We are dedicating this month’s Journaling to the frighteningly embattled and remarkably resourceful people of Ukraine. What follows here are not our words, but those of a publishing services company we work with, Design2Pro, which sent this note recently to its clients, including River Journal. We believe that sharing this with our readers puts us all that much closer in empathy to ground zero of a nightmare scenario we are blessed to not experience in our own lives. There but for the grace of …
Prior to Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, more than two-thirds of our full-time design staff were based in Ukraine. As a result of Russian aggression, our Ukraine-based team has borne much hardship and challenges. To think that in 2022 — and in Europe no less — that one country would brutally attack another is almost beyond one’s imagination.
The scenes of destruction and devastation to parts of Ukraine are mind-numbing.
With much difficulty, courage and perseverance, the overwhelming majority of our Ukrainian staff has managed to escape from the horrors and carnage of war. We have vigorously assisted our team members and their families in their flight to freedom.
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We are happy and relieved to report that none of our personnel have been physically harmed, and that more than 75% of our people are now operating from outside Ukraine. Those remaining in the country are primarily in the far West in Lviv and other areas close to the Polish border, which have been free from hostilities.
Our people, and in many cases their families, have migrated to Poland, Romania, Moldova, Germany and elsewhere. None of our Project Managers remain in Ukraine, so all of our management is out of that country.
We are proud to report that, through all of this, we have managed to meet all deadlines for our customers, with our people heroically working day and night to ensure uninterrupted service for our publishers.
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With the overwhelming majority of our people now out of harm’s way, we’ve been able to take on more work from new and existing customers. We’ve also been recruiting additional designers from other parts of Europe as backup, and to enhance our workload capacity.
When you work with us at Design2Pro (we and our team members are grateful for your business at this trying time), you help provide vital livelihoods to displaced Ukrainian designers and their families, you help bolster the morale of Ukrainians, and also, in a very concrete way, you take a stand for freedom, decency, democracy and human rights.
We’ll keep you updated periodically as to conditions for our people, and, again, we thank you ever so much for your continued support.
