Over 1,000 laptops from New Zealand’s Ministry boost Ukrainian children’s education in Romania

It was March 2023 when Serhii and his family escaped war-torn Ukraine. As they left their apartment in Kherson, a port city located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, buildings were crashing from heavy artillery shelling.

“My youngest son Ivan was only five months old at that time,” recalls Serhii. “Before the war, we dreamed big.”

The young family had their lives sorted out. Serhii’s seven-year-old daughter, Anna, was set to begin her first year in school. She would go to a public Ukrainian school near their lovely residence.

Serhii’s event planning company performed well, as he trained his employees over the years. He had a small business for weddings, birthdays, and party planning.

The entrepreneur invested substantially in the technical part of his company, stocking a large inventory of lighting, sound, and decorative components.

Occasionally, he and his wife would take holidays to explore the world and invest in their children’s growth. “We had a beautiful life,” Serhii says, his dark blue almond eyes gleaming.

On that gloomy day of March, with the air still cloaked in a chilly wind, the family had to pack a life in a few suitcases and take the next train ride west, away from the war zone.

In February 2023, they settled in Romania, after seeking asylum in France for more than ten months. “We came to Romania because it’s closer to our home country and family,” explains Serhii.

Anna, his daughter, studied offline in a public school in France for the first part of the year. Once the family relocated to Romania, she had to continue her education online, switching to a Ukrainian school.

“From an educational standpoint, this year was challenging for her,” says her father, adding “In a year, she altered her studying system twice.”

In this life, my children’s priorities are health, family unity, and education. If you are educated, you are powerful, confident, and the possibilities are infinite.

Anna, along with 250 Ukrainian children in Constanta, received laptops provided by World Vision, through the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).

A total of 1097 laptops were given out to Ukrainian families in Romania, of which 100 were distributed to the public library in Constanta and 150 were given out to five local schools.

This enabled Ukrainian children to complete their online education even when they were away from home. “Anna’s laptop proved very useful,” shares Serhii.

“We utilized it for the past semester’s online schooling,” he adds. His daughter completed the school year effectively by staying on pace with all her coursework.

Since the start of the war, there have been more than 2,500 attacks on education facilities in Ukraine. There are 5 million children displaced both inside and outside the country. As a result, most of Ukraine’s educational institutions have implemented remote learning.

Anna also used her laptop to connect with her friends back in France and Ukraine. “I call my friends frequently, sometimes up to five times a day as I miss them so much,” shares the seven-year-old girl.

She didn’t put her education on hold over the summer break. “I encourage her to watch informative videos online while simultaneously doing a series of practical tasks,” her father says.

He adds, “In this life, my children’s priorities are health, family unity, and education. If you are educated, you are powerful, confident, and the possibilities are infinite,” Serhii explains.

He used to teach Anna, even when she was very little, that education was her most essential tool in life. “If she is well educated, she can accomplish everything she sets her mind to,” shares her father.

To date, more than 231,000 children have benefited from education programming implemented by World Vision Ukraine Crisis Response in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. In addition, nearly 9,100 educational kits have been distributed across the four countries.

In Romania, World Vision has reached more than 259,000 people, including Ukrainian refugees and hosting families.

Story and photos by Laurentia Jora, Communications Coordinator