Empower Marina's Digital Artistry Amid Crisis
Donation protected
Hello, I am organizing this fundraiser for a truly remarkable young woman living in Kyiv, Ukraine. Marina is a gifted digital artist who has been working professionally in the field for several years. Unfortunately, Marina's job security and livelihood are now being threatened by increasing instability within Ukraine. This is an incredibly tenuous time for young people like Marina, who have worked so hard to build secure lives for themselves and their families. So much depends on having the basic resources to survive the prolonged degradation imposed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Besides adapting to and living with constant terror of annihilation, Marina is now struggling to meet basic needs for herself and her family within an infrastructure that is crumbling. Her partner is a twenty-five year old man who is unable to leave the country due to Ukrainian martial law. The physical, psychological, and vocational harm being done to Marina and her family may be irrevocable, and this breaks my heart. I have known Marina and her family since the war began two years ago and I have witnessed the corrosive effects of this prolonged and violent conflict. I know that Marina's work is critical to the stability of her family, and she is at risk of losing so much if she cannot keep doing her job. I really want to help Marina obtain the equipment that she needs to continue doing her job in the context of so much uncertainty. I know that it is very difficult for Marina to ask for help, and it has taken a lot of courage for her to reach out in this way. Here is Marina's story in her own words:
(Marina's artwork)
My name is Marina, I am a digital artist from Ukraine, Kyiv. I am 25 years old. It’s been really hard to live here since the war started, besides being scared for my life and life of my family, the cost of living raises everyday and life is becoming harder and harder.
The breaking point for me is the blackout. Sometimes I have only 2 hours of electricity during a day and 2 hours during a night. It’s really hard to get anything done. The fridge is spoiling food faster, I cannot cook (I have electric stove) or even warm up prepared meal, can not clean or wash clothes. But the worst part is that I can not do my job. I work fully remote on foreign company and I barely can do my job. On top of that, my pc’s power unit got broken once already and had to be replaced because of electricity shortages. Unfortunately the laptop is not an answer for me because I need to use some extremely demanding programs for my job such as Adobe Photoshop, Blender and Unity. I don’t think any laptop will survive longer than an hour without power while using any of this programs, and if some do, they are extremely expensive.
I can not move. Well technically, I can, but I will have to leave my partner and my whole family behind, and that means being all alone and also worried sick about them… What if something happens to them while I am gone? But I am also really afraid to lose my job. It’s the only stable thing in my life right now.
The news say that the situation with power only going to get worse…
This is why I am trying to save money for a power station that will be able to provide me with extra 4-6 hours of power. But it’s very expensive and it’s going to take me months to get enough money to get it and I am afraid that I will lose my job before I am able to.
This is the optimal option for me that I found. I know that there are more powerful ones, that could provide me with 10 hours of electricity, but those are way too expensive.
The one I need costs around 1400 dollars without discount. (I am sending uk link cause I have a friend there who can ship it to me)
Please help.
*Regarding donations: Marina has requested that I collect any contributions to this fundraiser, and forward them directly to her via PayPal. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly with any questions.
Thank you so much!
(Marina's artwork)
Organizer
Jennifer Emerson
Organizer
Brattleboro, VT