Portrait of the Youth from Youth Hub – Polina Afanaseva
Portrait of the Youth from Youth Hub: How their resilience, compassion, curiosity, and enthusiasm for life continue to inspire us every day
Their resilience, compassion, curiosity, and zest for life continue to teach us every day. Even when they anger us, when we scold them, and especially when they show us that the world doesn’t pass by unnoticed. Just as they don’t go unnoticed by us.
However, we’ve been selfish, keeping them so close that we didn’t know how to share them with you, so we could all learn from them. Until now.
In their moment of eternal adolescence, we captured their portraits and invite you to discover a small piece of who the youth at the Hub are – with their passions, dreams, and memories.
Perhaps life hasn’t always come with happy moments for Polina Afanaseva. Even so, she reminded us that having friends close makes everything easier. Polina smiles often, enjoys music and movies, dances, and plays billiards. When she grows up, she dreams of becoming a forensic specialist or a successful police officer.
In early July 2022, Radio Free Europe reported on the missile attack on the Amstor Mall in Kremenchuk. Survivors recounted how they emerged from the rubble, were helped by strangers, and narrowly escaped death.
The Afanaseva family, originally from Kremenchuk, arrived in Bucharest just two months before the attack. “I could have been there. I like going to the mall”, Polina tells us. “I used to go shopping with my twin sister and my best friend, Dana.”
Polina is 14 years old and came to Youth Hub by Romanian Angel Appeal in the summer of 2023. Our youth center helped her forget the early days in Bucharest when she stayed at home almost all the time. Although she wasn’t physically alone, that’s how she felt – she missed her friends. A classmate from the Ukrainian school told her about the Hub.
Polina first came out of curiosity. Then she returned – once, twice, three times… and she continued to visit and participate in activities. She finds the atmosphere friendly and always fun. She enjoys playing billiards and Monopoly with her friends.
Missing Ukraine
For the cheerful 14-year-old, Bucharest is not just a refuge from the war but also a big, beautiful city inhabited by kind and communicative people. She has a Romanian friend named Ilaria. Ilaria doesn’t speak English, and Polina doesn’t speak Romanian, but the girls show us that language doesn’t have to be a significant obstacle to friendship.
Polina occasionally remembers her life in Ukraine: “I spent time with my family and friends. Everything was good, really good!” Just before the war, she went to the Black Sea with her family, where they had priceless moments: “That is a moment I will always remember!”
Polina is the older sister by three minutes, she proudly tells us. When the girls were younger, they argued a lot, but recently they have started to communicate better and find common ground.
Music and dance, Polina’s two allies
Since coming to Romania, pop music has helped her a lot. She likes listening to the Ukrainian band YAKTAK (she would go to any of their concerts) and also enjoys dancing and going to the cinema.
Although she hasn’t fallen in love yet, Polina gave us her definition of love: “When people spend time together, walking or visiting places.”
Quick questions: “I like eating sushi”
We were surprised that she isn’t a fan of pizza or hamburgers with fries but loves sushi. Her favorite color is black, and she can’t decide which season she likes more: summer or winter. If she could have a superpower, she would choose to be invisible – to investigate criminal cases. Surprise or not, when she grows up, she wants to become a forensic specialist or work in the police.
Even though we have to wait, we count on you, Polina, to make us feel safe.
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