UNHCR Ukraine Emergency Appeal

Inspired by our family history, my uncle and I are spending a week in Poland providing transportation and supplies for Ukrainian refugees.

 

I was born in Canada to families that came from Ukraine in the 1940s. They fled as refugees after WWII, to escape the Soviet Union. Growing up, I learned about the richness and beauty of Ukrainian culture. My parents and grandparents taught me the language and kept the culture alive. In the 1990s, things started slowly getting better. The Soviet Union dissolved and Ukraine started its difficult journey to regain its strength and independence. I traveled to the country many times, reconnected with family, and made friends. My daughters learned Ukrainian dancing and my family supported the Ukrainian community in Canada. I started working with amazing software development teams in Ukraine.

 

Our family's heart breaks for the human suffering that this needless invasion is forcing on millions of people and for the willful destruction of a beautiful country and culture that was emerging as a strong nation. If there is one thing that my grandparents taught me, it is that Ukrainians are resilient and will persevere through anything.

 

Taking inspiration from my father's and grandfather's memoirs, I felt the need to travel to Poland to help refugees, just the way people helped my family 77 years ago. In his memoirs, my father explained that they would have never survived the journey west if it hadn't been for the kindness of strangers, including people picking them up in their cars to give them a lift, and an especially moving story of a Cossack who allowed him and his sister to ride in his horse-drawn wagon when they were near death from exhaustion. Because of these kindnesses, my grandparents were able to rebuild their lives in Canada, and offer their children a life filled with opportunity. This is my small way of returning the favour.

 

My uncle, Lee Krywitsky, and I are basing ourselves out of Krakow, Poland, and are transporting refugees from the Ukrainian border. The particular border crossing is of particular importance because it is where my father, aunt, grandparents crossed, trying to stay alive in the crossfire between the Soviet and German armies.

 

The money raised by this fundraiser will go directly to support the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Canada (UNHCR) Ukraine Emergency appeal.