Active in Bethel, mentally in Ukraine

Since last September, Betheljahr participant Yelyzaveta Topolska has been working at the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, which is part of the Bethel Protestant Clinical Centre. The young woman comes from Nizhyn, around 150 kilometres north-east of Kiev. The war is omnipresent here.

Despite the physical distance, Yelyzaveta Topolska is very close to the terrible events. She always keeps an eye on her phone as it provides her with information. She is not only interested in the reports from media organisations and news agencies, but above all in the impressions, experiences and thoughts that friends and family share with her. And what they write is depressing: the war has permeated all areas of life in the place she calls home. Although the intensity of the fighting is constantly increasing, almost everyone she knows has stayed there. This war is not only terrible, but also an injustice: "People have a right to live in peace!"

Yelyzaveta Topolska's voluntary social year brought her to Bethel. The 25-year-old is actually already a teacher, but her qualification is not recognised in Germany. She has known the country where she is now volunteering for a long time. Even as a schoolgirl, she visited her uncle, who lives in Bavaria, and learnt the language, which she now speaks fluently, during various holiday jobs. After her Bethel year, she wants to pursue a career in the healthcare sector and would like to continue working with children.

Living in Germany while the war is raging in her home country is not easy for Yelyzaveta Topolska: "Of course I'm happy to be safe," she says, describing her emotional state. "At the same time, my thoughts are in Ukraine."