”I was walking there on my feet a year ago,” the 15-year-old from Ukraine told a Fort Dodge audience.

The next photo showed the floor of that corridor filled with people sitting and laying on blankets.

”Now thousands of people are hiding there from bombs,” she said..

Another image showed a man pushing his bicycle past burnt and blasted military vehicles.

”If you want to go for a walk now it looks like this,” she told about 50 people gathered at First Presbyterian Church for a presentation on the war in Ukraine.

Grimmer images followed. One showed makeshift grave markers made of sticks in the form of crosses. Another showed a 9-year-old boy standing next to his mother’s grave.

While Tataryna said the war has caused destruction on a level she had not even seen in movies, she expressed hope that Ukraine will prevail over Russia.

”I believe our country will stay and we will win,” she said.

Tataryna talked about the devastation unfolding in her country as part of a presentation to encourage donations to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, which is conducting an emergency response to the Ukraine war.

She is now living and going to school in West Des Moines as part of the Future Leaders Exchange program She came to the United States in August 2021.

Tataryna said her home is in central Ukraine, about six hours by train from the capital of Kyiv. There is no fighting in or near her hometown, she said.

In an interview following her presentation, Tataryna recalled learning of the invasion at about 11 p.m. Feb. 24. She said she had a feeling that something was going on, so she checked her phone for news.

”For me, it was surprise,” she said.

She said she called her mother immediately and she answered.

Tataryna said she couldn’t sleep at all that night, but went to school the next morning anyway.

”For me it is much more comfortable to be near people who can help me,” she said.

That first day was bad, she said, but her teachers and classmates have been very supportive.

After her initial shock, Tataryna resolved to do something to aid her country.

”I am here,” she said. ”I am in a safe place. I need to do something to help Ukraine.”

She started by attending a protest in Ames. She gave a speech in West Des Moines and has given several interviews. She works with others to share information about the war on social media.

”It’s not a problem only of Ukraine,” she said. ”It is a problem of the whole world. It is the 21st century. We should stop all wars.”

How to help

Donations to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to help the people of Ukraine can be made by:

• Text PDAUKR to 41444

• Visit pcusa.org/UK22

• Call (800) 872-3283

• Send checks to Presbyterian Church (USA), PO Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700.