Editor's note: MidlandToday is republishing some of the most widely read stories from 2022. This story was originally published October 14.
Anybody complaining about the little things bothering them today would be wise to have a chat with Yullia Homa.
Homa, her husband Vyacheslav and their three children recently fled war-torn Ukraine with a suitcase each, the clothes on their backs and abundant trepidation about a land of which they knew little.
Fast forward a few weeks and they're now settled in Midland, adjusting to a life they never planned thousands of kilometres away from their homeland.
“We are happy because we are safe,” Homa says during a visit to the cozy home in Midland’s eastend Penetanguishene Lions Ukrainian Support Club volunteers found, renovated and furnished for them.
“But while we are happy to be here, we’re also so full of pain because our hearts are back in Ukraine. This was the first time we saw a war face to face and it’s really, really terrifying.”
Homa tells MidlandToday they often think about friends and family still in Ukraine and their hometown of Kyiv, which has been bombed mercilessly by Russia in recent days.
“It’s our life, it’s our history and it’s very hard for us.”
But Homa can’t say enough good things about the Penetanguishene Lions Ukrainian Support Club members, including organizers Joep Diening and Ken Woods, who have made it all happen.
“We discovered beautiful Canada, the town of Midland with its open kind people who see no borders in kindness, care and friendship,” she says.
She says the couple’s three children are adapting well and “love Canada.”
Rostyslav, 14, is interested in guitar and boxing and started Grade 9 at St. Theresa’s Catholic High School while Lisa, 10, attends Mundy’s Bay Public School in Grade 5 and loves to draw and dance.
“Son Lev is 3 years old. He is our Baby Boss!” she jokes. “Everything is like in the cartoon.”
From a logistical standpoint, Diening says everything came together relatively quickly when they realized a family would be arriving in the area. While the house they found needed some work, Diening says the owner was willing to rent it at a fair price.
"Three and half weeks ago, we had no accommodation, no furniture...we had nothing," Diening says, noting that close to two dozen volunteers worked tirelessly to get the home up to snuff and help furnish it.
"We started work on the house full-time to get it ready. We had a lot of talented volunteers."
But it all might have been for naught had it not been for an idea Diening and Woods had that they wanted to do something for Ukraine.
"A lot of us are frustrated with what's going on in Ukraine, but felt helpless," says Diening, who continues to work hard on the family's behalf and hopes to soon secure a car for them, daycare for Lev and jobs for Yuliia and Vyacheslav.
"We (the club) came together to do something concrete. We're all like-minded and wanted to do what we could to help."
As for Midland's newest family, Homa was born in Crimea, studied in Kyiv and has a master's degree in international law. Her husband, meanwhile, is from Kyiv and is a specialist in the field of Ukrainian law.
“When I finished my fifth year at the university, Vyacheslav was already preparing to become a pastor at that time and dreamed about missionary trips. Mariupol became our city for service. There we opened a church and a public organization.”
They have worked extensively with youth and children over the years and opened a help centre for the homeless and people with addictions.
“We did not plan to open such a centre, but we met one person who was just crawling along the road,” she recalls.
“Nobody cared about him. He was sick and smelled bad. We actively began to help him, sent him to the hospital, and then he lived in our charity house, where he received everything necessary for a decent human life.”
They began to become well known in Mariupol for the many charitable projects and welcomed children Rostyslav and Yelyzaveta, who were born there. After six years in Mariupol, they moved back to Kyiv in 2014.
“A few months later, the first invasion of Russia began in this city,” she says. “But then it was possible to save the city and prevent it from being captured.
“Unfortunately, the city is now completely destroyed. Until recently, a beautiful city of 500,000 people turned into ashes...many of our friends left there, having lost everything. We tried our best to help them leave the city.”
Homa says the word "war" conjures up strong images for them nowadays.
“This word from the history books has become our history, our life, our reality,” she says.
“A real war that brutally incinerates cities every day, killing innocent people. But in this horror, I'm still thankful. I am grateful that we did not start this war. I am grateful that we are defending ourselves from the enemy and can have hope because we did not cross the borders of another state.”
She says they know there are good people living in Russia and hopes the war ends soon.
“We are like brothers and sisters. It’s not like Ukrainians have five noses and Russians have four eyes. We are all the same.”
Homa also credits her family’s steadfast Christian beliefs with assuring them that everything will eventually be okay and life can return to normal.
She adds: “We believe that one day God will heal every heart from pain because of this.”
She says they watched a lot of videos about Canada and admired its beauty, mountains, lakes and cities before arriving.
“But the most precious thing about this country are people. Ukrainians are so far away, but Canadians have shown that there are no borders between people and love has no garrison.
“We are grateful to all Canadians for help and support to all Ukrainians at this time.”
