Hi all – please consider donating to mom’s sister Sveta if you have the means. As a bit of background, my aunt is an artist in Kyiv, Ukraine. She is supremely talented at her craft, but unfortunately that craft has not been in demand for some years. Even pre-war, the country was the poorest in Europe, with poverty rates hitting up to 60% of the population; there was not a lot of disposable income to buy art.

 

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve logged almost exclusively sleepless nights watching war devastate the once-beautiful country from which my parents emigrated. Despite (or maybe as a result of) the checkered history – Holodomor, Babi Yar, pogroms, collective farms, bread lines, decades of communist and authoritarian regime – Ukrainians are a beautiful people too, characterized by selflessness even when barely having the means.

 

As you might imagine, Sveta’s life has been uprooted alongside millions of others the past two weeks. She faces her own mortality every day, as Russians are encircling Kyiv, escalating shelling of civilian areas and thwarting organized evacuation efforts. The International Red Cross reported that “humanitarian corridors” prepared by Russia for civilians have been loaded with mines – something not even done by Nazi Germany. The sheer displacement of people is creating the fastest-growing refugee crisis since the Second World War. Right now, her situation hangs in the balance as our family is actively trying to coordinate her evacuation from Kyiv.

 

I wish I could point to one specific thing Sveta would use these funds for, but the most accurate description would be to simply sustain her livelihood with food and resources and help chip away at the high fixed costs associated with any potential move – assuming she even makes it out alive. Knowing her, she will spread resources to those around her who may also be in need. She is not one to ask for help or burden people with her personal issues, so I know she would be blown away by any help you can provide. Thank you.

 

 

(L-R) My aunt, my grandma, my mom