The idea for URIA began in the summer of 2022. At this point, the war had been ongoing for roughly 6 months. When visiting my Father’s now renovated childhood home in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, I noticed a seemingly out-of-place Ford Motors cup inside the Pantry. Upon asking my dad about it, I found out that it had been given to him as a gift in his late teens from some individuals from Wales he had met on a ski trip. At this time, Romania had been the reign of Nicolae Ceaușescu, and foreign objects seldom got through customs. My father remarked that he had held on to this cup through the rest of his high school, college, and even adult life in Romania before immigrating to the United States.

With the power of modern technology, I aim to provide Ukrainian teenagers with their own “cups”. Through URIA, teenagers from all of the world are able to match with Ukrainian teens whose livelihoods were rattled by the war.