Jill Biden meets Ukrainian refugee mothers and teachers in Romania

On Saturday, US First Lady Jill Biden met a group of Ukrainian refugee moms and educators in the Romanian city of Bucharest, complimenting the ladies for their bravery and fortitude.

Svitlana Salamatova and Anna Sushko, both founders of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concentrating on women’s concerns and education, evacuated Kyiv shortly after Russia invaded the nation on February 24.

Anastasiia Konovalova, another of the ladies, left her house in Odesa with her baby son. Svitlana Gollyak and her 8-year-old daughter took refuge in a cellar in the bombed-out city of Kharkiv before fleeing to neighboring Romania.

Despite their hardship, the ladies rapidly sought ways to utilise their abilities to aid other refugees, establishing a kindergarten and numerous classrooms for Ukrainian children in Bucharest with the assistance of 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.

Biden, who teaches English and writing at a small college in Virginia, is visiting Romania and Slovakia to meet with US service members stationed there and refugees.

Since Russia started its invasion, about 910,000 Ukrainians have fled to Romania, with NGOs, local governments, and government agencies collaborating with thousands of volunteers to give food, housing, and transportation.

While many have already moved on, around 80,000 people remain in Romania, largely women with little children.

“Only now I understand how important an educational space, not just an education, is,” Salamatova said. “Our women have time to organize their lives.”

Konovalova said they have 900 children on waiting lists for their Ukrainian classrooms.

“They don’t want to leave this country because they want to stay close to the border and as soon as it’s safe we’re going back … having made a good friend (Romania),” she added.

The wife of President Joe Biden was accompanied by Romanian first lady Carmen Iohannis, who is also a teacher.

“I think mothers will do anything for their children,” Biden told the Ukrainian women. “I think you’re amazingly strong and resilient.”

The first ladies also met Ukrainian and Romanian children who were drawing their handprints on paper printed in the colors of their countries’ respective flags.

“The world is so open now, that we have no borders for our hearts,” Sushko said.

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