PEARLAND, Texas — A local teenager is getting a front-row seat to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She’s tutoring a girl from Ukraine and is continuing to do so through this conflict.
15-year-old Kavya Vivekanand is a 10th grader at Shadow Creek High School who wanted to volunteer during the pandemic. She’s a volunteer with a nonprofit called ENGin.
This nonprofit started two years ago and its goal is to connect Ukrainian students with English-speaking students to help them improve. But those conversations and lessons are very different now for many of them.
Vivekanand was paired with 12-year-old Valentyna, but after 2 years of friendship, Vivekanand now has front-row seat to what is happening in Ukraine.
"She says we have a war now and it is really bad and very scary. People die children cry, enemies destroy the sites and beauty of Ukraine," said Vivekanand.
The nonprofit's founder says this is what her nearly 4,000 teenage volunteers across the country are dealing with.
"Which is not what we expected at all, we feel bad almost but also they get to see the reality, it's not just in the news. They realize it's real people," said Katerina Manoff, the founder of Engin.
ENGin shared a video of its students on its Facebook sharing their personal messages about the war.
"It's very important for them to be heard. It can be bewildering and they want to tell their story," said Manoff.
And despite the war and around 6,000 miles that divide them, they’ve formed a strong connection.
"We are definitely good friends now," said Vivekanand.
A bond they hope remains even after the war
"I hope that she remains safe and the rest of them remain safe and innocent people stop getting killed," said Vivekanand.