MAIN PHOTO: Anna (left) and Inna (right), from Ukraine, with host mom Cindy at their Schwarzwald subdivision home. (Healey photo)
FALL RIVER: Two Ukrainian girls who are living with a host family in Fall River are adjusting to their new home.
Anna Yeriiheva and Inna Klymenko are living with Cindy and Ryan Duggan at their home in the Schwarzwald subdivision since they arrived almost three months ago.
The two sat down and spoke to The Laker News about being welcomed and feeling like they have a host mom and dad since their arrival. While Inna doesn’t speak much English currently, she’s working on it and Anna does speak some English, but Cindy was there to help with the interview.
“Every time the people ask about our host family, I say “this is my host mom.” They’re very friendly. I would like to try and do something to be friendly to for them.”
The two do say life is very different here then in Europe.
“People here are more chill or more friendly actually,” said Anna, “in Ukraine, people are more tense.”
Anna, who has her Veterinary medicine degree and would like to find work in that field hopefully locally, said people in N.S. don’t seem to rush.
“People here just live their life, and don’t worry so that is different,” she said, with Inna nodding in agreement.
Inna is a professional violinist and wants to teach children how to play music. She has already played several concerts locally since her arrival, and previously toured with the Ukrainian Orchestra across Europe prior to the war.
She has a concert at Public Gardens in Halifax scheduled for July 28, and will be playing locally in Waverley on the Village Green on August 3.
“She wants to teach them how to like music, to play, to understand music,” said Anna. “She’s hoping to find work as a music teacher. “
It took reassurance from her boyfriend for Anna to know she should leave Ukraine and her family for safety in Canada.
“At first time, when I think that I can leave, I don’t think that I want to leave,” recalled Anna. “My boyfriend say, “you need to go because I feel bad if you stay here.” My mom didn’t want me to.”
Anna said there were plenty of tears as she battled with the decision, which took about a week to make. She initially lived in Berlin before coming to Canada.
“I cried a lot. Because I just had build my own apartment, my own family, and my career there,” she said. “It’s hard to go in another country without language, without options. It’s really hard.
“But they (my mom and boyfriend) say like, you need to go because we don’t have choice and you don’t have choice.”
Inna sent her a link to the Canadian government website, saying the two could try to find a family to live here.
“I thought about it for a week. It took time because it’s another continent, another country and so far from home. But I knew it was an option and mom said she believed in me and to just go.”
Cindy said she found them through a post on a Facebook page from Anna. Her family has enjoyed the two living with them.
“We love having them here,” she said. “I think they’ve started to become a part of our family when they’re not around.
“My three-year-old son asks where they are and immediately if they leave the room, he asks where they went and when they’re coming back. If I drop them off somewhere, he gets really upset because they’re not coming back with us.
But of course they have to have their own lives and we just enjoy having them here and knowing that we have the ability to make an impact in these two girls lives.”
She said it’s been rewarding to be able to open their home to the two.
“When you open your home to allow people to come in and something that may seem as simple as that to us as Canadians, it makes such a huge difference in these girls lives,” said Cindy. “I can’t imagine how they would have been able to do re-establish themselves somewhere else if they didn’t have just somebody to help guide them.
“It’s not just about having a place to live. It’s also like having to navigate our systems and things that we understand.”
Cindy learned about a Ukrainian Facebook page about hosting refugees from her best friend Heather (who happened to be at her place and just leaving when The Laker News arrived on a nice sunny night).
“Me and Ryan (my husband) spent some time talking about it and he seemed open minded, and supportive. I invited him to the group so he could see.
“When the girls made their post, they talked about how they had been best friends for 10 years and decided to travel here together to support one another. It reminded me so much of Heather and myself. Her and I were inseparable at that age as well.”
She said Anna and Inna’s post is what sold her on wanting to host them.
“I read their story and that was it,” Cindy said. “I sent in a message, and she wrote me back right away. Through conversation, we connected because she was comfortable with us, and we were with them.
“I think we hit it off right away.”
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