Help Vitaliy (Ukrainian Refugee) study in the US

Hi, my name is Anna Hunter and I'm writing this note to tell Vitaliy's story which I'm sure is inspiring to many of us. Vitaliy's dream for a long time has been to study at a University in the US. He was thrilled when he received a letter in the fall of 2021 inviting him to join a Men's Tennis Team at D2 UTPB school in Odessa, TX. Vitaliy started playing tennis when he was 5 years old and he's been working very hard daily toward his dream of one day attending a school in the US.

 

He received all his supporting documents from the school and was ready to attend his visa appointment on February 14th with the goal to come to the US in August of this year, when he received a note saying that due to Russian aggression US embassy in Kiev has closed and he should be looking to obtain his visa in neighboring countries.

 

The week of February 20th became the hardest week of his life due to Russian aggression towards Ukraine. After spending two nights in Kiev at a bomb shelter Vitaliy (at 16 years old) bravely decided to move towards his dream and with only one backpack boarding a bus from Kiev toward Lviv, sitting on the floor for nearly 30 hours. Once he reached Lviv, he was determined to keep moving forward fast and boarded a refugee train from Lviv to Polish boarder again sitting on the floor by the door in between the train cabins with no heat for nearly 50 hours. He was kicked at during the train stops by people but he kept on holding on, kept on being strong.

 

Vitaliy finally crossed Polish boarder Sunday, February 27th after over 5 days of stressful travel and is now looking for next steps to remain in Europe until his I-20 allows him to be eligible to enter the US at the end of July. During this time (5 months) he will need to find a country to open his visa to the US in, stay healthy both physically and mentally, practice tennis, continue his online high school courses, and be on his own in European countries for at least 5 months. He will need help to obtain clothes, food, housing, flights, opportunity to keep practicing and playing tennis, any medical appointments if needed (hopefully not).

 

This is the strength of Ukrainian people. Slava Ukrayini!

 

Videos from his travel will be uploaded soon.

Please note Vitaliy's I-20 annual university out of pocket is $16,345 totaling over $65,000 in four years. If anyone would like to help with educational costs as well we would greatly appreciate it. If you need any additional supporting information happy to provide as requested.

Further, please note that Alla Sydorska (Vitaliy's mother) gave me authorization to handle funds for Vitaliy (my nephew).

 

Image above: Vitaliy boarded a bus from Kiev to Lviv, moving west.

 

 

Image above: I-20

 

 

 

Image above: Vitaliy travelled for 2+ days outside of train cabin to get to Polish border on a refugee train without heat or seat. He sat on the floor.

 

More videos to come.

***Update on family for those who were asking: my father (Vitaliy's grandfather) at 67 went to volunteer to join the Ukraine's Armed Forces. Due to his age, they put him on a list to monitor streets of Lviv. My sister (Vitaliy's mother) is on her own in Ukraine making a trip from Kiev moving village to village towards Romanian border. 

Thank you for all the messages and prayers. It's hard to respond to everyone during these times but from the bottom of my family's heart - THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU!!