I’m Olesia, a 16-year-old high school student from a small village called Yelanets in the Mykolaiv region. I used to have an ordinary life filled with hobbies, time spent with friends, and a peaceful sky above me. Unfortunately, everything changed with the full-scale russian invasion in 2022. I moved from my native city Kryvyi Rih to Yelanets with my mom and brother. My dad has defended our country since 2014.

Despite the war scarcely affecting my village, I have an experience to share. The war immensely influenced my priorities in life and worldview. Thankfully, I did not fall under occupation, as many Ukrainians did. However, my hometown gets shelling attacks occasionally. Hence I had to move to a new home, find new friends, and go to another school. My family and I have lived abroad for five months because of safety reasons. It was tough, but the Ukrainians are a powerful nation, so I was able to adapt to my new life gradually.

Unconditionally, the war is a nightmare in real life that must end as soon as possible. It taught me some crucially important lessons. Especially now I understand why Ukrainians have been trying so hard to renew our culture, language, and nation for centuries. As a result of the full-scale invasion each of us has become emotionally a few years older than we were supposed to be. War made me way more conscious and changed my outlook overall. I assume that I became stronger. Especially during emigration I’ve comprehended that there is nothing dearer but home. As I moved into the village, I got into the new school. I haven’t had a huge experience of extracurricular activities before, so I was seeking out some opportunities in my current school.

My experience with UActive started in October 2023. My tutor proposed to me that I become a member of the team “Respect” to create a useful project for our village. It was a new and unknown experience for everybody, but I wanted to try out this challenge.

I gained a lot of knowledge in leadership, analysis, and organizing my project. Our project is the HUB — a place that unites. It is situated in the backyard of our school. Its goal is to join the citizens of Yelanets and neighborhood villages. Because of the COVID quarantine and war, people stopped communicating with each other, so we decided to make a comfortable place for everyone. We want to unify the citizens because in such a hard time it is crucial to stay strong and find your true happiness.

We provided our HUB with facilities such as: the scene, musical equipment, furniture, and electricity. We organize diverse activities to make the HUB enjoyable for everybody, such as classes of art for kids and themed parties for teens. HUB also holds entertaining programs such as trainings, concerts, and dance.

We have already done some performances in our lovely HUB: the opening of the hub, Children’s Day, a themed party for the high school students, prom night for the graduates, Pumpkin Day, Day of Health and Sport, a dance gathering of resilience, and a volunteer fair to help the United forces of Ukraine. And there is so much more being planned! We would like to upgrade HUB in the future to make it even more functional and convenient for our community!

Even though I faced lots of issues on my way, I live and create. Ukrainian youth want to change the country and we are ready to cope with unpleasant obstacles. Remember this is our future.