Article Siena Versaci

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Flip The Switch

by Siena Versaci

Sitting in a small claustrophobic seat, with knees pressed up against the chair in front of yours, you glance out the tiny circular porthole as you ascend into the bright blue sky, painted with milky white clouds and a brilliant orange glow as the sun sets in the west. All you can think about is what awaits you down below, and the adventures to come. Suddenly, as you shift focus to reality, the sky darkens and what was once the beautiful glow of an orange sunset is now the streaking lights of missiles tearing through the sky onto the land below. For you are not traveling forth to a relaxing vacation getaway, or what could possibly be a very productive work trip, not even a visit to family far away, but instead, you are flying away from your war-torn homeland. Your world has been turned upside down overnight, yet, even with all that's been lost, you still feel a glimmer, no, a reservoir of hope lingering.

This is what eight children felt as they soared away from their beloved and burning home, headed for a place as different as Night was from Day.

Last summer I was given the remarkable opportunity to befriend eight kids from Ukraine who were sponsored to attend my summer camp in Connecticut. For the past many months, they have been in and out of bomb shelters and have dealt with the unimaginable day-to-day life of war. Each with unique stories of their own, they were brought together in this time of great suffering and sorrow by the very war that tore their beautiful country apart.

During their time spent in bomb shelters, they focused their time on a common interest of theater to bring happiness to those around them. With their combined talents they created a handsome tribute and display of stories that tied together and reflected upon their experience.

Filled with the heartache and love that they felt for their parents that were now far, far away, ripped from them into war’s tight grasp, the show, “Mom On Skype,” gave an insight into the lives of these children that were tainted with grief from the past, present, and future to come. Still, for every sorrow, they had twice as much courage and hope, filling their stories with a passion for their country, tales of playful and mischievous accounts of their childhood in which they stood tall together, but most importantly they exhibited hope.

In their songs and tales of life, they showed so much pride and a deep love for the country they called home. In this time of devastation and colossal loss, these children managed to inspire and bring hope to everyone around them, as well as people oceans away, which is a feat with which even grown adults have considerable trouble. With all odds against them, they used their passion to bring a little light to their world and brought back the beautiful orange glow of the sunset and the rich azure blue sky draped with soft fluffy clouds. They brought back a world full of color and possibility, all with a little bit of hope.

These kids’ optimism for the future of Ukraine showed loud and clear in the message of their show and their words of encouragement and hope. These kids believe with all their hearts that their country will get through this and end up with their country back. But these Ukrainian teens also said they need more help. With their parents fighting in the war for their children’s future and home, these eight child refugees shined a bright light on the situation.

They told us, and the whole audience of their shows, through some tears, that Ukraine needs more help than they are currently receiving from allied governments for political reasons, but that there is nothing stopping individuals who care from doing more. These kids, ages seven through fourteen, are raising money for a fund to buy better military equipment for Ukraine - something that allied governments are politically restrained from providing them. While we sit back and watch, our hearts saddened by what we hear in the news, but also distracted by other more recent news, we have to stand with them together and do something. We must do the right thing. We must use our voices. We must not give up, for they still have determination in their hearts, so surely we can too.