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Hello, my name is Vera-Mariia Toropova. My mother Tetiana Riabova and I fled the war in Ukraine at the end of February.
Before this nightmare began, my mother worked in an ambulance, and I studied at a four year art academy. But our former life is destroyed now. The area near my house was completely set on fire due to the bombings, and the apartment I grew up in was burned to the ground. We were left without a home and, after hiding underground for several days, we had to make the desperate decision to leave our country. It took us 24 days to make it to the US border, fleeing on the last train out of Kharkiv, our home town, crossing into Poland, flying to Spain and finally entering Mexico to request a refugee status at the American checkpoint.
Little over a month ago, neither of us would have ever imagined we would have to go through hell and back just to feel safe again.
We have since reunited with my brother, Vlad, who we had not seen in over 6 years. He is currently a third year student at Umass Amherst, and although he has done everything to help us get here, spending most of his savings, it has become extremely difficult to even pay for rent or buy basic clothes. The bag pack in the photos contained what little belongings we were able to bring with us.
My mother and I will not receive a work permit until 6 months from now, so we have no way to earn money right now. We would be incredibly grateful for any financial help while we get back on our feet and start to rebuild our lives here in Massachusetts.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read our story.
Before this nightmare began, my mother worked in an ambulance, and I studied at a four year art academy. But our former life is destroyed now. The area near my house was completely set on fire due to the bombings, and the apartment I grew up in was burned to the ground. We were left without a home and, after hiding underground for several days, we had to make the desperate decision to leave our country. It took us 24 days to make it to the US border, fleeing on the last train out of Kharkiv, our home town, crossing into Poland, flying to Spain and finally entering Mexico to request a refugee status at the American checkpoint.
Little over a month ago, neither of us would have ever imagined we would have to go through hell and back just to feel safe again.
We have since reunited with my brother, Vlad, who we had not seen in over 6 years. He is currently a third year student at Umass Amherst, and although he has done everything to help us get here, spending most of his savings, it has become extremely difficult to even pay for rent or buy basic clothes. The bag pack in the photos contained what little belongings we were able to bring with us.
My mother and I will not receive a work permit until 6 months from now, so we have no way to earn money right now. We would be incredibly grateful for any financial help while we get back on our feet and start to rebuild our lives here in Massachusetts.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read our story.