Humans of Odesa
THE INSPIRING HEROES
"I am a choreographer, my team has been performing for 23 years. We have the title of folk art group the choreographic ensemble "Isadora". Unfortunately, with the ongoing war, a lot has changed. We have to adapt to these conditions like a lack of electricity, air raid warnings and etc. But the most important thing is that almost all children are still in touch with us. Most of the children are, thankfully, here in Odessa.
They left at some point, but already came back home. Many children are training online, we're having a class, and at the same time there is a computer standing in the hall, we're all connecting on Zoom and all the children are there, both from here and from other places. We work hard, we participate in competitions, we try to perform at concerts for sure. In April, May, June, we participated in competitions and mainly in those where participation fee was transferred to the Ukrainian forces. That was mandatory.
And we felt good, we helped our defenders as much as we could. Still we're trying our best to keep working. Children are with us. The dance that we have shown you has been created during the war. The dance is in a modern style, but with Ukrainian symbols".
Olya - ballet teacher
"I teach a folk choreographic ensemble Carnival for over 15 years. Children are experiencing a lot more stress than adults. Almost no school, no sport, no art is available due to the war. But we will handle that, we're holding up.
Our choreographic ensemble had a prospect of traveling all over Ukraine and abroad for various competitions, as we did every year. Every year we left for 10-15 days, we could go to Balkan countries, to Czech Republic, all over Ukraine. And in the summer we always went to Zatoka. Plus sea, beach, festival. So we used to have a lot of activities.and then suddenly everything stopped. Their lives just stopped.
Now the children barely see each other, because the school is also online, they don’t meet each other at school anymore.
Now the children barely see each other, because the school is also online, they don’t meet each other at school anymore.
I tell them: We need to pull ourselves together, life goes on. Me and you, we have been together since you were 4 years old. I have put all I got into you, my soul, all my skills. And I'd really appreciate if all of you who are left here, show that we didn't stop, that our school keeps on working.
Somehow they start to cheer each other up, they take part in competitions and get prizes. It is essential for children. All these performances, medals, cups encourage them".
Olga - ballet teacher
"Unfortunately, war causes anger to rise. When it happens with parents, it's unfortunately passed on to children. Our mission is to give proper education and a proper spirit, the spirit of goodness, of love.
We are not trying to condemn someone and say these ones are terrible, but we are good. Our goal is to help kids outgrow what is happening right now and give a basis for love and goodness, because without it, unfortunately, there will be no future. Not for anyone, any country.
Our task is to bring the spirit of love, kindness, sympathy, because God willing, the war will be over one day and we'll have to somehow live all together here".
Vitaly - teacher
"T wo days after the war has started, I had scheduled a class. We did it online because of the war.
And this is one of the classes that I will remember for the rest of my life. Everyone was scared but lots of children joined the class online nevertheless. We didn't know what had happened and how it would be…and the government didn't have answers. It was the second day of the war!
However, we just met and we were drawing portraits of each other through the zoom. We used webcams and I thought that that time it was extremely important to support each other and to meet to see that yet our life can be continued in some way".
Anastasiya - head teacher of Konstantini art school
"Art helps me express my emotions. I painted a few artworks related to the war. This really helps. The dream for my future: I want to open my own workshop to make art there. I want to mold.
I want to convey a message to students from Russia of my age: Develop, think about your future. Develop as a person. You must be the future of your country and not be like everyone else and what society wants you to be. You are the future.
War is very bad. And you need to have your own opinion about war and you can’t just say “war is bad”. You need to argue your point and explain to others why it’s bad. We must separate the guilty and those who suffered from them".
Nastya - student
"Sometimes we hear explosions here. And when we take shelter, we communicate with each other with warmth. This is very important for children.
We also talk about the fact that we want to be friends with everyone. My personal dream is that everyone can be friends: Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Europa, America. That all countries are friendly to each other so that there would be no war and we will be happy if we all live in peace. It is so wrong to fight in the 21st century. But unfortunately we do have a war in our country now. That is sad…
Even though it is so difficult for the children now to adapt, they are really hard-working and motivating themselves to keep going. They do very well in mathematics and I as a teacher am satisfied with how they learn and keeping good spirits. Even when 70% of Odessa didn’t have electricity, students still gathered here to study together".
Lyudmila - teacher
"War affected our school drastically. For a long time we didn't have opportunities to work with children directly, and online it is very difficult. You know, art, it requires communication. You need to see the eyes of the child, you need to explain it directly to him.And now there was such a period for the whole year when we could not teach in person.
For art, inspiration is such an interesting thing, it is very individual. Since the war, there has been a boost in spirit. Children and teachers wish to help as much as possible with their participation in international competitions. With their victories, they want to help Ukraine. To make Ukraine more known abroad.
This is of great importance, because information is everything. If there is enough information about the country, then people treat it differently".
Valerij Fillipovich - school headmaster Konstandi art school
"War is destroying education. In our country we don’t have light, we don’t have internet, children can’t study properly, and online education is of a completely different quality.
I think there must be no war, children should go to school, study classes, develop and grow in order to become happy and successful in this life.
I really love my work and I think that this is the best what I can do.
I share my joy and my interest with the children.
After the war we will continue studying, we are now studying without actually changing anything, because children should have a good decent education, even during the war".
Natalia - teacher