Jill Biden praises Ukraine’s refugee mothers and teachers, calling them ‘amazingly strong and resilient’
- United States first lady met the women on a tour of Romania and Slovakia to see US servicemen deployed in the countries
- Despite their ordeal, the women quickly looked for ways to use their skills to help fellow refugees by setting up a kindergarten and classrooms
Sitting in a classroom in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, United States first lady Jill Biden met a group of Ukrainian refugee mothers and educators on Saturday, praising the women for their strength and resilience.
Svitlana Salamatova and Anna Sushko, both founders of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) focused on women’s issues and education, fled the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv soon after Russia invaded the country on February 24.
Another of the women, Anastasiia Konovalova, left her home in Odesa with her toddler son. Svitlana Gollyak and her eight-year-old daughter hid in a basement in the bomb-shelled city of Kharkiv before heading westwards and on to neighbouring Romania.
Despite their ordeal, the women quickly looked for ways to use their skills to help fellow refugees, setting up a kindergarten and several classrooms for Ukrainian children in Bucharest with help from local NGOs, volunteers and officials.
“I crossed the border with my three-year-old son and everything I was thinking about was how to save my child from a city that was bombed,” Konovalova told Biden, herself a teacher.
“Thank God the Romanian people were here. I think even the Romanians didn’t expect that they could be so wonderful, because you don’t expect that from people,” Konovalova said.