As was the case for millions of people around the world, Andrew Lenec’s work week began with a Zoom meeting. But while some webcam truths are universal - connection issues and erroneously muted mics come to mind - the tenor of Lenec’s Monday morning call was decidedly more dire.
Lenec summoned this group - a mix of Ukrainians he met abroad in the Peace Corps and American journalists he wants listening - to get a real-time update from the ground of a war-torn country and to spread the messages citizens want the world to hear. “We have a lot of refugees in my town,” said Pavlo Kozenko, a doctor living near Lviv in western Ukraine. “My town has about 20,000 native inhabitants, and we have already accepted more than 25,000 refugees.”
“We just really hope that the rest of the world will not forget us,” Chechko pleaded. “So we just keep posting videos, pictures, and personal stories on Facebook just to remind the whole world that it is terrorism here. People are dying.”