Sofia at her desk
The following blog was written by a program participant of CWS’ local Moldovan partner, Healthy City. Healthy City, also known as Zdrovii Gorod, supports Ukrainian refugees by providing comprehensive services including food and non-food items, social inclusion and psychosocial support.
My name is Sofia Belous. I am 37 years old and from Ukraine, Odesa region, Yuzhny. I am a mom of two beautiful boys. When the war started, the older one was 12 years old and the younger one was nine months old.
In March 2022, the situation in the country was deteriorating. It was not safe to stay, so we decided to leave. We managed to get to Moldova, and here we stayed in the town of Balti. I left alone with my two children. I could only count on myself. I had to rent an apartment; my small child needed comfort, but it became more difficult to pay rent and utilities and buy food every day. The relationship with my husband deteriorated, and money was even more difficult to come by. I realized that I needed to go to work, but I faced a number of difficulties. My youngest child was too young and I could not leave him with my older son. When I sent my younger child to kindergarten, the problems became bigger, as he started to get sick all the time.
I could not get a job. I have two higher education degrees, but it was not possible to apply for them in Moldova because of the language barrier and my lack of knowledge of the Romanian language. It was also difficult to get a full-time job. After some time, I saw a graphic design course at Tekwill, which could be taken free of charge thanks to the help of donors at the Healthy City donation point. An old dream came back to life. I had wanted to take professional graphic design courses for a long time, but something kept getting in the way.
You could attend courses or do them online, which was the right option for me. I took a course in graphic design. It was a start. Later, the sponsors gave me another great opportunity to take a graphic design course at Tekwill. After a while, I started working remotely, taking orders and working as a graphic designer. Of course, it doesn’t cover all the expenses, but it’s already become easier. This year, Tekwill Academy Kids offered me to become a mentor (my first teaching profession helped) in the children’s summer camp course “Graphic Design” in Tekwill Academy Kids in Balti. I grabbed this opportunity with great pleasure. It is great that I can apply my knowledge and teach Ukrainian and Moldovan children Adobe Photoshop.
Thank you to the Healthy City donors who made my dream come true and helped me to do what I love and work in this direction.
This story is possible thanks to the generosity of UMCOR. To learn more and support CWS’ work with Ukrainian refugees in Moldova, click here.