Cottesmore Headmaster In A War Zone – Day 2

For those of you who did not read the previous explanatory article here, Cottesmore Head Tom Rogerson accepted an invitation to join a cross-party delegation on a mission to Ukraine. MPs from the Labour, Liberal Democrat & Conservative parties accompany him on the trip, as well as no small amount of journalists. As Tom makes progress in his journey, he posts updates on LinkedIn – updates that School House Magazine will also be publishing. Excitingly, the second of these updates can be read below.

‘A PLACE OF HOPE

We were straight up & out in the morning; the quick, perpetual movement is becoming a theme.

We drove straight to what one could describe as a commune or community near Lviv set up by an incredible priest, Father Ihor, which helps broken souls heal. The site used to be a nuclear missile launch zone (with a few of the missiles pointed at London, but that is another story), but the area was decommissioned decades ago and unfortunately ransacked. Father Ihor took on the enormous task of renovating the site to use as a place of respite & healing.

POST TRAUMATIC GROWTH

The charity have started a rehabilitation programme for veterans with post-traumatic stress. Simon Edwards, who created programmes for Help for Heroes has put the course together.

The most profound part of it is that Simon wants to change the label of ‘Post-traumatic Stress Disorder’ to ‘Post-traumatic Growth’. “It is only through suffering that we grow to our full potential,” he says. He believes that veterans can become even better human beings than they were before, through their experiences.

Amazingly, Cottesmore will have the privilege of working with Simon Edwards on its own special leadership course, but again that is a story for another day.

NIGHT TRAIN TO KYIV

Finally, we took the night train to Kyiv, which was actually quite fun. I stayed up until 2am talking to my cabin partner about our hopes & dreams for the future, like excited pre-teens at a sleepover, which was a bit silly as we have some serious work to do, but it was also exhilarating.

We’re getting closer to the twinning!’

To read the previous entry, click here. To read the next entry, click here.