Unlock the future for children

At the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Ukraine will be represented by two popular artists — alyona alyona and Jerry Heil. Their song, Teresa & Maria, has made a lot of noise, and is currently among the top five contenders, according to bookmaker forecasts.

Audiences have many assumptions about what this song is about. Here's how the performers explain it: "Teresa & Maria is about the strength, courage and resilience of Ukrainian women. The song is dedicated to them. It is about them, their pains and hopes, their dreams and big hearts that we will be talking about during the Eurovision promotional tour."

At the beginning of the full-scale war, the village of Velyka Kostromka suffered from artillery shelling almost every day. On October 11, 2022, a missile destroyed the school where Liudmyla had worked for 40 years. 

"It was the school of my children and grandchildren. It was very painful to look at the wreckage. When my grandchildren came home and saw the destruction, they cried and asked: "Grandma, will our school be rebuilt?"

Despite persuasion from her family, Liudmyla did not leave her village and continued to work. During the shelling, which took place almost every day in the village, she taught history to children online from the bathroom or basement. 

"The shelling was constant, especially at night. But in the morning, I still taught classes because I had to support the children and give them hope that everything would be okay."