Cejay McCalla, one of the Jamaican students who fled Ukraine
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Matthew DeSilva, Chelsea Williams and Cejay McCalla
Followings days of travel in cold conditions to escape war-torn Ukraine, Jamaican students are now looking forward to returning home, but are concerned about their future.
The 24 students are now safely in Poland where arrangements are being made for their return.
One student, Matthew DeSilva, says he expects to be back in Jamaica on Wednesday.
"We're all fine. I'm just exhausted right now. I'm just looking forward to being home and eating some ackee and saltfish," he told Radio Jamaica's Dionne Jackson Miller.
But even as the students feel relieved to have escaped the war zone, they are now worried about what's ahead.
Chelsea Williams was in the fourth year of her programme and says she is confused about whether she will be able to complete her medical degree.
"I don't know what next to do. I'm practically two years away from finishing and I cannot afford to study in Jamaica, which I think was the main reason why a lot of us left. USA is out of the option also, UK, Canada. The university, if it has been destroyed, I don't know how I will get my transcript...to start school somewhere else. So I really don't know what to do," Williams said, as she broke down in tears.
Another student, Cejay McCalla, urged either the government or private sector to help them continue their studies.
"So, wherever private individuals or the government can help out to get us into another programme somewhere else that is affordable or something, or direct us to different scholarship opportunities; where people can help in terms of information...just give us something," he pleaded.
In the latest update, Foreign Affairs Minister, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith said one Jamaican student is in Romania and assistance has been secured for her.
Two other students are in a part of Ukraine believed to be more secure, and a fourth is still in Kharkiv.
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