Winnipegger evacuated from eastern Ukraine overwhelmed by grief, thankful for support

A Winnipegger's three-year commitmentin Ukraine has been temporarily suspended six months into her stay due to the growing conflict with Russia in the eastern European nation.

Until earlier this month, Andrea Shalaywas workingin Zaporizhzhia,an industrial city in southeastern Ukraine,as the peace engagement co-ordinator for Europe with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

On Feb. 13, the organization got her and her three American colleagues out of Ukraine, sendingthem to an undisclosed locationdue to concerns about a coming conflict, which erupted Thursday as Russia invaded.

In a Zoom interview Friday morning, Shalay said it was hard to leaveZaporizhzhia,which is about300 kilometres from the Russian border.

"This is my home. This is my community. These are my friends, these are my colleagues," she said.

"And to be in a situation where suddenly all that has been ripped apart has definitely been very difficult."

The MCC has worked in Ukraine since the 1920s, collaborating with local partners in response to fighting in eastern Ukrainesince 2014, when Russiaannexed part of the region.

The charitable relief organization had11employees based inZaporizhzhia, but one other international employee left before Shalay and the three Americans, leavingsix Ukrainian staff members still in the city.

Shalayhas regularly been in touch with MCC staff still inZaporizhzhia, and says the focus is on providing whatever support possible to them.

"For myself, there's definitely been a lot of overwhelm and I think grief about everything that is going on," she said."And just knowing that our national staff, ourUkrainian staff are still there ...there's a lot of worry as well."

Support from Manitobans

Since Russian troopsstarted to invade Ukraine by land, air and sea early Thursday morning local time, Shalayhas also been in touch with friends and other community connections.

She thinksthe catastrophe of what isunfolding in the country her great-grandparents emigrated from more than 100 years ago is much worse than Ukrainians expected.

"There's definitely a fear at this point. I think there's also a lot of sadness. The sense I get from a lot of the Ukrainians I talked to is they just really want to be left to live in peace and freedom," Shalay said.

She said she's encouraged by "stories of resiliency and solidarity" that she's heard.

"Many of the Ukrainians that I know justmake the best of difficult situations, and even just wanting to help one another, even in these difficult times."

Those are the stories that provide a bit of a light for her in this time of uncertainty, she said.

She's also thankful for the community support in Ukraine and other parts of the world, including her home province.

"The messages we've been getting aboutprayers and concernis one of the things that I'm kind of glad [to have] coming from Manitoba ... because there's such a large Canadian Ukrainian population there," Shalay said.

"I think inthese times, I really feel ...that love coming from Canada."

MCCplanning to deliver long-term aid

The MCC head office in Winnipeg is monitoring the situation in Ukraine closely, says its director of marketing and communications.

"We know that when people are in violent and conflict situations, when they're displaced, that creates a lot of trauma for people, especially children and other vulnerable populations," said Laura Kalmar.

Although no one knowshow longthe conflict will lastin Ukraine, theMCC is already making plans to offer long-term assistance to Ukrainians once it ends and isaccepting donations through its website, she said.

MCC hopes todistribute food baskets andrelief kits inZaporizhzhia, while also seeking out locally sourceditems like blankets. The organization also plans to work with its partners to provide temporary emergency housing for displaced residents.

"It affects everyday people. It affects their lives and creates insecurity for themselves, their families," Kalmar said. "We're committed to continuing to serve alongside people of Ukraine and help where we can."

She also notes MCCis working with the Canadian government and local sponsorship groups onthe possibility of bringing Ukrainian refugees to Canada, including Manitoba, through the private sponsorship of refugees program.

In 2020, a total of 530 Ukrainians were sponsored through MCC'sprogram, but only 118 made their way to Canada due to the pandemic and other backlogs, Kalmar said.

She estimates sponsorship numbers for 2021 were similar, with those who arrived in Canada up slightly from the 118 in 2020.

Winnipegger evacuated from eastern Ukraine overwhelmed by grief

3 years ago

Duration 1:45

Andrea Shalay was working in Zaporizhzhia, an industrial city in southeastern Ukraine. On Feb. 13, the organization got her and her three American colleagues out of Ukraine, sending them to an undisclosed location due to concerns about a coming conflict.