My name is Sheila Esshaki, and I have been at ISP for three years. I have some experience with the positive effects of affinity groups. An affinity group is just a group of people who gather because they share a common interest. In this case, Mr. Bogli and I discussed a need for a Ukrainian affinity group. We wanted to be able to have a space to support Ukrainian students with any mental health issues that might arise. We discussed the idea with Mari who spearheaded the group as part of her grade 8 community project.
Hi! I’m Mari and I’m in 8th grade at ISP. I came here from Ukraine, Kyiv in November 2022.
Why did I want to create this club:
I found it hard to adjust to the new environment with things at home being so difficult and uncertain, and by talking to other Ukrainian students I knew that I definitely wasn’t the only one. I figured that It’d be nice to have a Ukrainian Community at ISP that could unite students from different grades to give each other support about the shared post war experience. My mission was to create a safe space for people to share, listen and relate to each other. In addition, I wanted people that haven’t been here for a while to have a place where they belonged, and give them an ability to express themselves in their own language. At the same time, part of my goal was to make it as fun and entertaining as possible, making people build friendly connections with one another.
Mr. Bogli is the middle school counselor at ISP. When working with a few students that moved to Prague due to the Russian invasion he along with one of these students began to hatch the idea of putting a group together. The idea was to bring the Ukrainian community together so they could share their experiences, spend time together, and have some fun.