After reaching our $5000 goal to pay for flights to Perth for a small family who have been forced to flee the Ukraine war. 

We now have a bigger aim and have 2 additional families that need help. 

About us: 

My name is April and my mum is Michelle, we are a Perth family and are devastated by the impacts of the war on Ukraine. There are stories of parents sending their children across the border alone with nothing but a backpack and a phone number on their hands. Other families didn't attempt to leave Ukraine early enough and are now stuck in areas that are being bombed. Parents are hiding their children in storage facilities in their apartment blocks as that is the safest spot available. The people that have gotten past the border are still in desperate and urgent need of help. Whilst neighbouring countries are trying to provide necessities short term they are struggling to keep up. Three million people have now crossed the border out of their home country, and this number increases every minute with a further 12 million people expected to need assistance. Facilities set up for a maximum of 200 people now have 600 crammed in. The majority of these people do not have a plan for the coming days, months and years. And many of the children arriving haven't eaten in 1-3 days as well as many having health and mental health issues. Longer-term solutions are needed; the temporary beds in warehouses work for a few days and as a halfway home but cannot be used long-term and the helping countries do not have enough room to provide permanant or long term homes, jobs, food, water, education and solutions for 12 million people. We are now trying to help as many people as we can. Your full donation will be given to these families. We will not take a portion of the donations for ourselves, we want to help and this is a way we believe we can. It means so much to us and these families and will provide great support for them.

About Ilyana (31) and Zlata (8):

Mum Ilyana and daughter Zlata were forced to flee their new apartment in Ukraine due to tanks and bombings occurring across the street. They left almost everything behind including their car, and there is no hope of returning to their Ukraine apartment. They don’t have much money either. Ilyana uses a translator to communicate with us because neither of them speak English well but they are diligent and ready to learn. They do not have much at all and need the costs of flights, accommodation and all services and living costs to be paid for in the short term. We have a room that they can use when they first arrive and will provide continuous support for them both. Ilyana is hoping to find work in Perth as a nanny or babysitter because of her experience as one in Ukraine. They managed to get approval for Australian visas and in Ilyanas words “we are very happy that we can start a new life and I really hope that we can find friends and work in order to live with a child in peace after running away from the war”

UPDATE: We recently received a photo from Iliana of their apartment in Irpin right before they left. We are now using it as the cover photo for this because we didn’t even fully realise the damage that has been caused. They told us stories of their friends who didn’t leave soon enough and are now trapped in cities that are under Russian control. They are unable to escape. She explained the immense anxiety of everyone who has been able to cross the border- because now they are facing another issue. Not only trying to find longer term accommodation but also having such uncertainty about who to trust. The levels of fear are so high, mothers and children are getting kidnapped and trafficked, many get into cars of people who sound and look like they are genuine helpers but instead these mums and kids go missing and are not heard from again. People are scared to reach out for help in fear of bad intentioned people as well as not wanting to be a burden to others. Iliana also mentioned that back in Ukraine the Russian soldiers are robbing peoples homes and raping the women and children who are still sheltering there. Then after raiding their homes they set the house on fire so that the families have no hope of returning (assuming they are still alive.) We can only imagine how awful this would be. And the trauma that all of these people are facing is absolutely horrible.

UPDATE:

I’m writing this as a quick update to all of you who have been so supportive, generous and kind in helping Iliana and Zlata with their move to Perth. We have confirmed the necessary entrance requirements for them to enter through our strict Western Australian borders and they are almost all set to go. Iliana has now received all 3 COVID-19 vaccines and Zlata is awaiting her booking for her second on March 31. We have also finally booked their flights. They will be departing Bucharest on April 5th and be arriving at our airport on the evening of the 6th. We cannot wait for them to arrive so we can help them settle in and learn the ways of an Aussie lifestyle. 

Our hearts are open to welcome many more people should they need and want help from us. We have raised our GoFundMe goal to allow for us to help the other two families and any more in future. The funds that have been donated currently to Iliana and Zlata will still be used for them as there is a lot more to organise for them still. Any more donations past this will be able to be used for the other family we are in contact with and anyone else who needs help. Though I shall note that we are not sending money directly to people (apart for small and necessary costs like COVID tests so they are able to prove they are negative in order to board the plane). We are doing this to ensure that scammers are less likely to be able to get ahold of the money. This means we are making large payments for these families ourselves like buying their plane tickets and then sending the purchased tickets to them. Yet again I cannot thank you all enough. The support from everyone is just overwhelming. We wouldn’t have been able to help this much without it. 

Thank you all. 

From April x