"Several months have passed - says Anzhelica - from the moment I had to leave my home in Ukraine and face the worst pain of my life".
"2022, February 24. Ukraine. I woke up with the explosion of the bombs - Olena recalls - Everything happened as if it were not with me, as in a dream. Numbness, tension. Evacuation in convoy of volunteers. Rome" .
"What to do in a country where there is no home, no job, no friends?", asks Iryna.
And then here is Nadia, Anastasia, Olga.
They are the protagonists of the first theater workshop made up of Ukrainian refugees in Italy, which exactly two years after the start of the Russian aggression becomes a book: Women in selfie (ed. All Around, pp. 128 - 20.00 euros) signed by the director, artist and writer Vittorio Pavoncello.
A story of the story, that of the positive path of the theater laboratory conducted as part of the Upe4Inclusion Project, created by Donne for Peace in collaboration with Anas Lazio and Solco SRL.
"On February 24, my life, together with that of over 48 million people, changed forever - the president of Donne for Peace, Volha Marozava, told ANSA - The war had engulfed our Ukraine. The only thing I could to do was to help women and children escape from the nightmare of the bombs.
So with a group of seven friends we founded the Women for Peace Association. On 7-8 March we were in a Roman hotel where 400 refugees had been gathered, taking charge of the weakest cases and supporting the work of the Civil Protection".
Mostly women.
"I don't know how many have left Ukraine. We're talking about millions - he continues - with a small percentage of men who are now at risk, because with the new laws there is a call to the front".
A forced migration that is different from those we witness from the Mediterranean coasts.
"The women who fled Ukraine - explains Marozava - were not economic migrants, they were not looking for a better life. They were women with degrees, who held managerial positions. From one day to the next they found themselves in a country whose language they didn't even know , without partners or children, with the only prospect of a job in cleaning".
This is how the Association started immediately, committing itself on the educational qualifications front, but also with many workshops, from art to cooking to fashion.
And then the theatre, medicine for the soul even before being an act of entertainment.
The laboratory directed by Vittorio Pavoncello starts in autumn 2022, with the assistance of Svitlana Pakalyuk.
The protagonists are 12 women (Anzhelika Azaieva, Olena Beksultanova, Boiko Svitlana, Kriuchkova Olena, Kurovska Olena, Iryna Lupan, Nadia Melnik, Petrovets Anastasia, Shapovalova Iryna, Sviatiuk Halyna,
Then the idea of orienting the entire workshop on their life as refugees.
"This meant, however - Pavoncello recalls in the book - talking about the war, whose existence is still uncertain.
It meant talking about affections, memories, emotions of then and today".
The first exercises are often interrupted due to the emotional load.
But day after day, we challenge fear by agreeing to valorize the new life in Italy.
Until the "miracle" of the theatre: Women in selfie is born, a real show that combines theatrical expression, movement, bilingual acting and dance and which in collaboration with the Teatro di Roma debuts on 7 June 2023 at the Torlonia Theatre, in a choral appeal to peace and humanity.
In addition to the story of the adventure, the book collects the stories of the protagonists, scene photos and the poem Madre Terra by Elena Rossi, already winner of the 2023 Golden Capitoline Award.
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