A Ukrainian refugee living in Sarnia shared her family's story with the Kiwanis Club of Sarnia-Lambton Golden K Tuesday morning.
Olena Volodina, her husband, Dmytro, their 12-year-old son, Yaroslav, and their seven-year-old daughter, Anastasiia, arrived in Sarnia about 16 months ago following a short stay in Poland. The young family left their home in Kharkiv shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022.
Olena, 35, said they wanted to move to Canada, and specifically Ontario, to get as far away from the conflict as possible. She also said it was important that they lived somewhere that could treat Anastasiia's diabetes.
"So I asked on Facebook 'how can we live with diabetes here in Canada?'" she said. "And Dr. Cassandra Taylor, she's from Sarnia, she told us that she could help us."
The family of four was living with a host family in Sarnia for about two months before they found a place to rent, where they've been living for more than a year.
Olena explained why her family will likely be here for the foreseeable future, even when the war ends. "Maybe it could be difficult for my daughter because she's diabetic and we don't have the same support like we have here. So for her, it's not a good option," she said. "It's hard for us but we should just think about our kids."
Olena is a professional engineer who studied at Kharkiv National Polytechnic University -- in order to get her electrical engineering certification in Canada, she would have to pass a set of technical exams. At the moment, Olena is a math tutor at Lambton College but she says she is still looking for work.
Dmytro, a financial director in Ukraine, has found a job in Sarnia replacing windows.
Olena said their son is doing great and that he recently won a chess competition among local elementary schools. Yaroslav, whose Ukrainian school was burned to rubble after the war broke out, is heading into Grade 7 at St. Matthew.
Olena has been a member of the Kiwanis Club for about five months -- she said it's a good way to know and meet people. She also said there's a good community of Ukrainians in the area.
"For example, we've gone to Niagara Falls together -- it was about 30 Ukrainians," she said.
Olena's fellow Kiwanis members gave her a standing ovation following her presentation. They also complemented her Ukrainian gingerbread featuring the country's yellow and blue flag.