A UKRAINIAN girl who escaped the warfare after hiding for a month in a crowded basement, “ingesting radiator water” and cooking over open fires is now aiming to fund her £128k Harvard dream.
Alina Beskrovna spent almost a month in a darkish basement along with her mum, three cats and 32 different strangers while their metropolis of Mariupol, Japanese Ukraine was shelled above their heads by Russian forces.
The 33-year-old was compelled to “drink radiator water” and cook dinner on an open hearth as electrical energy and gasoline provides within the besieged metropolis have been minimize off.
Miraculously, Alina and her household managed to outlive and escape the destroyed metropolis, fleeing to the US, the place she had beforehand graduated from Lehigh College, Pennsylvania.
Not stopping there, Alina as an alternative went on to enroll in a Grasp’s programme on the world-renowned Harvard College, Massachusetts.
As soon as a finance employee, Alina says she hopes she will be able to now get a level in worldwide growth to someday assist rebuild her war-torn nation.
Regardless of being awarded a full-tuition scholarship, Alina says the head-spinning lease costs and different oblique bills in the direction of her finding out are greater than she will be able to financially bear.
Along with her two dad and mom counting on her to get across the overseas nation and translate, and having misplaced all their financial savings and possessions within the warfare, Alina is trying to others for assist to realize her dream.
In a GoFundMe arrange 4 days in the past (30 JUNE), Alina wrote: “Final yr I managed to flee from my hometown of Mariupol in Japanese Ukraine.
“My mom and I (plus our three cats) shared a basement with 32 strangers within the besieged metropolis for the longest month of my life.
“In a single day I went from creating monetary fashions and pitch decks for tech startups to cooking on open hearth below shelling, ingesting radiator water, surviving a number of carpet bombings, and at last escaping on March 23, 2022 by means of 16 Russian checkpoints in the direction of Zaporizhzhia.
“The worst a part of all of it was the truth that I didn’t know if my father was alive.
“He bought stranded on the opposite aspect of town, and I misplaced contact with him within the first days of the warfare, as quickly as mobile phone towers have been bombed.
“For nearly three months I assumed he had been killed. Solely in late Could I managed to find him and smuggle him out.
“Now all of us are secure within the US. My plan is to spend the subsequent two years on getting ready to rebuild Ukraine.
“After profitable the warfare Ukraine can be in determined want of worldwide growth consultants.
“I need to make a profession change from math and finance to worldwide growth, the place I will be of most use.
“This yr I grew to become the one Ukrainian to be admitted to Harvard Kennedy College for the Masters in Worldwide Growth program. I used to be additionally awarded a full-tuition scholarship.
“Nonetheless, I’m nonetheless on the lookout for funding for oblique bills: housing and utilities, meals, books, clothes, and primary requirements.
“We misplaced all our financial savings and property as a result of warfare. Neither of my dad and mom communicate English or drive and are totally reliant on me for his or her wants, so I have to convey my household with me to Cambridge.
“My father suffered an enormous stroke in April 2023. I merely can’t depend on my dad and mom to be breadwinners for the subsequent two years.
“Moreover, I used to be suggested by Harvard in opposition to working through the first yr as a result of rigor of this system.
“As a lot as I hate being on this place, I’m hoping to crowdsource our residing bills in the course of this system, so I can give attention to getting ready to rebuild my war-torn dwelling.
“Please take into account contributing to rebuilding Ukraine by enabling me to get the training, sources, and contacts I want.”
Alina additionally listed a breakdown of her bills, together with lease and utilities alone costing her over £3,300 a month and an extra £400 on meals.
To this point, she has managed to lift a bit over £1,400.
To donate, please go to: https://gofund.me/673506d9