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“I find a sense of release by dancing and by spending time with my child,” says Alina.

She often visits the Nikolaevka dom kultury, a community centre that offers entertainment for children; Alina posed in front of the backdrop for a puppet show.

The centre is also the location for meetings with organisations such as Elva.

"We’ve set up a network of community monitors in communities along the contact line who report on local socio-economic and community and safety needs,” explains Jonne Catshoek, director of Elva.

“With the support of the UNDP, we work with our partner, the IPCG (Institute For Peace and Common Ground), and together with these monitors, other residents in the community and local authorities to address these needs and to distribute small grants."

Nearly all those attending the meeting are women.