Too young for war... Keep Ira safe

I'm Ira's host mom Carrie, and this is her story.

 

Hello, everybody! My name is Iryna Hotsuliak, I’m 16 years old and from Ukraine.

A few years ago, I learned about the student exchange scholarship program in America, so I worked hard to become an exchange student with a scholarship, which took me a long time and effort to accomplish.

In August, I left my American adventure, I saw my parents for the last time before having my dream come true. We were crying because I was the only child who was leaving for 10 months. However, we knew it was only for 10 months and then I was supposed to go back.

On February 24th, everything changed. I learned that Russia had heavily bombed my country. The first days are such a blur now, I can hardly recall them, what I remember for sure is contacting my family every single time to make sure they were alive.

Bombing and sirens multiple times a day, every single day around all of Ukraine, killing Ukrainian soldiers who had their own families and dreams, cruelly raping Ukrainian women and children, and torturing Ukrainian civilians. Destroying the infrastructure so people die from hunger - that’s what my compatriots are facing now. Unfortunately, I could be one of them just because I’m Ukrainian.

However, I’m physically safe in the USA, and my parents are crying and begging me not to come home to Ukraine now. The situation is unpredictable. So I call my mom to talk, and then she says they hear sirens, and they have to go to the bomb shelter.

Everybody who is not indifferent to my situation, can save my life and give my parents peace that I stay safe. My host family wants me to stay safe with them. We are trying to file for asylum, which takes a lot of money. The predictions are that the war will not end anytime soon. So we decided that I should go to college, not waste time and be able to help my country as soon as possible with more skills. However, college requires me to have $25,000 in a bank account, making it complicated and unaffordable. That’s why we are arranging a fundraiser for my safe future and hoping for a safe and independent Ukraine!