Colors of Hope - Slava Ukraini

The summer of the outbreak of war between Ukraine and Russia, I spent three weeks in Hungary capturing the collaboration of different countries and agencies helping refugees affected by the war. I found myself standing on a station platform in Zahony, a small border town between Hungary and Ukraine. I watched as the train came to a halt with my Nikon camera in hand. Ukrainian refugees, predominantly women and children, exited dejectedly from the car doors with expressions of disbelief, fear, and defeat. Earlier, I had met with the town mayor, who graciously gave me a tour of the train station and dormitory refuge set up by the UN Refugee Agency. Over weeks, working with fellow volunteers, I experienced a sense of hope in human kindness, seeing the collaboration of different countries and agencies connected by a common goal. “We cannot bring them peace but we can bring them happiness.” read the Parasolka Budapest slogan, deeply holding a place in my heart. Back home, I tried to splice the best visuals to do justice to the suffering I had witnessed across Ukraine's population, knowing this humanitarian crisis was shared throughout Europe.

My goal had been to encapsulate the story of the extraordinary efforts ordinary citizens were making to aid the Ukrainian refugees. Seeing my peers’ reactions to the atrocities of war and simple human kindness, I fully witnessed the power of the media as a portal to the world. Hungarian UNICEF had reached out to me after discovering my Youtube video to discuss the possibilities of collaborating to raise awareness and funds for Parasolka Budapest, the humanitarian organization featured in my short documentary. I had traveled to Hungary to volunteer with nonprofits aiding Ukrainians affected by the war yet quickly realized that videography skills could be used for a greater purpose – to guide others through the emotional highs and lows of the tragic consequences of this war.