Natalia from Herson who wants her country to be the best in the world

Natalia is from Kherson. At the time we record her interview, the town is still under Russian occupation. Before the war began, she was a chief accountant, she had done that all her life. Now she is a cook in a hotel, she cooks for the other refugees staying there.

“That’s how it happened – I mastered a new profession. When one wants to work, one can learn anything. But this will not become my favorite job. All my life I’ve done economics, and accounting. Now I cook, but what can I do – you have to make a living!

We lived at Palma Hotel, we were accommodated for free. But I lived that way for a week and then I started washing dishes. I washed dishes all summer and worked as a maid. Now I’m a cook so I can support myself at least a little.

My first dream is for the war to end and to return back home, to my home, to my country. And also: I want my country to become the best!”

See the full interview with Natalia here (the subtitles are in Bulgarian).

Read the rest of the stories:

Nadia, with the never-ending dream of becoming an Olympic champion
Diana on how much the illusion of normality helps
Nadezhda from Nikolaev who believes that when it comes to helping others, Ukrainians could learn a lot from Bulgarians
Natalia, the volunteer from Kyiv, who is happy that she can be helpful to others
Ekaterina from Odessa, who wants everything to be as it was before
The cobbler who now helps in a kitchen and says that Bulgarians actually like Ukrainians
Natalia from Kramatorsk, whose home was destroyed but still dreams of returning back
Katya, who we brought to tears by asking one naive question