My coworker, Tom Vala, and his wife Nadiia are working to help her parents and sister escape from the war in Ukraine. Nadiia’s mother, Olena is currently in the US with a travel visa that expires in April. Nadiia’s father, Viktor was in Ukraine with their daughter, Nastya, both who were never approved for travel visas to the United States. Nadiia very eloquently tells her heroic story below. She is currently in Europe trying to help her family escape.

 

My mom came to visit us in the United States in the end of October, while she was visiting a terrible war started in Ukraine. We watched news every day hoping to hear something like "the war is over, everything is ok". But nothing was ok, things only started escalating and got worse. Then I realized then my mom was not going back to Ukraine. I was going to keep her here. I was determined to take my dad and younger sister out of Ukraine after we worried about their lives, Ukraine was not safe anymore. So me and my mom kept calling my dad to get out of the country, to do something. My dad kept persuading me saying that nothing terrible will happen, Russian soldiers will not get so deep in Ukraine, my Dad and my younger sister Nastya are from Vinnytsia region, which is in the center of Ukraine. But soldiers kept approaching, after many nights of me and my mom crying worrying about our loved ones we were determined to do whatever it takes to get them out of the country. So I kept calling my dad and begging him to leave the country with my sister, he still refused. Then my husband's Aunt Anna Nay offered her help saying that her son, my husband's cousin, Ryan could go to Ukrainian border and meet my sister there. I think after I told it to my dad it made him doubt his decision not to leave, he agreed and said that the plan was for him to bring Nastya to the Ukrainian-Polish border, then Ryan would meet Nastya, my sister, there. We decided to send my dad some money such as he did not have enough but unfortunately money did not go through, the bank system in Ukraine crashed, and that was terrible. Then I told my husband, I shall go with Ryan together, we shall cross the border, enter Ukraine, meet my dad and sister there and then we shall give my dad some money there and maybe some more gas for his car so that he could come back home and was able to buy things he needs. After I told my dad that I was coming he got very happy and said that it was a really good idea. So Tom, my husband, bought our plane tickets that went from Washington to Turkey and then from Turkey to Poland. My dad said he was going to use all his retirement money he had to prepare for the trip because I told him I would give him money after I cross the border. After everything was planned, I went to pick up my kids from school and told them that their mommy had to leave with uncle Ryan to save her sister, and I warned them that it could take a long time so that had to be very patient. My son told me "Mom, I hope you are not going to die there", his words broke my heart and I felt like crying so much. So it was time to leave, I said good bye to my husband, kids and my mom and left with my husband to the airport, it was very difficult to say good bye to him but there was no other choice. So we said good bye to each other and I went through the security and send next to my gate, I met Ryan there. We got on the airplane and got to Poland, rented a car, but before renting people told us that we could not cross the border in that car. That was not our plan. So we took a car and decided to cross the border on foot. We bought some sim cards so that we could talk to each other in case we get separated and so that we could stay in contact with my dad and Nastya. I was so happy that finally I shall see my sister and dad, but one thought did not let me feel calm, I worried that I was going to see my dad for the last time. So I decided to trick him, I told Nastya that before they leave home so that she packed all my dad's important documents that he needs for the interview, so she did so and then at the border I would hold his hand so tight and would not let him leave till he cross the border with me and him and Nastya will be safe. So we started arriving closer and closer to the border and things started getting scary. There was a lot of military cars, tanks, people with guns... As we tried to get to the boarder some Polish soldiers with rifle stopped us, asking for our passports and our intention to cross the border. We said that we wanted to cross the border to get my sister out of there. He said something like "If you lied to me, it is your own fault". I have no idea what he meant by saying that. So we parked our car right before the border and were about to walk to cross it when a bunch of Polish officers surrounded us and told us that we could not park here and we had to leave immediately. We didn't feel like arguing with soldiers who had rifles and left. They told us to go to the place where the refugees temporary shelter was. It took us a while to find it, so went there. And I called my dad and told him that nobody let us cross the border which was frustrating, I was not able to get my sister and my dad was not able to get his money that he needed so much so that he could buy gas and go back home. So volunteers at the shelter place suggested us to tell my relatives to take a bus that picked up Ukrainians every 10 min and brought to the Polish side to the shelter place and we would wait for them there. So we called my dad and let him know of a new plan, he agreed, after going so far we just could not give up. So they had to leave their car and walk by foot, it took the 10 hours of walking and then 5 hours of standing in a huge endless line of people. Finally at 3am I got a phone call from my dad saying that they were on the bus. I could not believe I would finally see them. We found them inside the shelter place where they could have some warm food and warm drink finally. Nastya hugged me so hard when she saw me and then I saw my dad, and I hugged him. I was just so happy to see them. Then my dad told me some terrible things, he said when he and Nastya were driving through Lviv their car got shot couple times, the bullets went through the back window, he found them on the floor of his car later. I think this is when my dad realized that his way back home was closed, it was dangerous to come back. He also said that when he was crossing the border the border officer told him that when he comes back he was going to be drafted to war because he looked pretty young for he age, my dad is 63, and people who have to go to war have to be between 18 to 60, so it just wasn't right. Nastya said that when they were in the line to cross the border one of the people got frustrated and aggressive and stabbed a Polish officer with the knife, luckily the officer was fine, but then they stopped letting people through the border and closed Ukrainians in some shed where they stayed for 4 hours, but then they came back and started letting people to go through the border again. I was terrified to hear all those details but at the same time I was so happy to see them alive and safe. A lot of my relatives are still in Ukraine, it is too late for them to run now such as they are surrounded by Russian troops. I pray for them and their safety every day. People who cross the border are so scared, heartbroken, sad. Women with children had to say good bye to their husband's and leave, it is just so heartbreaking to see them crying and going on the bus that would take them to their new hopefully temporary home. War is terrible and ugly, all this shouldn't have happened. My dad still cannot get over that he had to give up his house that he built by himself, his fields that he worked so hard on, all the firewood that he prepared for the winter, and Nastya is very sad because her dog stayed home, she had to leave her, my dad was supposed to come back home and watch over her. Now my aunt who stayed there is watching her, so I am glad her puppy is not alone. So our plan now is to buy my dad some clothes because he has nothing with him, then we shall go to Spain and try to talk to UNHCR representative so that we knew what steps to take to bring my family here, so that we could finally be together.

While waiting near the border in Poland Nadiia and Ryan were sleeping in their rental car to save on expenses. As you can imagine, the financial costs of a rescue like this are significant and unanticipated. We have established this GoFundMe page so we can remove stress and financial concerns about the cost of such an effort.

 

Viktor and Olena live in the small village Balky with their daughter, Nastya. They have been working on immigrating to the US for years but the current situation in Ukraine has accelerated the urgency of this process. All US embassies in Ukraine were closed after the Russian invasion on February 24th. Their house is a very modest home that Viktor built up from a single one room house. He is a retired sailor that worked on cargo ships for many months at a time. He is 63 and is semi-retired living on a small pension. He grows vegetables and chickens for food and trade for goods and food. His home is all that he has so he was very reluctant to leave for fear of what will happen if he is not there to protect it. Now it appears he is unable to go back and everything they have has been left behind. We don’t know if Viktor can receive his pension if he is not in Ukraine. The application process for visas is very expensive, costing 3K to 4K in fees. Medical coverage is also a concern. Currently they will need to live in Europe until they have the proper papers to allow them to fly to the US. Nadiia will have to come home once she has her sister and father settled with temporary living conditions.

 

Phase 1 of the initial funding request is for $15,000. That will allow them to get settled in temporary housing, buy clothing, food and basic necessities to live on for a few months. Ultimately more will be needed to bring them to America where they will live with Tom and Nadiia.

Phase 2 of the funding will include the cost of tickets to the US for Nadiia's family which we estimate to be around $4,000 total. After Nadiia's family arrives in the US their needs will include clothing, food, medical care, transportation, and some modifications to the home to accommodate a doubling of the size of the household. Over a six month period, we estimate these costs to be $20,000+.

 

Thank you for reading and helping the Vala family and their Ukrainian relatives with your prayers and support.