Beyond fear, where peace prevails: Oksana’s story, a mother rebuilding hope 

For Oksana, the calm of the morning is not just a moment of the day, but a personal victory. Since arriving in the Republic of Moldova, after a difficult evacuation from the Gaza Strip, she has found a rhythm and routine that keep recent memories at bay. A former gynecologist from Ukraine, she has reinvented her present and now works as a facilitator at the EduTech Lab at the “Dumitru Crețu” Gymnasium in the village of Cărpineni.  

A life between two conflicts 

Oksana’s story, however, began long ago in the Sumy region of Ukraine, where she devoted her youth to studying medicine, becoming a gynecologist and earning a doctoral degree. There, she started a family with her husband, who is of Palestinian origin. Although their initial plan was to stay in Ukraine, in 2008 family responsibilities led them to move to the Gaza Strip. 

Oksana thus found herself living a double tragedy, her heart divided between two conflict zones. While her parents and sisters faced the horrors of the war in Ukraine, she fought to ensure her children’s safety, seeking refuge in the Republic of Moldova to escape the military conflict in Gaza. This decision was the only way to guarantee their protection and leave terror behind, giving them a chance at a peaceful future.  

“When you do nothing, a spiral of overlapping thoughts begins. You get consumed, twist yourself up, and feel like you’re collapsing. So I try to stay active, to not leave any space for that carousel of fear”, Oksana shares, explaining how working with children in Cărpineni helps her regain balance.  

The day that changed everything 

In Gaza, Oksana had managed to build the stability she had dreamed of. She practiced medicine, had a home and a car, and maintained ties with Ukraine through periodic visits to relatives. “Everything was fine. We had the option to go to Ukraine once every three or four years to see family”, she recalls. But everything changed on what seemed like an ordinary morning, while preparing her daughter for school.  

“I remember the day perfectly, October 7, 2023. My phone slipped from my hand when I heard the news. Unfortunately, I already knew what it meant”, she recounts, remembering the start of the war. Though she had experienced previous conflicts in the region, this terror was different.  

They survived in the midst of war for a month and ten days. The final decision to leave came after an imminent threat. “We were about to go down to the ground floor when my daughter sat down and said, ‘Mom, I feel like we’re going to die here’. We left immediately”. They fled with only the clothes on their backs. Soon after, a phone call confirmed their fear: their home, the place where they had invested years of work and hope, had been destroyed.  

“I didn’t know fear could feel so physical. I felt my whole body curl up like a hedgehog, and my heart seemed to stop”, Oksana remembers.  

After a difficult evacuation operation, Oksana and her children arrived in Moldova, a safe refuge far from the frontlines. The evacuation operations brought over 200 people to the country, most of them Ukrainian and Moldovan citizens. 

Currently, the Refugee Placement Center in Cărpineni hosts four adults and four children evacuated from Gaza, who, like Oksana, are trying to rebuild their lives.  

Today, Oksana cannot return either to Ukraine, where the war continues to threaten the safety of her extended family, nor to the place where she lived with her husband and children. She is caught between two homelands, both struck by conflict, without the possibility of truly going “home”. 

Although most refugees supported in the Republic of Moldova are Ukrainian citizens, the reality of displacement is more complex. Among them are mothers and children who, like Oksana, are affected by multiple conflicts but share the same fundamental needs: safety, stability, and emotional support to move forward. 

Here, support from the European Union, delivered through UNICEF and its partners, has made a difference. Beyond immediate humanitarian aid, the invisible wounds of war required careful attention. Mobile teams and case management specialists from AVE Copiii have intervened to strengthen the emotional well-being of families. 

The mobile teams, together with trained staff, regularly visit the Center, offering psychological counseling and recreational activities for children in a safe space. At the same time, adults benefit from parenting sessions and emotional support, which is essential for parents like Oksana, who must remain pillars of strength for their children despite their own traumas.  

Rebuilding the future, step by step 

For Oksana, Moldova provides an environment where familiar cultural memories intertwine with the peace she now cherishes most. Her role at the EduTech Lab is a form of therapy through work and contribution to the community. The lab is not just a space equipped with technology, but a safe and welcoming place where refugee children and vulnerable children from the community learn, play, and regain confidence. Through educational activities, creative workshops and emotional support, EduTech Lab serves as a bridge between online learning and gradual integration into school and Moldovan society.  

Her two children are also making remarkable progress. Her younger daughter, Yara, attends gymnasium in Cărpineni, gradually adapting to the local educational environment, while her older son, Iasin, is studying intensively for the Baccalaureate, benefiting from a more stable environment and consistent support. The fact that, despite everything they have lost, they continue their studies and build a future is a testament to the restored normalcy and to the importance of spaces that make integration possible, step by step.  

“Refugee families from Ukraine and other conflict-affected areas carry emotional burdens that are hard to describe. With support from the European Union, we ensure that these children and their parents have a safe environment and essential psychosocial support to look to the future with hope”, says Tatiana Danilescu, Child Protection Officer at UNICEF.  

Although her husband is currently in Iraq, and uncertainty about the future persists, Oksana has learned to value the safety of the present.  

“We don’t know our future, but the most important thing is that we are together, that we have a roof over our heads, and that we are alive. I just want to see my children living without fear”, she says.  

Oksana’s story is a testament to the fact that war can take everything, but it cannot erase a mother’s power to start over. Today, she continues to help, hope, and smile, demonstrating that, step by step, peace can become stronger than fear, for her and her children.