Ukrainian family welcomed at come and go tea

By Joan Janzen

The community of Oyen publicly welcomed their new neighbours from Ukraine at a come-and-go tea on July 28. The tea was hosted by the Town of Oyen and Family and Community Support Services (FCSS). The family includes a young mom, Yuliia, her children: 13-year-old Dasha and 8-year-old Polina, and the children’s grandparents, Tanya and Ihor. Yuliia’s husband, who is a coach, was refused at the border, even though he was never in the military.

The new Ukrainian residents of Oyen were welcomed into the community at a tea on July 28. They looked resplendent in their traditional Ukrainian dress shirts. R-L: Nancy Christianson - Town of Oyen, 13-year-old Dasha, 8-year-old Polina, Yuliia - the children’s mother, Tanya - the children’s grandmother, Kay Dingman - host, Maryann Oliver - Oyen FCSS, Ihor - children’s grandfather. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Thanks to Kay and Doug Dingman from Oyen, and their adult children, the family is now settled in Oyen. Yuliia, Tanya and Ihor work at T&D Market Fresh Foods. Kay Dingman said, Ihor has completed his first as a carpenter in Canada, much to the delight and satisfaction of his client. The girls anxiously await summer camp and volleyball camp and will be helping out at the Farmer’s Market.

The family arrived at the tea, attired in traditional Ukrainian dress shirts. They were only allowed to travel with one suitcase, one small backpack, and no other carry-ones. They were able to visit with their guests, using the SayHi app to translate.

Staffie Hanewich and her son Murray presented the family with a traditional Ukrainian welcome. Murray presented wheat wrapped in ribbon, and Staffie presented bread baked for the occasion.

Kay said, “The tea was quite well attended, and the time flew by quickly. There were lots of tears as the family shared their story with people.”

Yuliia, the 35-year-old mom of Dasha and Polina, told her story. Here is what she had to say:

Yuliia’s Story:

Peaceful sleep. And at 4 o’clock in the morning, you wake up to the terrible sound of a siren and do not understand what is happening. In complete ignorance, you turn on the TV, where war is being announced on all channels.

You don’t believe it! Panic, fear, confusion - it all takes over you at once. You are in despair; you don’t know what to do, where to run, where to go, and the air alarm is sounding all around “Descent Into Shelter”! Shelters are bomb shelters that everyone forgot about and abandoned a long time ago because no one could think that in the modern 21st century, it would be necessary to hide in damp, scary and cold concrete basements. Tears overwhelm you, and you make a hasty decision to go, run away.

The first country that gave us shelter was Poland. It took us two days and two nights to get there. Crazy queues of cars, which in peacetime can go by car in two hours.

Another plus one fear appeared already at the border when they informed my husband could not leave the territory of Ukraine as he was a military man. After saying goodbye to us, he returned home. The most difficult awaited me ahead. Alone, two children, a foreign country, and you don’t know the language.

But the world is not without good people; they sheltered us. We lived in Poland for four months; the psychological state worsened every day. You live, you dream, you make plans, and one day everything collapses.

You read and see what is happening in your native country. How Russia destroys entire cities simply by burning and razing them to the ground. How Russia abuses people, rapes women and children, and then takes their lives with one shot to the head. You cry and cry, and you can’t believe that this is not a dream; it’s real. You wake up every day with the hope of hearing that the war is over. But no, it’s getting worse and bloodier. Russia is destroying people’s lives.

It is very difficult. I thought for a long time and dared to return home, with the thought that it must be, it will be. But things are not so simple at home either. There were no shots fired in my city, but shells were falling in the neighbourhood. People are dying. You live in complete passion, with the fear for children with every sounding siren and every trip to the bomb shelter; it doesn’t matter if it’s day or morning or late at night. Every time you go down there, the children cry because no one knows whether you’ll get out or not.

All this again leads to the decision to move far away from all this fear. Separation from my husband; he went to the army with family and friends. And here we are, and God is with us because only He helped us get to know Kay and her family. I am infinitely grateful to them for extending a helping hand to me and my parents. For organizing everything so that we felt at home. That during these six months of war, my children can smile and play without flinching at every loud sound and just sleep peacefully without tears.

It is very difficult to start everything completely from zero, but we have hope that everything will work out. That all the families that have scattered around the world will definitely be reunited, and all the families will meet. Take care of each other and thank God for every peaceful day spent with the family. (This concludes Yuliia’s story).

The family is gearing up to sell their amazing Ukrainian cooking and baking at the Farmer’s Market starting August 12. Plenty of beets, carrots and green onions were planted in the FCSS Community Garden. It was the thoughtful gesture of Bev Haag, who anticipated the family would be making lots of borscht. The Farmer’s Market will present another opportunity for visitors to greet and welcome the family to the community.