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Having traveled thousands of miles after escaping war in Ukraine, Nataliia Aykul and her family are adjusting to life in Fort McMurray.
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The family has been in the area for almost two weeks. Aykul said his family was lucky to have a place to stay and friends in the area who had prepared everything for their arrival.
Aykul, her husband and their two children, aged 13 and 5, were living in Kyiv when the Russian army invaded Ukraine in late February. The family spent the early days of the war living in a Kyiv metro station that doubled as a bomb shelter.
“We were sleeping on the floor and it was really, really scary,” she said. “We heard shelling sounds…I still remember those sounds and sometimes I wake up from horror dreams.”
Aykul and her family are four of the 35 Ukrainian refugees who have come to Fort McMurray. A potluck dinner was organized for the new arrivals last Friday. On Friday, at least 42 more Ukrainians are expected to arrive in the region.
Liubov Kuzmyk and her husband, along with their four children, arrived in Fort McMurray in early May. Kuzmyk has learned English and is following a pre-employment program. She hopes to help raise funds to help her loved ones in Ukraine once she starts working, although fluency in English is her first priority.
“Ukrainians themselves have gotten used to a lot of things that are not normal, that are not fair,” she said through an interpreter. “It almost feels like a no-win situation, so people are learning to live with the new reality. But, it is a very harsh reality.
Aykul said her family is getting used to the different customs, foods and habits in Canada. But they were overwhelmed with kindness as people they had never met volunteered to help them.
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“Everything is very different from Ukraine… But it’s very comfortable,” Aykul said. “We are very surprised by the friendliness of the Canadians.
Lee-Anne Kumka, president of the Ukrainian Cultural Society of Fort McMurray (FMUCS), said there was a lot of bureaucracy to navigate. Eligibility for certain programs and services changes often. People also need to get Canadian bank accounts, addresses and health cards.
For the Ukrainian community, there are concerns for friends, family and people still in Ukraine.
“There is a family that is here now from Mariupol. They have nothing, so they just deal with what they knew no longer exists,” Kumka said.
FMUCS has organized fundraisers for refugees and humanitarian efforts since the start of the war. Together with the Wood Buffalo Community Foundation (WBCF), they created a fund to help Ukrainians come to Fort McMurray. Donations can be made through the WBCF website.
“The community immediately responded with generosity and compassion so that we never had to buy anything. Everything we needed was miraculously provided,” said event organizer Alexandra Tarasenco.
“I really hope you feel welcomed, feel at home and feel like you belong here,” she said. “It’s a great community and we’ll do our best to support you in any way we can.”
