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AID FOR UKRAINE
Sierra High exchange student launches fund page
ukraine
ITZYANA GUEVARA/Communication by Design Sierra High foreign exchange student Jessika Kulik holds up a photo of relatives in the Ukraine.

By RYANN BERGEN

Sierra High

Communication by Design

Foreign exchange student Jessika Kulik is attending Sierra High, but her heart resides in Eastern Europe, where her family is among the thousands threatened by Russia’s recent invasion.

Though Kulik, a junior, is a native of Germany, her parents are from Ukraine and she has extended family members still residing there in the war-torn country. Russia launched an invasion on Ukraine in the early morning hours on Feb. 24.

Since then, Russian troops have destroyed historic buildings, attacked and killed civilians, and shot up schools and preschools, orphanages, and hospitals. The death toll has surged to nearly 500 Ukraine civilians as of March 8, according to the United Nations human rights office, including nearly 50 children.

“The Russia people had a plan to invade in the first few days, it didn’t go like they planned it, so they started to attack civilians,” Kulik told student reporters with Inside Sierra and Paw Prints, publications with Sierra High’s student-led Communication & Media department.

There are civilians in need of treatment for a variety of health problems, she says, but cannot receive the help they need.  There are many hiding from the barrage of bombs and bullets in basements and bunkers or seeking refuge in the highest reaches of buildings.

“My family in Ukraine has to sit in bunkers, subways, and basements because the Russian army is attacking their cities,” she wrote on the wall of her fundraising page. “As cities are wiped off the map, people are standing to fight, to defend their homes and the history of Ukraine. Many schools, hospitals, orphanages, historical buildings, and homes have been destroyed. Ukrainian civilians have had their lives ripped away from them. Their normal will never return.”

The Kulik family isn’t standing pat.

Kulik’s parents started a fundraiser in Germany to help the victims in Ukraine. They have been collecting clothing, medication, baby supplies, and other critical materials for Ukrainian civilians and soldiers. Kulik’s dad will travel approximately 5,650 miles to the Ukrainian-Poland border to drop off supplies to be brought over to Ukrainian military and civilians.

Their efforts are boosted by help from the West Coast, where Jessika Kulik is collaborating with her new campus community. Sierra High teacher Elizabeth Tjomsland and Kulik have started a fundraiser – “Aide for Ukraine” – to raise money to support her parents’ supply drive. As of March 11, the page had raised $1,850.

Like Kulik, Tjomsland, an English teacher, has a personal connection to the conflict in Eastern Europe. Tjomsland taught for a year in Ukraine 11 years ago. Many of her friends live in the Zaporizhzhia, where the nuclear power plant came under fire last week.

“To be honest, I’m terrified for them,” Tjomsland said of her friends. “I can only find news about the powerplant but nothing about the actual city. I know some of my friends have fled, but others are determined to stay. When Jessie came to talk to me about the invasion, we both really felt like we needed to do something.”

Kulik added: “I’m here in the United States. I don’t have family (here with me); my parents are in Germany and my whole family is in Ukraine. They’re my people and I just had to do something.”

In addition to purchasing supplies, Kulik hopes the money will help rebuild hospitals, orphanages, and schools, as well fund medical relief.

“There are many children being born in subway stations and in bunkers in the last few days. People have been donating supplies for these newborns: baby clothes, baby wipes, diapers, baby food, and more,” she wrote on the fundraising page. “And we are very grateful for that. My mother always says that there are no foreign children; they are all simply children.”

Sierra High Principal Steve Clark believes it is important to show how connected the campus is to the world beyond its gates. If the campus and greater community can come together to help others halfway around the world, it shows how close we truly are.

“If we can help those in need during these very tough and brutal times then that shows that humanity piece is a huge message to our student body, our community, and to others,” he said.

As an educator, Clark feels it is important to let students stand up for important causes.

“We are here for students,” he added. “Students come through here with many causes and many things they want to stand up for. It is our job to help support them for just causes and this is definitely one that is a humanitarian crisis.”

To donate to the Ukraine relief efforts, use this link: https://fundly.com/aide-for-ukraine