Taya, Nastya , family Ukraine refugee relocation

Hi, we are John and Iryna Rousseau. Our Daughter and Granddaughter woke up in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, to the sounds of bombs and gunfire. We are trying to raise money so that they can start a new life, rent an apartment, get a job and have the kids lead an everyday life. Here is their unedited story was written by Taya Pasahkova, our Daughter............

Here is our story! Life stopped on February 24, 2022 at 4:40 am. I woke up from the explosions and realized that Russia had attacked! Then everything was like a dream. I packed things in my backpack and our little daughter. And there were explosions outside the window. What to do? Wake up a child? No ! I decided to wait and calm down! My husband arrived, he was returned from half the way home, he was at work. When he arrived, we began to put things in order in the bunker cellar (cellar).

Then we took my husband's parents to ourselves, the family should be together. And terrible days began, constant explosions. We prepared a quick meal and ran to the cellar. We slept in our clothes. The worst thing was when planes flew overhead. life is a moment.

Our Nastya began to chatter her teeth from fear when the city was bombed and cried at night. Then my husband and I decided that my daughter and I should go to Lviv. Friends will take us there. I have been living with my husband for 20 years. This house is 35 years old. So I have never left my home! It was very hard. I cried all night; I could not calm down. We agreed with my godfather and two more girls that we would go at 6.00 in the morning to the South Station of Kharkiv, where the train was going Kharkov-Lviv. Early in the morning, our husbands took us to the station. On the way, we saw how our city was destroyed. Broken houses, roads - I was in shock. Lump in the throat. And so we arrived at the station. The train has arrived. The nightmare began. Crush. I have always been afraid of such a flow of people. Women are screaming, children are crying, men are trying to stuff their wives and children into the car. We were miraculously pushed onto the train.

When we entered the car, we saw that there were a lot of people. 4-5 people per shelf. So the train drove for 30 hours. We hardly slept. Only from fatigue fell into sleep for a while. But we got there. We got off the train and saw this stream of people like ants. Huge flow of people. And we got lost in it. We were met and taken to the apartment where we could eat normally, shower and finally lie down and sleep. Of course, it's hard to sleep when your heart hurts that you left your home, your loved one, your friends! The soul cries that you may not return home anymore, because there may not be at home, the people you love too! But the brain understands that you are responsible for the little angel and you need strength! Of course we all fell asleep. We got up early in the morning and realized that we were safe. It was quiet, no one bombed. There were no air raid sounds. Peace and quiet! This is what we have begun to appreciate now, namely peace. We went out for a walk with the children to the playgrounds, . Only sometimes a plane flew by and we all covered our heads with our hands out of habit. Twitched from any knock. Until now, this is happening. The nerves are out of order.

On a walk around Lviv. We accidentally got on humanitarian aid. There we asked for something that we could not take with us. We were also given a bunch of all sorts of goodies for children, albums and books. The children were happy. One of our girls left for Poland the next day, and we stayed. That was the plan. To be in Lviv is still quiet and calm. And go home as soon as it's over.

But what we feared happened. In Lviv, they began to turn on the air raid alert. At first we were calm, thinking that they were just checking it, we constantly watched the news and over time we began to understand that air raids were becoming more frequent and people began to descend into the bunkers. Then plan B. We gathered the children. Again this hell! Fear for life and now run away to Poland, further. Horror in my heart again. What will happen next ? What to do? In the evening we packed our things. We got ready to leave early in the morning.

Our children are great! They were very supportive and listened to us. In the morning we quickly packed up and drove off. We were afraid that it would be like in Kharkov. It was hard to leave. We knew that there were a lot of people and many of them stayed at the station to go to Poland. But we were lucky. We arrived at the station and immediately got on the train Odessa-Przemeshel (Poland) This was only the beginning of our journey to Poland!

We decided to go away from the border. The choice fell on Poznan. A day on the road with transfers. Again, sleepless nights. It was very hard.

We had 2 transfers Przemysl-Wroclaw-Poznan again for a day without sleep. I want to say a big thank you to the volunteers. They really help a lot, they suggest, they will take you where you need to, and they will show you what you need. Hot tea, coffee, food! If you need medical help! You don't feel completely alone and helpless in this world. On this road, we met many good people, kind and decent.