How do you guys feel? I mean, listen, that's pretty amazing. I mean, it was so emotional right? But I think that really, Ukrainians know that we you know that we are standing with them. I got so many things from all of the mothers there and it was so nice to be with them for Mother's Day and Romania has been such a strong alliance and partner and and I love some of the saints. You know, when the woman said, Its hearts without borders. And I thought that was such a beautiful way to put it and I think that's what you all saw. So, thanks for coming. I hope it was. I thought it was incredible.
You've talked so much about your role as an educator how important you think that work is. You also seem to really flew in on the emotional impact that this has had on children and the role of education as a safe space. For them. What were some of your takeaways, especially from what you heard from some of those young kids wanting to go home how they feel a
lesson in heartbreaking the little girl that said her wish was to be with her daddy, and then another said my wishes to go home, and then you can see it those children really have suffered in the little girl who sat in the basement who was sick, and she sat there for weeks. And I don't know whether you saw the interesting thing I thought was I saw her at the table. Do you remember when we first went in and I said, What's the matter? Why aren't you drawing and she said I don't want to draw, but she was so withdrawn. And then to have her mother next to me telling me that story. You know, it really it just put all those pieces together about the little girl the trauma she felt obviously the mother was traumatized. And felt all that emotion you saw that. So anyway, and as a teacher, I so appreciate it. What that one teacher did by saying I'm a teacher, we're gonna you know, we're gonna organize this we're gonna get it together. And I think, you know, really, in a lot of ways the teachers are the glue that helps me deal with their trauma and deal with the emotion and help give them a sense of normalcy. And then to meet. You know, Carmen, the First Lady of Romania, who was a teacher, I mean, it was just such a wonderful lunch. You never know what you're getting into what you're walking into and she looked, she looked at my heritage. She tried to do Italian meals for our lunch. And, and then we just talked like, girlfriends, I mean, we talked about literature, Shakespeare, we talked about Mark Twain, we talked about exercise, I mean stuff that, you know, just women do that. When they get together. They feel like they have something in common. But in the end, I think it's really the hope that was so important, and that we're such a strong alliance with Romania, and that we're all supporting Ukraine,
Dr. Biden, what did you mean when you said I feel like there's hope in that classroom? Do you feel like there's a tide turning for refugees? Do you feel like there's a war?
What did you mean? I felt like there was hope in that there were some answers coming forward. And they felt that there was some structure to their lives and they weren't getting supplies. They all realize how much money the United States has been giving to Ukraine into the refugee situation, and to Romania to support the refugees and they were well aware of American support. So I thought that was really important
that you were concerned that this was just the beginning of the refugee crisis. What are you worried are the next phases and and what do
you think we don't know? We don't know. We're all hopeful, right? We wake up every morning and think this has to end but it still keeps going on and on. I mean, you know, it's been going on really since really 2014 If you think of it I was here in 2014 and saw the beginnings of the conflict. I visited a hospital and saw some of the wounded warriors there. So this has been a long time but now it's intensified. Of course.
You can put the follow up there with a classroom though because at the same time you talk so much about the psychological work that needs to be done, the long term damage that a lot of these students are going to have from what they've seen in this experience. Are you worried that the long term care that they need might get lost in the shuffle as this isn't the crisis?
Because I think we're focusing on the mental health needs of the kids, not only through the pandemic, but now through the war? I think the whole world is seeing we need more mental health. And my mom's quite frankly, I mean, you can't go through that kind of trauma, and you know, not feel some sort of effects from it. Right? I mean, everybody has to know. Thanks for coming on.
