In times of humanitarian crisis, like the one happening currently in Ukraine, the Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC) stepped up to support its member institutions in Ukraine with the #AECforUkraine campaign.
“The AEC remains united in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and our Ukrainian colleagues.
As a sign of our support, we will be sending a superpower bank (worth 2.000 €) to each of our member institutions in Kharkiv, Kiev and Odesa in the coming days. These power banks are urgently needed to bridge the regular power cuts.
We are very grateful that so many members and friends of AEC have donated to the fundraising campaign #AECforUkraine.“
Ukraine is facing a humanitarian crisis. The international armed conflict has left overwhelming suffering, death and destruction. The Russian military has already destroyed a massive portion of Ukraine’s energy system with power cuts lasting several hours and becoming increasingly frequent in most areas of the country.
Particularly in winter times, the situation affects the lives of the teachers, students and administrative staff. It has paralysed not only the work of many institutions’ departments but has also limited the opportunities to study, practise musical instruments, prepare for exams, rehearse, and perform concerts.
AEC has been committed to helping Ukrainian Music Higher Education Institutions become as autonomous as possible from the external energy and heating systems and this is why we decided to start a donation campaign to help our Ukrainian members survive this winter.
AEC is in direct and steady contact with its members to get updates on their living and working conditions.
The #AECforUkraine campaign seeked to mobilise institutions and individuals to direct funding to support the following Ukrainian AEC Member Institutions:
The donations for the campaign are now closed.
The pledged contributions will help address the immediate and medium-term needs of the three institutions. At the moment, the most urgent is to provide stable provision of electricity, that is why it is our utmost priority to equip the institutions and the student dormitories with power supplies and electricity generators.
The funding will be directed to the purchase of 3 electric generators, one for each of the three above-mentioned AEC member institutions.
The funds were collected by the Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC).
The items will be ordered and paid for by the AEC so that unintended or even improper use of the money can be ruled out. AEC will also arrange for the items to be delivered to Ukraine in coordination with its members.
Prof. Dr. Maksym Tymoshenko – President
“Dear Colleagues! Dear Friends!
Unfortunately, this terrible war is becoming increasingly difficult and destructive.
Every day we live without electricity for more and more hours. But the problem is that the heating and water systems are also totally dependent on the uninterrupted availability of electricity. So, we have no other option but to become as autonomous as possible from the external energy and heating systems! In order for our students to survive this winter in the dormitory, we urgently need an electric generator in the first place. The generator will be able to supply power to the entire 15-storey dormitory.
I hope we can implement the project so that our students and staff will be able to survive the winter and the total disconnection of the city’s utilities in comfortable conditions.
With deep respect,
Prof. Dr. Maksym Tymoshenko”
Oleksandr Oliinyk – Rector
“Dear AEC Council, Dear AEC Members,
On behalf of the rectorate, teachers and students of Odesa National Academy of Music let us express our gratitude for your support and solidarity. Your support helps us in this difficult time.
Due to massive attacks by the Russian army on Ukrainian infrastructure facilities, our city was left without electricity. Electricity comes on for a couple of hours a day and it can happen at night. In this situation, more than 500 students and 150 teachers and employees, who remained in Odessa and keep the educational process, became hostages. We need two (20 kwh) electricity generators for our building. Having these generators we would keep on with our educational process, especially in wintertime. Our students also ask for rechargeable or battery-operated lamps or torches for music stands.
We really hope for help from the AEC and our colleagues and need it very much.
Kind regards,
Oleksandr Oliinyk, Rector “
Prof. Nataliya Govorukhina, Rector
“Dear friends and colleagues at AEC,
This horrible and devastating war has caused abysmal problems in all of Ukraine, but it has also affected our University specifically. Last winter the building of our University suffered serious damage due to the Russian missile strikes on the central part of Kharkiv.
Given that Kharkiv is a city located near the border with the aggressor state, the administration of the University decided that the educational process will be held exclusively online.
But even though the students are not present in the University, it does not mean that the University does not work. In order to keep working and coordinating the work of the University, we need reliable and autonomous sources of electricity since the power outages become more and more prolonged.
We really hope for support from our AEC colleagues, we hope that thanks to You we will be able to get the much-needed generator and continue our work.
Sincerely Yours,
Prof. Nataliya Govorukhina, Rector”
