Students of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” Ilona Denysenko, Tetiana Yemchenko, Sofiia Tsyhanko, Valentyna Prytula and Yelyzaveta Nazarenko participated in the project.

The participants of the project were not only focused on horseback riding. They also experienced various kinds of activities, such as visiting horse barns, hiking, touring around Polish towns, attending psychological and theatrical classes, shooting short movies and learning at photography workshops. The variety of opportunities at this project was mentioned by President of Inicjatywa Foundation Olena Haran as one of the advantages of this programme.

“People have lived with horses for a very long time, and they had a very important role in our everyday life. They are also associated with freedom, beauty and dignity. Horseback riding is a great way of spending one’s free time, an interesting type of tourism, a way to communicate with nature, and an opportunity to experience unforgettable adventures,” Head of NGO “Center of Culture and Education “Horyzont” Nataliia Kiriachok commented. “Horses also help cure certain medical conditions, mostly mental and of motor apparatus. Hippotherapy is a method of treating people with disabilities. The horse is acting as a “co-therapist”. Hippotherapy opens great therapeutic possibilities and brings a lot of innovations into the treatment of some difficult dysfunctions.”

Every participant received their YouthPass certificate, and gave creative performances as a good-bye.

All the participants enjoyed the project greatly and mentioned the relevancy of the program for their self-development and future career. They were impressed by the beauty of nature, the tours around Polish towns and cities, the opportunity to get a new point of view on various problems. This project allowed them to meet new people from Ukraine and Poland united by their love to horses and their creativity, helped them develop their team work skills, challenge themselves and learn ways for helping improve one’s mental health.

Polytechnic students also took part in another Erasmus+ project, during which they studied the basics of a creative occupation of the future in Poland.

This autumn, National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” joined the celebration of #ErasmusDAYS2020 in Ukraine.

Media Center of
National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”