Sewickley Academy Global Studies teacher Nataliya DiDomenico starts every morning with a phone call to family members nearly 4,900 miles away.
She checks in with her mother, Slava Navorenska, and brother, Liubomir Navorensky, who live with several other family members back in Ternopil, a city in western Ukraine.
“That’s how I start my day,” DiDomenico said. “I say, ‘How are you? How was the night? What happened? Are you OK? Do you need anything?’
“Then I can start with my routines after I hear their voices and after I hear that everything is fine.”
Navorensky, 48, could not leave as the Ukrainian government in February banned men ages 18 to 60 from fleeing the county, and Navorenska, 69, would not leave her son behind.
Navorensky is one of the registered men who may be called to fight, but so far has not had to go to battle. Russia began its invasion Feb. 24.
“Emotionally, it is very difficult because in my heart I want to be with them,” DiDomenico said. “I want to be with my people. I want to be with my family. I do want to do something about the situation in my country, and yet I have my family here.”
DiDomenico had moved to the United States with her husband, Domenic, in 2007. The pair met the year prior in Siegen, Germany.
They live in Cranberry with their children, Emma, 14, and Giovani, 13. Both teens attend Sewickley Academy.
DiDomenico said it is a delicate balancing act to be present at home and at the academy while part of your soul is overseas.
“It’s really tearing myself apart,” she said. “Between worrying about them and having to continue and go one here with the life and your routines, the kids, the house, the family and the job.
“It’s a lot of pressure. It’s rather stressful, but they give me strength every time (I call). They are so optimistic. They say, ‘Ukraine will win no matter what. Our people do not lose.’ That gives me that optimistic outlook as well. It gives me faith and things are better, at least for that moment.”
Her husband and children also give her strength and encouragement every day.
DiDomenico’s students also wanted to make a difference in her native country and show support to their instructor. They decorated her door in Ukrainian colors and positive messages.
Students also organized what they called a Ukrainian Crisis Relief Campaign, where they collected hygiene products and some monetary donations from April 12-28.
“The items that they are collecting are hygiene items that will meet the most basic needs of people who left their houses, in many cases, without anything but a shirt on their back,” DiDomenico said. “They were running from shelling, from bombs of the Russian occupiers. They ended up in those little camps that were set up for them either in Ukraine or across the border in Poland.”
Sewickley Academy spokeswoman Jennifer Donovan said items collected included 40 boxes of gallon-size resealable bags, 200 bars of soap, 86 containers of hand lotion, 72 washcloths, 60 tubes of toothpaste as well as travel-size toothbrushes with caps/cases, deodorant, mouthwash, dental floss, disinfecting wipes, lip balm and hair ties.
Senior School mathematics teacher Matt Michaels, whose grandfather was born in Ukraine and moved to the United States decades ago, offered additional support to the campaign.
His team collected 395 boxes of 50-count cotton swabs. Another student and family contributed 20 pre-assembled, zippered toiletry bags will various necessities.
“It was very heartwarming, but I have to say that I was hardly surprised,” DiDomenico said about the students’ efforts. “Our students are very compassionate people, very empathetic. I have experienced this on several other occasions. I was not surprised that they wanted to be involved, that they wanted to help.”
All items were given to DT Care, an organization providing emergency aid response to Ukrainian refugees.
Students also wrote notes to refugees and collected about $273 in cash to be donated to Brother’s Brother Foundation. Some of the students volunteer with the foundation as part of the service component of the Global Studies class.
DiDomenico said the notes give a more personal touch than a box of supplies.
“I felt that brought out that human connection, not just here are your items and you can use them but that emotional support,” she said.
Anyone who made a monetary donation was treated to a piece of authentic Ukrainian candy provided by the Ukrainian family of senior Milla Dobrovolska-Ivanova.
The Ukrainian relief effort eventually spread academy wide with middle school and elementary students getting involved.
Middle School-wide totals included 36 fleece blankets, 254 bottles of body wash, 312 packs of tissues, 136 bars of soap, 160 deodorants, as well as toothpaste, lotion, hand sanitizer, shampoo and conditioner, bandages and more.
Lower School students collected 357 additional toiletry items. The Lower School faculty made a monetary donation to Direct Relief for Ukraine.
All items gathered by the Middle and Lower schools are being given to Brother’s Brother Foundation, which will ensure they are received by Ukrainian citizens and refugees.
Donovan said Michaels brought his portable pizza oven to school on May 20 to create and bake custom-ordered pizzas for students and faculty and staff in exchange for a donation to the Ukrainian branch of Caritas. Some of the parents involved in Sewickley Academy’s Home & School Association provided beverages and have offered to cover all expenses associated with the pizza supplies.
Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-871-2367, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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