JACKSONVILLE,Fla – A Ukrainian-American woman says she appreciates everyone’s prayers for her home country, but said it’s time to act.
Anna Miller is putting her pain in her paintings.
For her, there is no avoiding the situation in Ukraine, but she wants people to understand you can help right now.
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“There’s a lot of unknown right now, a lot of fear,” Miller said. “And concentrating like this takes my mind off to some degree.”
Miller says it’s difficult to keep her mind off what’s happening in Kyiv and she misses her homeland.
“It’s the first thing I check when I wake up and I don’t get a lot of sleep right now,” she said.
She said she knew there would be a war.
Reports say 200 people are dead, more than 1,000 have been injured.
In order to get by, Miller said she paints.
“I started this a couple of weeks before the assault,” she said. “It’s a young woman who represents a young democracy, a young country. She’s standing in a very proud and strong pose. Her fists are red from clenching them and she’s ready to fight. (Her eyes), they portray desperation. They look at the world and say, ‘What’s next? What is it going to take?’”
People everywhere have shown support for Ukraine.
Miller says she appreciates it but encourages them to do more.
“It’s just sometimes I feel like when people say hugs and prayers that means it’s a little bit too late,” she said. “So we need help. Ukraine needs help. And we need help because their safety is our safety.”
She said donations to the Red Cross and organizations helping Ukraine go further than we could imagine.
Until then, she paints tridents, a symbol of Ukraine, and waits for peace to be restored in her country.
Miller said donations towards rebuilding and refugee programs will be a tremendous help.
They can be taken up by organizations like the Red Cross.
On Wednesday, Anna will be speaking about Ukraine at an event where refugee and immigrant women will share their stories.
The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. at MOCA Theatre.