Canisterapy in the heart and in action: the story of Oksana Kamyshna, an IDP from Kherson region

Love for dogs and a desire to help people understand them better. For Novokakhovka resident Oksana Kamyshna, these are the main reasons for her professional path in the fields of grooming and canine therapy. The full-scale invasion completely changed the woman's life. Because of the occupation of her hometown on the left bank of the Kherson region, she was forced to leave her home, her offline job as a speech therapist in a preschool and a specialist at the Inclusive Resource Center, and her successful project "Minutes of Kindness." She also has plans and dreams of expanding her own nursery, Perlyna Tavriyii. However, while living in Odesa as an IDP, Oksana found the strength and resources to restore some of what she had lost. Read more in the exclusive material of Intent.

"Minutes of Kindness: a project that changes attitudes towards animals

Before the full-scale war, Oksana Kamyshna worked in several educational institutions in Nova Kakhovka, teaching children. In her free time, she was engaged in breeding and training Basset Hound and Clumber Spaniel dogs and grooming. She gradually combined these areas in the canine-assisted therapy project Minutes of Kindness.

Oksana Kamyshna in Nova Kakhovka

"I believe that it is my mission to teach people the rules of animal treatment, to explain the importance of respecting and helping animals. For example, that you can't touch a dog without its owner's permission and how to deal with stray dogs. That's how I came up with the idea for the Minutes of Kindness project. The idea was supported by Svitlana Shulezhko, the head of Ivonka preschool, and Maryna Skrypnikova, the director of the Inclusive Resource Center, where I worked. And after a certain period of time, the initiative found a response in other preschools in our city," says Oksana.

At that time, she had three dogs: Barbara, Babette, and Isolde. Each of the animals had its own "approach" to the kids. Barbara, for example, grew up and was brought up in a speech therapy group, whose members understood how to treat the dogs with goodies that they earned for making the right decision. There was also a variant when Baryska (another nickname for Barbara) brought plasticine to the children for a correct answer, and then they were asked to make a dog out of the material.

Children get creative in the classroom

In general, the lessons consisted of two parts: theoretical and practical. All elements were carefully thought out and presented in a playful way. As a result, the teacher worked not only on the educational goal, but also on the correctional goal of speech and fine motor skills, and psychological goals.

"Minutes of Kindness" project

Oksana Kamyshna planned to scale up the project and introduce it to schools in Nova Kakhovka. To do this, she had a lesson plan developed and approved by the Department of Speech Therapy at Kherson State University. And during the full-scale invasion, her methodological manual "Minutes of Kindness" was published and approved by the Kherson Academy of Continuing Education. Also this year, Oksana graduated from the Sumy National Agrarian University with a master's degree in cynology.

"Canine therapy is a very useful and promising field in which significant corrective results can be achieved. In neighboring Poland, canine therapy dogs are used in hospitals to work with comatose patients. This way they stimulate their brain activity. In Ukraine, this is not yet practiced to such an extent, but we are getting there. Children, pensioners, the military... Our positive emotions trigger completely different mechanisms that improve the health of all processes. Rehabilitation is possible even in familiar activities, such as reading, modeling, drawing, when a dog becomes a part of this process. Because the animal helps to overcome stress, relax and not think about mistakes or other difficulties," the teacher explains.

Babette, Barbara and Isolde are not just dogs

Oksana Kamyshna says her first dog was a dachshund named Akira, who she got for her soul. Then she adopted Babette, a basset hound, with whom she started her dog training career. She emphasizes that in order for an animal to work as a canine handler, it must have a stable psyche and show learning abilities, be socialized and calm, and love children. The training is not easy, but the dog's welfare is at the heart of it. Also, in adulthood, the animal repeatedly takes specialized courses and constantly improves its skills.

Babette the Basset Hound, her daughter Barbara, and Isolde the Clumber Spaniel are more than pets and furry partners in the workplace. They are full-fledged family members. So, leaving the temporarily occupied Nova Kakhovka for the unknown, they were loaded into the car first. The journey with three dogs was not easy.

"After a few months of living under Russian occupation, we could not stand it and evacuated through Snihurivka (a village in Mykolaiv region - Ed.). There were a lot of checkpoints. The animals were on the unfolded back seats, but I was very afraid that they would not escape to the fields through the trunk. And these [Russian soldiers - Ed.] were climbing everywhere, asking about everything, opening everything. This was happening in parallel. I was terribly nervous. And the first Ukrainian checkpoint was such a crazy happiness. I finally exhaled freely. Shortly after leaving, unfortunately, Babette passed away," Oksana recalls.

Leaving occupied Nova Kakhovka with three dogs was not easy

In the summer of 2022, Barbara and Izychka (another nickname for Isolde) were trained at a canine therapy camp in Poland, and after completing the training, they were tested for their suitability to work as canine therapy dogs for visiting classes. The animals passed the exams with flying colors and received the appropriate certificates. They can work both offline and online.

Online canine therapy

In addition, both dogs are involved in exhibition and dance activities. They are athletes in canine freestyle (a discipline of animal training in which a handler and a dog demonstrate a dance to music).

"We have recently returned from a competition in Dnipro, in which we have participated for the third year in a row. This spring we also attended the Odesa and Kyiv tournaments for the first time. Barbara won first place, and Isolda won second and third place. So we are developing in this direction as well," the dog handler notes.

Agrant as a chance to rebuild their lives

After being forced to evacuate, Oksana Kamyshna settles down with her daughter in Odesa, while her husband and son mobilize to the Armed Forces. In her new home, she is supported by the grooming community. Oksana gets a job in one of the local grooming salons, and later in another. She says that she became interested in this field even before the full-scale invasion began.

At the same time, Oksana continued to teach at the Inclusive Resource Center. The teacher remotely provides counseling and correctional and developmental assistance to children from the Novokakhovka community, working on their speech and emotional state.

"Renting a house in a big city and supporting a family with two dogs is difficult, especially being an IDP. However, I had to move forward. So, when I had the opportunity to fill out an application for participation in a grant project from Caritas Ukraine, I took it. I wanted to implement a canisterapy program, but unfortunately, our community is not yet ready to spend money on it. Therefore, it is impossible to calculate expenses, profits, balances, and generally get stable feedback in financial terms. For this reason, in the process of preparing the concept, I changed the idea to a grooming salon," says Oksana Kamyshna.

The team of the charitable foundation liked the woman's idea. So, after a while, she was able to open her own office in Odesa to provide high-quality and full-fledged grooming services. The room is equipped with everything she needs, from furniture to tools. To make the business not just work, but develop and prosper, Oksana began to study the grooming industry in more detail. She now has the relevant certificates and has participated in various specialized competitions.

On the way to her dream

However, Oksana Kamyshna did not give up her canine therapy work. The dog handler continues to conduct "Minutes of Kindness" classes with Barbara and Izolda. She does this mostly at the invitation of volunteers. Among them are the Free Together charity organization, the Caritas Odesa UGCC charity foundation, the City of a Thousand Springs Charity Foundation, and others.

Oksana does not hide her desire to work with the military to help them rehabilitate. After all, not all adults are ready to communicate with psychologists. Dogs, on the other hand, can reach them faster and easier. Therefore, the woman continues to study canine-assisted therapy, expanding her knowledge at various trainings.

Oksana is constantly learning, improving her knowledge and skills

"I really want to create a project that combines love for animals, care for the younger generation, and the power of therapy. Namely, to open a canine-assisted therapy center. It will provide support to children of different ages and situations, such as IDPs or those with mental disabilities. The goal is also to visit educational institutions on a regular basis with "Minutes of Kindness" lessons. Or vice versa - schoolchildren and students could come to us with their animals. At such lessons, we would tell and show them how to properly care for their pets. And of course, we could also use the possibilities of speech therapy and psychology. To realize the plan, we need not only to write a plan but also to find sponsors. This process is not easy," says Oksana Kamyshna.

Oksana even has a name and logo for her dream - "BariziKanisLogoGrum", which includes the names Barbara and Isolde. She notes that the scope for her pedagogical, canine-assisted therapy, canine and grooming experience is significant and has its potential in combining all skills at the same time. That is why she is so eager to use it for the development of Ukraine.

Oksana is not going to give up her canine therapy work

All photos were provided by the interviewee.

The work on this material was made possible by the Fight for Facts project, which is implemented with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Яніна Надточа, Віктор Турецький