Jackson now speaks in his own voice.
“I want to have an impact on people's lives. I don't want to be just another cloud in the wind. I want to help people, even if it's just a little bit to make people's lives a little better,” he said.
He is fully aware that his life is unusual for most children, and in Moldova, this shocks him metaphorically. “You definitely want to help. You have grown so much and I am so grateful for that.”
Erica says she tries to keep life simple for her three children, Indigo, Jackson and Emmanuel.
She has served as a UNICEF Australia ambassador for 16 years, and said Jackson wanted to gain “a perspective and first-hand experience of what UNICEF does on the ground, and this trip provided him with a learning experience that I think will stay with him.” “His for life.”
She added: “Australia is a distinct country compared to many other countries, and our family is in a fortunate position.”
The Packer family's children are heirs to a family fortune worth billions.
Erica with her children Indigo, Jackson and Emmanuel and their father James Packer in Aspen in 2017.
UNICEF says the Packers are part of an expanding group of Australian philanthropists who are bringing their children into the world of helping others.
“We are increasingly seeing multi-generational giving, and there is a strong commitment among Australia’s wealthiest families to transform family wealth into generational philanthropy,” said Emily Gribble, Chief of Philanthropy at UNICEF Australia.
Last year, Australians donated $60 million to UNICEF Australia. Globally, UNICEF has an international council made up of 135 philanthropists from 21 countries. Collectively, they have donated more than $510 million.
Increasingly, high-net-worth individuals like Erica Packer are encouraging their children to get involved in philanthropy.credit: UNICEF
“We are seeing young adult heirs and heiresses starting their own philanthropic ventures with their inheritance. They are serving as drivers of global change for the benefit of children by advocating for UNICEF and expanding our work,” Grebble said.
This work extends from conflict zones in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan to places affected by devastating disasters.
As Ukraine marks two years of war with Russia, new figures highlight the effects of war on children.
Over the past two years, UNICEF estimates that children in frontline areas of the war have spent the equivalent of seven months in shelters as a result of air raid sirens.
The organization also says damage to school buildings in Ukraine means that 40 percent of the country's children cannot access education.
Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, and the bombs keep falling.credit: AP
Of the tens of thousands of refugee children in Moldova, fewer than 2,000 are receiving some form of education.
At an early education center on the outskirts of the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, Jackson met 5-year-old Artyom, who fled Ukraine with his mother.
“It definitely has an effect on you,” Jackson told me.
Members of the UNICEF team in Moldova said they arrived at the border days after the Russian invasion to provide assistance.
Victoria is among those who crossed from Ukraine. A mother of eight from Odessa, she adopted her sister's two children to protect them from war and domestic violence.
Erica Packer meets Victoria in Chisinau, Moldova.credit: UNICEF
We met her at a refugee health center. One of her children has Down syndrome, and the other has heart problems and will need surgery.
Victoria said that even in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, she could still hear the sound of Russian bombs falling on the city from which she fled. They had landed there the night before. Her husband told her. And he's still there.
She said she suffered from depression for three months, but felt she had to “stop it” for the sake of her children.
“It's not good to show your suffering to children; why do I need this crying and suffering? I don't want to show these feelings to my children,” she said. “Why should I suffer, because my children will also suffer if I continue my depression. That's why I found the strength to keep going.”
“These times have not been easy for me. Sometimes I miss my home. Wherever you go, you want to go home,” Victoria told me through a translator.
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UNICEF says that by the end of last year, it had helped 1.3 million children and parents of war victims in Ukraine get mental health support.
Three hundred and fifty thousand women and children also received medical assistance, and 76 thousand families were financially supported.
“These kids, they've been stripped down so they don't get anything. It's better if we can all share what we have and make life a little easier,” Jackson told me.
Olena, a mother of four, also traveled from Odessa in early March 2022, just days after the war broke out.
“It's very difficult for me to really remember that time because I was under a lot of stress, and I felt a little bit panicked,” she said.
Olena was emotional when she described the fear she had at the time and the fear she feels now for her 16-year-old daughter, who has returned to Ukraine to study to become an artist.
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Olena works as a teacher for Ukrainian children at an early education center in Chisinau supported by UNICEF.
Her youngest child suffers from anxiety and shouts negative things about Vladimir Putin.
Two years after fleeing to Moldova, Olena wants the fighting to stop so she can return to her homeland. “I think my biggest dream is to come back,” she said.
But two years after this war, the fighting is still ongoing, and there is no sign of peace.
More help is needed.
UNICEF says that this year alone it will need only $580 million to support war victims in Ukraine.
Jackson Packer also wants to go home to tell his friends that everyone can help.
“This trip really shows how people live here, that they need help and I want to spread this message, that these people need help, and you can make a big difference by donating small amounts of money. These things are really important.”
Jonathan Kearsley is a correspondent for Channel 9 in the US. He traveled to Moldova and Copenhagen thanks to UNICEF Australia.
