First Lady Pool Reports of May 7, 2022

FLOTUS 5/7 Travel Pool Report #1: Arrival at U.S. embassy in Romania

Good morning from Bucharest. The pool arrived ahead of FLOTUS at the U.S. embassy in Romania where she is receiving a humanitarian briefing on efforts to aid refugees.

At the entrance of the embassy, there were photos of the March 2012 dedication of a new building at the embassy. The photos featured then-Ambassador Mark Gitenstein and Beau Biden, then the AG of Delaware, at the ceremony. Pool did not see FLOTUS arrive at the building, but WH staff said she saw the photos.

Pool was pre-set in the Honolulu room, which FLOTUS entered at 10:18 am and greeted the briefing participants.

David Muniz, Charge d'affaires to Romania, began the briefing, promising to be brief to which FLOTUS said, "My husband always says that" with a laugh.

Briefing is ongoing

Background from the White House:

BRIEFING AT U.S. EMBASSY
FLOTUS will receive a briefing from organizations delivering humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian refugees in Romania and across the border to conflict-affected populations in Ukraine. The organizations include United Nations agencies and a nongovernmental organization, as well as the Government of Romania.

PARTICIPANTS

• David Muniz, Charge d'affaires to Romania
• Pieter Bult, UNICEF Representative in Romania
• Simona Boanca, Head of Programs, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Romania
• Madalina Turza, Advisor, Romanian Prime Minister's Office
• Douglas Mercado, Head of Area Office for Romania, World Food Programme
• Diana Chiriacesu, Director, Federation of NGOs Providing
• Gabriela Alexandrescu, Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children Romania

ATTENDEES
• Assistant Secretary Karen Donfried
• Ambassador Mark Gitenstein
• Paloma Gonzalez, Deputy Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy Bucharest
• Shawn Ellen Wesner, Temporary Refugee Coordinator on Assignment to Romania, Bureau of Refugees, Population, and Migration, U.S. Department of State
• Curtis Ried, Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs, National Security Council, The White House
• Mrs. Libby Gitenstein
• Ambassador Luminita Odobescu, Romanian PresidentialAdvisor on European Affairs

FLOTUS 5/7 Travel Pool Report #2: briefing concludes

The humanitarian briefing concluded at 11:09 a.m.

FLOTUS largely listened and took notes during the briefing while also asking follow-up questions.

The UNHCR official told FLOTUS that roughly 7,000 refugees from Ukraine are entering Romania a day. Nearly 900,000 refugees have come through Romania so far, though many have continued on to other countries, the UNICEF official said.

FLOTUS was particularly interested in the availability of mental health services and how teachers were being prepared to handle refugee children who may be dealing with trauma.

FLOTUS: "Do you feel that you have enough counselors? We found with the pandemic in the United States and with children returning to schools like everybody, so many needed mental health but we didn't have the psychologists, you know, there weren't that many people trained to go into the schools or to help the children. So what are you finding?"

She was told they need more counselors and need to continue to train teachers to be able to assist students with trauma.

FLOTUS also asked about the mindset of refugees and whether they hope to integrate into Romania or return to Ukraine; whether organizations are offering tele-health services; and how refugees can find out about available mental health services.

In her concluding remarks, FLOTUS said:

"It's amazing. I think, Gabriela, you said it best. It's solidarity, here in Romania, that you're all working together. And I think this is really unfortunately just the beginning. Just the beginning. "So I want to thank you all for being here, and thank you for what you're doing. It's just you're doing an amazing job. I mean, Romania, the Romanian people are amazing to welcome all these refugees into their homes and offer them food and clothing, shelter and give them their hearts, and I think the world knows that so thank you."

One additional participant at the briefing, per the WH: Pablo Zapata, acting representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Romania

Pool is holding while FLOTUS meets with embassy staff.

FLOTUS 5/7 Travel Pool Report #3: FLOTUS having lunch with Romania's first lady

Motorcade arrived at the residence of the Romanian President and First Lady at 11:59 a.m.Pool did not see FLOTUS upon arrival.

FLOTUS is having a private lunch with Romania's first lady Carmen Johannis.

Pool is holding separately on the property.

FLOTUS 5/7 Travel Pool Report #4: rolling to school visit

The motorcade starting rolling from the residence at 1:34 p.m. en route to a Romanian public school. Details on the event are below.

Some color on the lunch from a White House official:

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and his wife, Carmen, greeted FLOTUS upon arrival and gave her white peonies. FLOTUS gave them a large bouquet of flowers. Mrs. Iohannis and FLOTUS then ate a fish lunch, which was made by Mrs. Iohannis.

Background from the White House:

The two first ladies will visit "Scoala Gimnaziala Uruguay," a Romanian public school that is hosting Ukrainian refugee students. They will talk with Ukrainian and Romanian educators; meet with Ukrainian mothers; interact with children in a classroom setting; and have a listening session with the Romanian Minister of Education, educators, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on refugee issues in Romania. Scoala Gimnaziala Uruguay serves students ages 5-15 years old. It is currently hosting two classrooms of Ukrainian refugee students ages 5-15 years. The Ukrainian children learn in the classroom, led by their Ukrainian teachers, but interact and play with Romanian students during free time and after school activities. The school is supported by UNHCR, UNICEF, and Save the Children.

FIRST CLASS ROOM: 15 Students (9 Ukrainian refugees, 6 Romanians who are between the ages of 5 and 9 years old.
SECOND CLASS ROOM: 32 students (mix of Ukrainian refugees and Romanians) who are between the ages of 10 and 15 years old.
LISTENING SESSION PARTICIPANTS

• Ambassador Mark Gitenstein, Mrs. Libby Gitenstein, Assistant Secretary Karen Donfried, and the First Lady of Romania
• Ligia Deca, the moderator and the Romanian Presidential Advisor for the Department of Education
• Svitlana Salamatova, a mother from Kyiv (15-year-old daughter), teacher at Uruguay School, President of NGO "Geopolitical
• Alliance of Women," and co-founded (with Anna Sushko) a kindergarten in Bucharest for Ukrainian refugee students.
• Anastasiia Konovalova, a mother from Odesa (2-year-old child) and teacher at Mihai Viteazu School in Bucharest. She was profiled in a recent NPR article.
• Anna Sushko, a mother from Kyiv (4-year-old and 5-year-old boys), teacher at Uruguay School, President of NGO "School Angels," and co-founded (with Svitlana Salamatova) a kindergarten in Bucharest for Ukrainian refugee students.
• Svitlana Gollyak, a mother from Kharkiv (8-year-old daughter) and a teacher at Uruguay School.

FLOTUS 5/7 Travel Pool Report #5: School visit + listening session

FLOTUS and Mrs. Iohannis arrived at the school at 1:47 p.m. and entered holding hands. As FLOTUS met school officials, she said her and Mrs. Iohannis "have so much in common. We like the same authors. We like to read."

They entered the first classroom at at 1:52 p.m.

The children were tracing their hands and cutting them out on paper printed with Ukrainian and Romanian flags.

FLOTUS brought over to the pool one child named Mila, a 7-year-old from Kyiv, who wrote a message translated by a teacher as "I want to return to my father."

A five-year-old child who was too young to write drew pictures on one of the hands that a teacher said conveyed her message: "I want to go to Odessa as soon as possible. That's my wish."

Pool was ushered out of the classroom at 1:56 p.m.

The first ladies entered the second classroom at 2:03 p.m.

FLOTUS walked around the classroom, observing students as they did art projects.

At one table, she asked: "Do any of you want to be teachers?"

None of the students raised their hand

"What do you mean no?!"

FLOTUS then asked the students what they wanted to be. One student said a designer, another said flight attendant.

"You're doing a beautiful job," she told a group of students working on a project.

Pool was ushered out of the classroom at 2:12 p.m.

The first ladies entered a third classroom at 2:17 pm for a listening session with educators and refugees.

FLOTUS, who at times appeared to be on the verge of tears, heard from Ukrainian women who fled their country and spoke of the trauma of trying to rebuild their lives in Romania.

Anastasia Konovalvoa, a Ukrainian teacher who fled in March to Romania, was among those who shared her story.

"I crossed the border with my three-year-old son and everything I was thinking about was how to save my child from a city that was bombed," she said. "Thank god the Romanian people were here. I think even the Romanian didn't expect that they could be so wonderful because you don't expect that from people."

The women expressed deep gratitude for the people of Romania for welcoming them, but they also said they hope to return to Ukraine one day. They thanked the U.S. for their support of Ukraine and refugees.

"We stand with you," FLOTUS said. "I hope you know that."

FLOTUS later added: "I think you are the amazing ones, really."

"I think mothers will do anything for their children … I think you're amazingly strong and resilient," Biden said. "It's just amazing that the Romanian people have taken you into their homes and into their hearts."

FLOTUS thanked Mrs. Iohannis and said the Romanian people are "heroes."

Mrs. Iohannis: "I'm very grateful that you took the time and made the effort to visit us."

Of the U.S., she said: "We feel safer knowing that they back us up…. Sticking together, being united is very important to us."

The first ladies then distributed flowers to the Ukrainian women.

Pool was ushered out of the classroom at 2:52 p.m.

At 2:59, the first ladies arrived at a turf soccer field at the school where students sang the Romanian national anthem. Students and teachers then sang a Ukrainan military march song.

FLOTUS then shook hands with students, hugged teachers and posed for photos before she and Mrs. Iohannis handed out "Heidi Junior" chocolate bars and Air Force One M&Ms with President Biden's signature.

Pool was ushered out and to the press van at 3:08 p.m. We will be rolling to the airport shortly.

FLOTUS 5/7 Travel Pool Report #6: Airport gaggle and departure

Motorcade arrived at the airport at 3:33 p.m. FLOTUS posed for photos with law enforcement officials and volunteers and then spoke for a few minutes with the press.

Plane will be wheels up shortly to Slovakia.

Here is a rough transcript but please check against recording (https://otter.ai/u/RjpRM4_ka7zun5Aj0IR5nbNRyfg)

FLOTUS: "How do you guys feel? I mean, wasn't that 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 thanks 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 I love some of the sayings. You know, when the woman said, 'it's 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."

Question: What were some of your takeaways from what you heard, especially from some of those young kids wanting to go home?

FLOTUS: "Wasn't it heartbreaking? The little girl that said her wish was to be with her daddy, and then another said my wish is to go home, and then you can see it those children really have suffered and 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 her. 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 appreciated what that one teacher did by saying, 'I'm a teacher, we're going to, you know, we're going to organize this. We're going to get it together. And I think, you know, really, in a lot of ways the teachers are the glue that helps the kids 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. She looked at my heritage. She tried to do Italian meals for our lunch, 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 when they get together, and 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."

Q: 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?

FLOTUS: "I felt like there was hope in that there were some answers coming forward, andd they felt that there was some structure to their lives and they were getting supplies. They all realize how much money the United States has been giving to Ukraine and to 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.

Q: You said you were concerned that this was just the beginning of the refugee crisis. What worries you about the next phases?

"Because 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 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."

Q: You talked about the psychological damage that's been done. Are you worried that the long-term care that they need might get lost in the shuffle?

FLOTUS: "No. No 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 their moms 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. So, thanks for coming on the trip."

FLOTUS 5/7 Travel Pool Report #7: Arrival in Slovakia

FLOTUS stepped off the plane in Slovakia at 4:24 p.m. local time. She was greeted by an honor guard, which stood on the edges of a red carpet.

Motorcade starting rolling at 4:27 p.m.

FLOTUS will make a stop on the way to the RON. Details below from the White House:

On our way to the hotel, FLOTUS will stop to lay flowers at a nearby memorial.The memorial is dedicated to the 26 year old investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova, who were assassinated in their home in 2018. At the time Kuciak was investigating a crime boss, who ordered the hit. His murder shocked the conscience of Slovakia, led to massive protests, and brought the country to where it is today—a nation more committed to anti-corruption and democratic revival. The memorial is a powerful symbol that resonates across Slovakia.

FLOTUS 5/7 Travel Pool Report #8: Memorial visit and RON

FLOTUS exited her vehicle at 4:43 p.m. holding a bouquet of flowers that she laid at the base of the memorial for a journalist killed in Slovakia. She stood silently in front of it for a few moments before returning to her vehicle.

Motorcade arrived at the RON at 4:51.

FLOTUS is holding a closed press meet and greet with embassy staff.

Will be back for more tomorrow.