More than a month ago, Shemlei and her son made the protracted and at times perilous journey from the outskirts of Kyiv — where rockets flew overhead and into buildings — to Ottawa.
Chechui, also 44, grew up in Ukraine near Donetsk, as did Shemlei’s husband, Roman.
That bond prompted Chechui to offer to her childhood friend in late February: “Get your family across the border.
He’s convinced his duty was to stay and defend his country,” Chechui says.
The last time Roman saw his wife and son was when they made a 16-hour drive to the border of Ukraine and Moldova, she says.
After Nataliia and Tymur said goodbye to Roman, they made their way to Bucharest, the capital of Romania, where they were processed at the Canadian Embassy.
Tymur also plays with Chechui’s seven-year-old daughter, who unlike her mother doesn’t speak Ukrainian.
Educated as a physician in Ukraine and formerly a cosmetologist in Kyiv, Nataliia hopes to become a nurse in Canada, says Chechui.
Of course, the devastating news and images from the war are heartbreaking, she adds.
Although it’s natural to refer to Ukrainians such as the Shemleis as refugees, they are, in fact, displaced people in Canada, Chechui says.
Karpiak says she herself is waiting to host a displaced Ukrainian woman.
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