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Serving Ukrainian Refugees in PolandIn Ukraine Since 2022 |
The war with Russia has caused one of the fastest large-scale displacements of children since World War II. Save the Children director Socia Khush warned that children affected by this war are severely at risk of “toxic stress,” a condition triggered by extreme periods of adversity. The effects are so powerful that they can alter brain structures and organ systems, lasting long into children’s adult lives.
In its 4th year of operation, our Ukrainian Refugee Program has continued to transform lives. Director Liz Shropshire and volunteers are currently in holding in-person classes and training in Łódź, Poland. Here's an update from team member Tre Hulme (August 2025):
"Our Poland program for Ukrainian refugee children has been going very well this year. We have been serving in the city of Łodź for the past three summers (about one and a half hours southwest of Warsaw). This year we partnered with a Catholic family services organization called Centrum Słuzby Rodzinie in a different location than past summers. They have provided us with a beautiful classroom and allowed us to store all of our materials there. It really has been a great situation.
"We received a fantastic response from nearby Ukrainian refugee families, with many children enthusiastically joining our program and more additions each week. Several of our dedicated youth volunteers from past years agreed to continue helping us teach this year -- a major time commitment. And due to the amazing response from other local teens, we have more than doubled the number of youth volunteers this year! This has been unbelievably helpful when we need to break out into small groups with the children. They receive excellent small group and one-on-one training because of the number of volunteers we have. All of the children are making very good progress.
"For the third year in a row, we have also been teaching twice a week in the evening at the local YMCA, which is a more convenient location for some of the Ukrainian families. This additional venue gives us a perfect way to reach many children who wouldn't otherwise be able to make it to our other center.
"And in even more exciting news, with the help of the humanitarian missionaries based in Kraków, we were able to meet with a Ukrainian pastor there who is very excited to have us begin a program for Ukrainian refugees in that beautiful city -- so we will be expanding to a new city very soon!"
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Our program brings purpose, self esteem, achievement, creativity, and joy while reducing the effects of trauma and severe stress. See the latest photos below and read our latest Impact Report to learn more.
A Few Shots So Far from 2025!
VIEW OUR LATEST IMPACT REPORT!
A few of our favorite shots from 2024 below
Ukraine
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Serving Ukrainian Refugees in Poland
At least 12 million people have fled their homes since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We've established a program for young refugees in Łódź, Poland, teaching harmonica, singing, and ukulele classes while also providing teacher training for teenagers. In a time of severe stress and trauma, our program brings purpose, self esteem, achievement, creativity, fun and joy.
Bangladesh
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Serving Bangladeshi Children & Rohingya Refugees
Currently an astounding 890,000 Rohingya refugees are living in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar region in the largest and most densely populated camps on earth. This crisis has strained an already impoverished country, which has shown unprecedented generosity to the deeply persecuted Rohingya people. PTMI is making a significant impact in the lives of both Rohingya and Bangladeshi children.
Iraq
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Serving Yazidi & Iraqi Youth
Nearly a decade after the Islamic State (ISIS) brutally displaced the ethnoreligious population of Yazidis from their homes, over 280,000 are still languishing in IDP camps in Kurdistan. Since 2022, a group of young adults have flourished in a ukulele class taught online with help from a young Yazidi volunteer living as a refugee in Germany.
Arizona
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Rescued Afghan Refugees & Unaccompanied Minors
In 2021, hundreds of Afghan families narrowly escaped the brutal Taliban regime to begin new lives in Arizona. PTMI quickly mobilized to provide a comprehensive program to help them begin life in the US in a healthy, positive way. Our program has since expanded to serve unaccompanied minors and other refugees living in the Phoenix area.
Refugee Camps in Greece
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Refugee Camps in Greece
The war in Syria was at the root of the worst refugee crisis since WWII. Children were both targeted and recruited, and families left Syria by the millions. SMF built a program not just for Syrian refugees, but also Kurdish, Afghan and Yazidi children and teenagers-- all in Greek refugee camps. The program provided structure and much-needed opportunities for achievement and self expression.
Northern Ireland
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Peace Through Music Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, 93% of schools are still segregated, Catholic vs. Protestant. The threat of sectarian violence is woven into everyday life. PTMI believes socialization across religious and ethnic differences through shared activity is crucial to helping children build common experiences and relationships— ultimately serving as a foundation for continued peace.
Utah
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Refugees Living in Salt Lake City
More than 60,000 refugees or "new Americans" live in Utah. Young people must make a difficult adjustment-- learning not only a new language but a whole new way of life. With the help of an incredible group of teenage volunteers, our Salt Lake City program lifted young people in the Granite School District.
Kosovo
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Peace Through Music Kosovo
The war in Kosovo ended in 1999, but the affects of this war-- poverty, intolerance, segregation, racism--were experienced every day for many years, especially by children raised in camps and those living in minority communities. For two decades SMF worked with the children and teenagers of Kosovo to develop self esteem, tolerance, and a love of peace through music.
Uganda
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Peace Through Music Uganda
Northern Uganda continues to recover from a brutal civil war in which approximately 66,000 children were kidnapped and forced to become soldiers and 2 million people were displaced internally from 1986 to 2009. Many lived in IDP camps, where they experienced malnutrition and extreme poverty. From 2005 until 2017, The Shropshire Music Foundation ran programs in Gulu and surrounding areas in an IDP camp, 3 primary schools, and 2 high schools that served, among others: former child soldiers, unwanted children born to child soldiers, child mothers, and Night Commuters (children who commuted nightly to evade kidnappers).
