HATE-LESS: Strangers No More – How Everyday Solidarity Builds Belonging After Displacement

EA Editor October 7, 2026 HATE-LESS
HATE-LESS: Strangers No More – How Everyday Solidarity Builds Belonging After Displacement
07 Oct 2026
HATE-LESS
October 7, 2026 EA Editor

Forced displacement changes lives overnight. When armed conflict forces young people to leave their hometowns, they leave behind much more than physical belongings. They lose established routines, educational networks, and familiar neighborhoods. Finding physical safety is vital, but the long-term challenge lies in rediscovering belonging and agency in an unfamiliar setting.

 

In our latest HATE-LESS participatory video, produced by our German consortium partner European Youth4Media Network e.V. (Y4MN), international relations student Aksinia Marchenko reflects on her path forward.

 

Starting Over: Aksinia’s Relocation to Lutsk

Originally from Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, Aksinia had to leave her home following the full-scale invasion. She relocated almost 1,000 kilometres northwest to Lutsk to continue her university studies.

 

Arriving in an unfamiliar city alongside her mother, the initial transition felt daunting. Simple daily logistics, such as navigating transit routes and settling into a new institution, carried immense emotional weight. However, small human gestures immediately shifted her experience.

 

When the two boarded a city bus without knowing where to get off, fellow passengers stepped up to guide them. Later, as she entered the lecture halls, classmates and faculty members welcomed her warmly without treating her as an outsider. That immediate openness gave her the psychological safety needed to rebuild her routine.

 

Why Community Support After Displacement Builds Real Belonging

Formal integration systems frequently prioritize legal procedures, housing allocations, and administrative paperwork. While essential, these frameworks cannot replace direct human solidarity. Real social cohesion develops through daily actions:

  • Unconditional Hospitality: Everyday kindness—such as showing someone the way or sharing lecture notes—erases the friction of entering a new social environment.
  • Supportive Educational Spaces: Universities, youth organizations, and schools serve as stable anchors where displaced youth regain confidence and purpose.
  • Active Peer Participation: Engaging in volunteer initiatives enables newcomers to transition from passive aid recipients to recognized community leaders.

 

For Aksinia, volunteering became a turning point. Participating in local student initiatives allowed her to apply her skills, form close friendships, and make a tangible contribution to her new home.

 

Countering Hate Speech Through Participatory Video

Prejudice and xenophobia often thrive on abstract stereotypes and fear of the unknown. The HATE-LESS project uses participatory video methodologies to directly counter this polarization.

 

Instead of traditional media campaigns where external crews speak for affected individuals, participatory video hands narrative control back to youth. Young storytellers document their lived experiences in their own words.

 

Aksinia’s story delivers a straightforward, powerful truth: strangers do not have to remain strangers when communities choose to welcome, listen, and support one another.

 

Watch the Participatory Video

Experience Aksinia’s full journey in the second HATE-LESS participatory video below:

 

Official Website of the HATE-LESS Project: https://hate-less.eu

 

Funding Agency: JUGEND für Europa

Project: 2024-1-DE04-KA220-YOU-000244181

 

Disclaimer: Co-financed by the European Union. The opinions and points of view expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or of the JUGEND für Europa (German National Agency for Erasmus+ Youth, Erasmus+ Sport and the European Solidarity Corps).