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8 OUR LIFE • November 2022 I called my cousin in Ukraine the Sunday before the war started. She told me that they did not think russia would attack or that it would be just a land grab in the east. How quickly everything changed. When the war started, our community quickly responded with “What can we do?” and tons of donations flowed into the church hall from Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians alike. I lost touch with my cousin, who lived in Lviv; her landline seemed to no longer be working. I mes - saged her daughter, my godchild, and found out that they had moved her to the village and her apartment was being used by a displaced family from Kyiv. Good. I became involved in fundraising activities for the UNWLA and felt satisfied that I was doing “something.” A few weeks later, I messaged my godchild. She wrote back, “Я вдова” – “I’m a widow.” My heart broke. This was unthinkable. Didn’t she just send me pictures of herself and her husband at Christmas? A senior lieu - tenant, he died a hero helping protect his men and the city of Mykolaiv. I felt despondent, helpless. I had already been checking the emails and posts from the UNWLA and Natalie Pawlenko, and had also sat in on Zoom meetings with the Advocacy group so that I could report back to the members of my branch, but now this advocacy took on a new meaning. I had to look for hope in the darkness. This group was younger than I. The computer skills learned before I retired came in handy. I began to listen and learn from women all over the U.S., and a young man joined us, which was terrific – a man not intimidated by an entire group of women, but one who listened and helped with his considerable talents. There were women who had been members for many years, women who were Members-at-Large, and women who had no previous connection to the UNWLA. We moved our meetings to a later time to help the women on the west coast who were attend - ing our meetings while commuting or taking their children to after-school activities. We had a woman from Hawaii who had taken it upon herself to host a refugee family. I did not feel that I was contributing much, but I listened and learned as they discussed upcoming legislation and how to support it, fundrais - ing activities they had held or were planning, and re - Anna Brodycz Salemme , President, Branch 108, New Haven, CT The Power of Advocacy “All of us can do so much more by doing just a little more” View of the pedestrian bridge in West Haven lit up in blue and yellow.
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