By Oxana Kunets, Director of Marketing Strategy at CEX.IO
Today is International Women’s Day. Somewhat less prominent in the U.S., it is a big deal in Europe. March 8th celebrates women’s achievements in various frontiers of life, cultural, political, and socioeconomic.
Today is also the day when women of a country close to my heart experience the worst horror one can imagine. Women of Ukraine, warm, kind, beautiful, smart, caring, and always optimistic – many of them are in great danger. Some of them I get to call my teammates.
Today, many of these women rear their children in a bomb shelter. They put their kids to bed in hopes that they will not need to wake them up in a few hours to run. They hold their kids knowing that some other mothers lost their children to this war. They smile at their kids trying hard to be that last resort of calmness and harmony in the middle of the terrible tragedy.
Today, many of these women are on the move towards safety. They’ve been in a car for tens of hours non-stop. No basic comforts of life, like a shower, or a toilet. They are sleepless, constantly scanning the sky and the surroundings for danger. They are hyper-focused, because everything they have in this life now – is what’s in this car with them.
Today, many of these women kissed their husbands, partners, sons, and parents goodbye. They promised one another to reunite soon, without knowing when this moment would ever come. These women departed from Ukraine, leaving behind everything they thought of as their support, stability, or security. And while they escape physically, their hearts and minds are with those who stayed.
And then there are women who stay put in their towns. From whatever profession they had before, they’ve re-qualified into full warriors to work alongside men to defend their homes, their motherland.
These women see war. They see their children seeing war. Their lives will never be the same.
On this International Women’s Day, I am rooting for the women of Ukraine, young and old, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and sisters. In this war, they are not the passive recipients of what happens to them. Just the opposite, they act, they organize, they build, they fight. They keep it together for those who rely on them for their wisdom and their strength.
I applaud their courage, heroism, and resilience. I pledge to help the women of Ukraine so that they have a place to call home, so that their children have dreams, so that they keep reaching new heights. I want to see them advancing themselves and the whole humankind. I want to celebrate the Ukrainian women today.