I pray for the children of Ukraine

Last fall, I fulfilled a careerlong goal of becoming a Fulbright scholar and began teaching at Oles Honchar Dnipro National University in eastern Ukraine.

But as the second semester was getting underway in late January, the Department of State ordered all Fulbrighters to leave Ukraine. The program was relocated to Warsaw, where we would continue teaching virtually. None of us wanted to leave, but we were given no choice.

Then, on Feb. 24, our roles changed from scholars to humanitarian workers as Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine with hell, fury and death.

Now, instead of teaching students, I work with refugees. I find apartments for my new friends, buy them food, and take them to a refugee center where they can get additional help. Warsaw is crowded now, with more than 2 million refugees entering Poland to date.

I have made several trips to the border with Ukraine to help families get out. I recently placed two who arrived last month into homes in Germany and England. I was happy to see them move on, but sad to say goodbye — for now. I know Ukraine will defeat the Russian invaders, and we will all be back together in Ukraine someday.

My first months in Dnipro were wonderful. Walking down a busy street toward the wide Dnipro River on a crisp October morning, I heard the sounds of the Ukrainian language and saw storefronts with Cyrillic letters. I thought of my Ukrainian community at St. Vladimir's Parish Center in Uniondale, my daughter’s plays and musicals there, and my performance as Ded Moroz (Old Man Frost) proclaiming Shchaslyvoho Novoho Roku (Happy New Year) in Ukrainian.

The fall semester brought rewarding visits to public schools, where Ukrainian students were excited to interact with an American author and chimed in joyfully as we read books together. I met even more children in Kyiv at Halloween as I spoke at the National Library of Ukraine for Children. My family was happy, too — my wife Alona, a native Ukrainian, met with old friends, and my daughter Michelle, now 12, loved her international school and her saxophone classes.

December came with Christmas lights and beautiful snows. But dark clouds were forming on the borders to the east and south, where Putin was gathering thousands of troops. My wife and her friends were not concerned — the Ukrainian army had always successfully stopped Putin’s forces from advancing more.

After the invasion started, I texted from Warsaw with teacher friends in Ukraine, checking on their safety and offering help if they wanted to flee. Six families have accepted thus far, and I make the four-hour drive to the crossing near Chelm, Poland to meet them. The sights are heartbreaking — mostly women and children stumbling into Poland carrying their belongings after 30- to 40-hour waits in the cold. The horrors of war follow them on their treks from eastern Ukraine; I hear many stories of Russian soldiers firing on cars and buses, and of army tanks on the road. 

The needs in Ukraine are dire. My wife, who returned to the United States with our daughter when the war broke out, is collecting humanitarian supplies and shipping them to Ukraine. My work has now turned to Ukrainian soldiers and civilians who are dying because there is a shortage of medical supplies to treat the wounded. This motivates me to work even harder to raise money and get the supplies to the battlefields to save the injured. 

I am a children’s book author, trying to bring joy and happiness to children with my stories. But Russian forces have killed hundreds of children and destroyed 400 schools in their senseless war. I remember the joy in the eyes of the children I worked with in Ukraine, and shudder to imagine the horrors they are now facing. I yearn for the future when the war is over and I can see them again in their classrooms. I pray there will be schools for them and freedom to live in a democratic country. I pray for them, and for Ukraine.

This guest essay reflects the views of Michael Sampson, a former resident of Roslyn Heights and professor of literacy at St. John’s University.