Irina Liakh (@irinaliakh) β’ Hey
community builder, storyteller, AI whisperer, activist ππ
πcurrent location: Buenos Aires π¦π·
Publications
- gm gm βοΈ
- gm from Buenos Aires πΈπ¦π·
- buenas noches ππ¦π·π·π
- on my way to Buenos Aires π«‘βοΈπ¦π·π
- last day in Venice, for the next 2 months Iβll be based in Buenos Aires π₯Ήπ¦π· so grateful for my job, this is going to be an incredible experience β¨β£
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my inner child is so happy, as it was my childhood dream to spend time in Argentina (blame it on the Argentinian telenovelas I grew up watching π) β£
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after Argentina Iβll be going back to Ukraine to deliver more aid, so will be fundraising to fulfill all the requests in the meantime π«‘ πΊπ¦
- took Tactical Emergency Casualty Care courseβοΈ feeling more confident that I have more practical skills now to help myself and other volunteers, when we are delivering aid to the frontlines in Ukraine. πΊπ¦
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fun fact: Iβm the only one here who is not LAPD police officer ππ
so got to participate in active shooter drills and mass casualty simulation exercises with all of them. gonna dedicate more time to this so I can understand even better how we can help combat medics more effectively. π
- another week of war & life balance: β£β£
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βοΈ packing for Buenos Aires, excited to start hosting the meetups for the local community π₯Ήπ¦π·π§³β£β£
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βοΈ preparing for the Tactical Emergency Casualty Care course that Iβm taking Friday to be more prepared for my next aid delivery to the frontlines in Ukraine βοΈπΊπ¦π§³β£
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- been feeling super down. saying that I hate centralized social media is an understatement. π€
Instagram banning me erased so much of my work and stalled my fundraising efforts for Ukraine. It's not surprising, as Meta has a long history of silencing activists, but it's so exhausting & discouraging nonetheless π
- got banned on Instagram for posting about Ukraine. silencing people who speak up is the current vibe Meta is going for on IG & Threads π«₯
- some recent AI experiments β¨
- while we were driving to deliver aid to the frontlines in Ukraine, I spent hours explaining nfts & gen art to 2 volunteers who risk their lives daily to help people in an active war zone. π« Epiphanies #161 and #162 by Jimena Buena Vida are in their wallets. π₯Ήππ also this was definitely my first time onboarding people and minting in extreme conditions, with drones flying and artillery striking in the background, so here is that π«¨βοΈ
- gm gm π
- Happy Independence Day, Ukraine πΊπ¦
Π ΠΠ½Π΅ΠΌ ΠΠ΅Π·Π°Π»Π΅ΠΆΠ½ΠΎΡΡΡ! Π‘Π»Π°Π²Π° Π£ΠΊΡΠ°ΡΠ½Ρ! ππβ£
- learned so much during this month. getting to work near the frontline and spend more time with the military, combat medics, as well as civilians, helped me have a way better understanding of what can help and what I can do to provide aid more efficiently. thank you to everyone who has been supporting and donating. Iβll be sharing more once I return in LA, thank you friends πππ«β£
- war & life balance. there was just a few days between these photos: one is taken in the active war zone, near the frontline in Ukraine and another one at my friendβs wedding in Ireland. life is truly bizarre β€οΈβπ©Ή
- a few pics from our volunteer center in my hometown. πΊπ¦ Iβm in the process of opening the U.S-based non-profit, and once itβs incorporated and has 501(c)(3) status, I will be able to do so much more. lots of work ahead but Iβm committed for however long will be necessary during this war and rebuilding of Ukraine after. ππβ£
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for everyone who wants to continue helping me to help more civilians and military: https://www.crystalhearts.io π«πΊπ¦
- me trying to keep up conversations at web3 events every single time I return from Ukraine π«£π«
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- spent a day at one of the positions of State Border Guard units πΊπ¦ Iβve been working with State Border Guard since day 1 of the full-scale war and was able to fulfill many of their requests (from body armor, thermal telescopes, drones to any miscellaneous items they need for their daily work) π₯Ήβ€οΈβ£β£
my hometown is located around 20 miles from the border, and when the full-scale war began it was protected by the border guards and the armed forces of Ukraine and wasnβt occupied, so a lot of my focus is on supporting those who are protecting the borders and preventing russian invaders and terrorists from occupying any territories nearby, including my hometown. and Iβll continue utilizing any relevant skills I have to make sure we have everything we need to keep the borders protected. β£π«π€π«‘
- finally got to visit Stone Village. such a powerful place. all these beautiful moss-covered rocks are literally in the middle of the forest, there are many theories of their formation and even more legends and folk stories ππ§ even though getting here is not super easy (and the fact that some of the forest parts are currently mined definitely adds to all the emotions), you can feel an incredibly energy as soon as you step your foot here πΏπͺ¨ special place indeed. #ukraine
- finally had a chance to put together a video from our aid delivery to Yampil π«β€οΈβπ©Ήππ for those who want to support our work on the ground in Ukraine, please head over to crystalhearts.io, you can donate directly or mint an open edition of my poem βοΈ
- the most unexpected thing received by me in an active war zone? Pepe patches for my bulletproof vest πΈβ€οΈ Pepe is love. β€οΈβπ©Ήβπ«ππ
- me finally getting reception after we delivered aid to the frontline villages where there is no connection at all pretty much anywhere & checking emails, discord, work group chats, in case you were wondering what remote work from an active war zone looks like ππ² gm! πππ
- for context about the area we are working in πΆβπ«οΈ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/27/ukraine-kreminna-russia-donbas-counteroffensive/
- aid delivered βοΈππ«πππ
- me: this is fine. β£
narratorβs voice: it was indeed not fine. β£
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but we made it, delivered aid, and made it out in one piece. alive & thankful.β£
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we managed to deliver aid to several frontline villages. π« driving down the βdeath roadsβ in an active war zone is definitely not how I imagined spending my summer, but here we are π«₯ if you want to support our work in Ukraine, please check this link: https://www.crystalhearts.io β€οΈβπ©Ή and to those who have been supporting- THANK YOU! π₯Ή
- my Ukraine πβ€οΈβπ©Ή you can zoom in and see someoneβs life frozen in time: books, photo albums, clothesβ¦ many towns and villages donβt exist anymore. took these photos during our drive to deliver aid, my heart hurts π
- loading up π« we brought food & hygiene packages for civilians, as well as aid for the military. ππ we went to the area closed for entry for civilians, volunteers & both foreign and Ukrainian press due to dangers of being so close to the frontline/active combat zone, but we were let in πΈ
and for the reason listed above we did not document a whole lot, as far as how we were getting there and how we got out, aside from the actual aid delivery, to not accidentally disclose anything we saw along the way that could contain positions of the Ukrainian army, military and medical evacuation vehicles on the frontline etc anything that can get our people killed.
the village we went to was liberated by Ukraine in late September last year. there are a lot of people residing there currently (who lived under russian occupation for 5 months).β€οΈβπ©Ή will be sharing more in the coming days. β€οΈβπ₯ thank you to everyone who has been donating! β£
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for anyone who wants to help us help more people: https://www.crystalhearts.io
- along with the humanitarian aid to civilians and bringing a car to the military, our squad also managed to evacuate dogs ππ«β€οΈβπ₯πΊπ¦ all the volunteers who evacuate animals, are my heroes β€οΈβπ©Ή Iβm thankful to know some of them and support their work.π» https://www.crystalhearts.io
- finally getting to share everything from our aid deliveries in the past two weeks. ππβοΈ this is New York (if you guys didnβt know, we have New York in Ukraine. About 26 miles away from Bakhmut, and currently 3 miles from russian troops). β£π«
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russians are shelling New York every single day, daily artillery strikes and drone attacks are the new normal here. The night before we got here russians dropped an aerial bomb on the local houses, 4 people were killed. When we arrived it was relatively quiet (even though driving there was not quiet at all, most of the roads are being shot through, so any volunteer, aid and media cars are in imminent danger). we managed to locate and gather some local people and distribute food supplies, as well as food for cats and dogs β€οΈπβ£
for anyone who wants to help us help more people: crystalhearts.io πͺ½π
- packed and ready to go π¦¦π» driving to the frontline areas today. early morning tomorrow we will try to reach some villages that were unreachable before πππ crystalhearts.io
- It definitely hits differently when you are packing first aid kits not for someone else, but for yourself & your friends. hope none of this needs to be used π heading back to deliver more aid tomorrow ππ for anyone who wants to support our efforts: crystalhearts.io β€οΈβπ©Ή
- had a full nightβs sleep, as there were no air raid alerts/missile threats last night. feeling like a new person π€I truly hate that being terrorized by russians every single night is so normal, that not having to wake up to seek shelter and being able to actually sleep feels like a blessing π€
- we are heading out to the frontline areas Saturday morning, if any of you want to help us help more people, please head over to https://www.crystalhearts.io/ β€οΈβπ₯πΊπ¦
- not exactly the Barbie you ordered but the one you are stuck with lol
π€¨πππππππβ #Barbie #UkraineEdition
- missile attacks underway. currently in the bomb shelter playing Forge π« #UkraineLife
- dream team πππ» here are the incredible human angels I drive to the frontline areas with to deliver aid. βοΈβ€οΈβπ₯
- gm from Ukraineπ» these past few days have been such a blur, but we made it. we delivered food and necessities to civilians in the frontline areas, evacuated dogs, delivered a car to the military. will be fundraising and returning to deliver more aid this weekend βοΈ
Iβll be sharing more in the coming days, when I get myself to write about it. currently resting at home and catching up with all the work. my heart truly hurts from everything we have seen. β€οΈβπ©Ή
- we are back in relative safety π«β€οΈβπ©Ή and by relative safety I mean here russians only try to kill you with missiles & drones, instead of artillery strikes, cluster munitions, aerial bombs, and shooting you on the roads while you drive to deliver aid. πΆβπ«οΈπ resting today and will start sharing everything π
- we left Druzhkivka earlier today. β€οΈβπ©Ή
- gm everyone. we are already on our way to the frontline areas to deliver aid to civilians, bring a car and other requested items to the military, also we are hoping to be able to evacuate 2 dogs and bring them back with us. πΊπ¦π«βοΈ if any of you want to support our efforts please head over to crystalhearts.io β€οΈβπ₯ appreciate you all π«
- daily life in Ukraine π€
- quick stop in my hometown πΊπ¦πΉ spending 10 hours with my family before heading out to get together with the volunteer team βοΈ
- Day 1 in Ukraine, super jet-lagged, but the work began right away. spent today with the guys who are rebuilding cars to make them bulletproof & usable for medical/casualty evacuation βοΈβ€οΈβπ©Ή hope weβll be able to get some cars done & deliver to the medics. for everyone who wants to support π«π€: crystalhearts.io
- Iβm home π₯ΉπΊπ¦β€οΈβπ₯βπ» #Ukraine
- on my way to Poland, will be driving to Ukraine from there tomorrow β€οΈβπ₯βπππ» and the work will begin right away, for anyone who wants to support my efforts, please check out crystalhearts.io π
- leaving to Ukraine tomorrow β€οΈβπ₯π» hope we can help as many people as possible. if any of you want to support my efforts, you can do it here: https://www.crystalhearts.io
- you carry magic in your hands β¨ #aiart
- next week! DreamForum β€οΈβπ₯ a 3-day celebration of AI artists and developers ππ¦Ύ https://www.dreamforum.io/
- late night #ai creations