The Villavecchia Foundation receives the 2022 Civil Society Prize for their provision of emergency housing for 16 Ukrainian children with cancer
This emergency initiative “Estáis en un lugar seguro” (“You are in a safe place”), starting March 2022, has allowed for 16 Ukrainian children with cancer to continue their treatment in Barcelona and to cover their basic needs while away from war.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has given the 2022 Civil Society Prize to the Enriqueta Villavecchia Foundation for the organization of emergency accommodative housing where, since March 2022, has allowed for 16 sick Ukrainian children to continue their treatment in Barcelona, covering their basic needs while away from war.
Anna Varderi receives the Civil Society Prize in part of the Villavecchia Foundation
The emergency response, organized by both the Villavecchia Foundation and the Josep Carreras Foundation, accommodated a total of 46 people: 16 children with, for the most part, their parents and siblings, who arrived March 18th to Barcelona, evacuated from various cities in Ukraine.
During this time, the initiative has offered these children and their families the best quality of life possible while they continue treatment in the three Catalan hospitals, principal actors in the fundraising and provision of treatments and the care of illness: Hospital de Sant Pau, San Joan de Déu, and Vall D’Hebron.
Liza celebrates her birthday in Barcelona with her mother
Apart from guaranteeing temporary housing, maintenance, and coverage of basic needs, moving and transit costs of these families, their communication needs have been met with interpreters. Additionally, they have been accompanied by our group of volunteers that have been there through their education, celebrations, and leisure activities.
Leila is one of the hired translators by the Foundation
Anna Varderi, director of the Villavecchia Foundation: “We share this prize with the Josep Carreras Foundation, which we have worked with, and all the European organization who have had to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, especially with the three participating catalan hospitals and with the entities caring for the Ukrainian children with cancer in our country: the Sociedad Española de Hematología and Oncología Pediatricas, Ronald McDonald, Afanoc-Casa dels Xuklis, Fundación A. Bosch, Aladina, Asociación Española Contra el Cancer, Federación and many more entities and people who have helped us in many different ways.”
The operation was first started by St Jude Children’s Hospital as the Ukrainian crisis started. The IICC (International Incidence of Childhood Cancer) and SIOPE (Sociedad Europea de Oncolgia Pediatrica) called on the collaboration of all countries. In Cataluña, the program was coordinated with the Departament de Salut, Departament de Drets Socials, CatSalut, Cruz Roja de Catalunya, and with the Ministerios de Inclusion, Sanidad and Defensa del Gobierno en España.
All of this incorporates into a chain of collaborations with a single purpose: make sure children with grave illnesses are far away from bombs and in a safe place, where they can be treated urgently. The history of these children and their families can be followed through the ‘Diario de una acogida’ (‘Diary of a refugee shelter’).
Currently, three families have been able to return to Ukraine and nine have been found temporary housing inside the program of Cruz Roja in Cataluña.
Mykola and their mother Vita have returned to Ukraine
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has conceded this prize to the Villavecchia Foundation in the category of caring for Ukrainian citizens affected by the war. The award ceremony will be celebrated during the Pleno del EESC, in Brussels, on December 15th.
The objective of EESC’s Civil Society Prize, created in 2006, is to benefit and strengthen tangible initiatives of organizations from civil society, or parties that contribute in promoting European identity and integration.
► Did you know that “Estáis en un lugar seguro” (“You are in a safe place”) was the first sentence exchanged between the ones responsible for this initiative and the 16 families that arrived at the Barcelona airport on March 18th?
