How Children Can Face Non-Childish Problems
Guest post by Maria and Masha, EF Academy Students; edited by Alexandra Jareck, EF Academy Marketing Manager
Unfortunately, sometimes children are faced with not-so-adolescent problems, which not even the most mature adults typically experience.
More than a year ago, the lives of all Ukrainian teenagers were shattered by Russian violence, and they were forced to fight for survival, literally and figuratively, at a very young age.
Few were able to escape from the tragedies at home, and some of those refugees have taken shelter and education at EF Academy in Thornwood, New York. Being so far away from home, these students now live a double life: they spend their days listening to the news to stay informed on events happening at home, while simultaneously trying to receive an education in the United States. In the autumn of 2022, EF Academy student Maria from Dnipro in Eastern Ukraine felt helpless as she watched shelling increase in her hometown. She shares, “I couldn’t sleep at night and experienced terrible anxiety. I checked the news every hour.”
As the situation worsened, Maria took her personal wartime experience and derived a plan to support her home country. One sleepless night, she came up with an idea based on the capabilities of a 16-year-old girl in a foreign country helping children in the motherland. Her efforts were targeted to those who were not only located there, but physically injured by Russian aggression.
While studying at EF Academy, Maria met three other Ukrainian students, and together they created an awareness taskforce. The mission of the taskforce, first and foremost, is to inform and educate the greater community about the warfare. Their messaging is to show the real truth, not a fabricated version found on television or the internet. Passionately, they expressed countless times that the war cannot be downplayed; otherwise, it will continue to rage on with no repercussion.
The taskforce created a two-part appeal to EF Academy’s student body with this in mind and crafted a video demonstrating what is really happening in Ukraine. The video showed a first-person POV of the events and disproved Russia’s claim to be “saving” Ukraine, an argument the taskforce is actively trying to invalidate. The second part of their appeal included a presentation with key points and vital calls-to-action, directed towards the next generation of leaders – students of EF Academy and beyond – that would guide them in raising awareness. The taskforce created trust by being vulnerable and shared their own personal stories. It was a was difficult but necessary decision to demonstrate how intensely Ukrainians are suffering and emphasized the importance of halting invasion.
“Education on the effects of war should not stop with us,” Polina, from Chernihiv, Ukraine, tells us. These students are using this war as the framework in an effort to prevent repeating the past– that is, preventing more wars from occurring. On that stage, in front of all their peers and teachers, these Ukrainian students showcased their tears, anger, sadness, and for a moment at the end – happiness, after hearing all the supportive applause and cheers. During this moment, they felt heard, and they felt seen.
Maria, Polina, Masha (from Kyiv, Ukraine), and Artem (from Odessa, Ukraine), note that it was painful to speak about such significant events that are taking place in their lives right now, but they are thankful to their peers who shared tears.
These students followed up their awareness campaign with a fundraiser for the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital. This hospital provides medical treatment and obstetric care to over 21,000 patients in need of intensive care from the entire eastern part of Ukraine, the area that was most affected by the Russian violence.
The four students raised $1,650 on their own, which was used to purchase quality medicine to be distributed among their emergency department and ICU. This donation has already proved to help in saving the health and lives of Ukrainian children who have suffered from the horrible trials of war.
You may ask, why are Ukrainians are still talking about this?
Masha exclaims, “[it’s] because in the 21st century, war is still being normalized culturally, and because of the normality, such cruelty still exists and will continue to exist throughout nations. Every Ukrainian – every human being – who was affected by this war, wants to spread awareness about the crimes against humanity that are going on in our homeland right now.”
The taskforce urges us all to consider consequences not only for Ukraine, but for the entire world. More attention needs to be given to war, not only to stop this one, but to prevent future ones. Future ones that may occur in any home country.
“Let’s not ignore the situation in Ukraine and let’s not normalize war,” Masha continues, “Let’s stand together and work towards a peaceful resolution. Remember, every small action counts, and it can make a big impact on the lives of those who are struggling.”
To make a contribution on your own, you can visit on of these foundations to donate and learn how you can get involved:
