Help my family from Mariupol get to Canada

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15 days of not knowing if they were even alive. 15 days full of fear, prayers, anger, and then more prayers. On the 16th day, my family left our home town of Mariupol with whatever they could pack in a single suitcase. Now, I’m asking for your help to give my mom, step-dad and a 5-year-old brother a chance to start a new life.
 
My name is Kateryna, I am an international student from Ukraine at Lake Forest College, IL.  I am also a Pearson College UWC alumni - an international IB school located on Vancouver island. Mariupol, — where I was born, raised, and spent 20 years of my life, — has had 90% of its infrastructure destroyed by russian forces. Every day, russian planes are dropping 50-100 bombs onto the city while russian tanks are firing at municipal buildings, hospitals, and civilian houses. Unfortunately, everything that my family used to own falls under this 90% of the destroyed infrastructure.
 
Under constant shelling, my family relocated to the basement; they lived there for 22 days with 30 other people. In the meantime, a rocket fell a few meters from my house, irreversibly damaging the walls and windows, and making it impossible to make any way into the appartment. My mom recalls that she would not let my brother drink too much water: she did not know when they would be able to get water or food again. She does not speak much about their life in the Siege of Mariupol; she has only shared a few of her memories of bombing, shooting, and witnessing death with me.
 
Before the war, a city-famous baker, my mom, filed a patent for a cake recipe in honor of Mariupol. Some of its ingredients came from the oldest recipes that she found in the city archives. The family business we had, a bakery and a cafe, were first looted by local marauders and then entirely destroyed by the missiles. Both places do not exist anymore.
 
On March 15th, together with some of our relatives, my mother and my five-year-old brother finally escaped from Mariupol. Only 2 days after they left our house, a missile hit it directly, ruining the construction from the 3rd to the 11th floor. There is nothing to return to and there are no belongings to recover; my family was now left with a winter jacket, some pants and shirts, two pairs of shoes, and one mobile phone.
 
Once out of Mariupol, my mom and my brother drove for their lives for 11 hours in a chain of nearly 2,000 cars, going through countless russian checkpoints, dealing with a flat tire, and running out of gas. Once they got to safety in Poland, I was lucky to connect them to the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada. With the newly established program, they were able to apply for visas and work permits with waived fees. Thanks to our Ukrainian-Canadian friends, we have found a family that can temporarily host my mom and brother for 2 months. In the meantime, my mom needs to learn English and find a job.
 
I’m now asking for your help to raise the funds that my family needs to start rebuilding their lives on a new continent. Once Canada gave me countless opportunities for growth and development as a young 17-year old UWC scholar.  I am eternally grateful for the welcoming and countless support of the Ukrainian community to me, a young Ukrainian with no relatives or connections in Canada, who was still learning English. I am hoping that this time Canada could help my family rebuild their lives too. Robust, creative, and very hard-working people, are seeking a new home, a feeling of safety, and the opportunity to begin contributing to their surrounding communities again. The funds will cover major expenses like flights, temporary accommodation for the 14-day quarantine (their COVID vaccination was interrupted by war), transportation, and food. There are also other expenses, such as spring/summer clothing, toiletries, and household items, that I’m kindly asking you to help me with.
 
A donation of any size makes a huge difference to my family. Your help will help them come to Canada sooner and get a job to sustain themselves again. As a student, I have been taking some extra work hours to send money home and buy beginner English books for my brother. However, I cannot do this alone. If you have read this until the end, shared our story, and/or donated to the cause — I thank you with all my heart.
 
 
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    Organizer

    Kateryna Malkina
    Organizer
    Lake Forest, IL

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