A woman who was forced to drink "radiator water" and hid in a crowded basement in Ukraine is now planning to complete a Master's programme at Harvard.
Alina Beskrovna's family lost all their savings and property during the Ukraine conflict but now the 33-year-old is hoping to achieve her dream of going to the esteemed US university.
She spent nearly a month in a dark basement with her mum, three cats and 32 other strangers while their city of Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine was shelled by Russian forces.
Alina has told of having to drink "radiator water" and cook on an open fire as electricity and gas supplies in the besieged city were cut off.
But miraculously, Alina and her family managed to survive and escape the destroyed city, fleeing to the US, where she had previously graduated from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania.
Not stopping there, Alina instead went on to enroll in a Master's programme at the world-renowned Harvard University, in Massachusetts.
Once a finance worker, Alina says she hopes she can now get a degree in international development to one day help rebuild her war-torn country.
Despite being awarded a full-tuition scholarship, Alina says the head-spinning rent prices and other indirect expenses towards her studying are more than she can financially bear.
With her two parents relying on her to get around the foreign country and translate, and having lost all their savings and possessions in the war, Alina is looking to others for help to achieve her dream.
In a GoFundMe she has set up, Alina wrote: "Last year I managed to escape from my hometown of Mariupol in Eastern Ukraine. My mother and I (plus our three cats) shared a basement with 32 strangers in the besieged city for the longest month of my life.
"Overnight I went from developing financial models and pitch decks for tech startups to cooking on open fire under shelling, drinking radiator water, surviving multiple carpet bombings, and finally escaping on March 23, 2022 through 16 Russian checkpoints towards Zaporizhzhia.
"The worst part of it all was the fact that I didn't know if my father was alive. He got stranded on the other side of the city, and I lost contact with him in the first days of the war, as soon as cell phone towers were bombed.
"For almost three months I thought he had been killed. Only in late May I managed to locate him and smuggle him out. Now all of us are safe in the US. My plan is to spend the next two years on preparing to rebuild Ukraine.
"After winning the war Ukraine will be in desperate need of international development experts. I want to make a career switch from maths and finance to international development, where I can be of most use.
"This year I became the only Ukrainian to be admitted to Harvard Kennedy School for the Masters in International Development program. I was also awarded a full-tuition scholarship. However, I am still looking for funding for indirect expenses: housing and utilities, food, books, clothing, and basic necessities.
"We lost all our savings and property due to war. Neither of my parents speak English or drive and are fully reliant on me for their needs, so I need to bring my family with me to Cambridge. My father suffered a massive stroke in April 2023. I simply cannot rely on my parents to be breadwinners for the next two years.
"Additionally, I was advised by Harvard against working during the first year due to the rigor of the programme. As much as I hate being in this position, I am hoping to crowdsource our living expenses for the duration of the programme, so I can focus on preparing to rebuild my war-torn home.
"Please consider contributing to rebuilding Ukraine by enabling me to get the education, resources, and contacts I need."
