Olyna came to Romania in March with her seven-year-old son, her two-year-old daughter, her mother and her father. It mattered significantly that she had her parents by her side. She needn’t worry about them every day and they help her out with the kids while she works online for a company in Ukraine. “They are of great help to me, and I am at peace since I have them by my side,” Olyna says smilingly.
Her husband stayed back in Ukraine. Together they decided that it was better to leave with the kids at the very start of the war because their son was going to start first grade and needed education and socialising, beyond online classes.
At first, Olyna told herself that they would be staying in Romania for two weeks. Then “maybe for a month”. “Maybe until the summer passes”, “maybe until September and then my son will start school back home”; the plans kept getting readjusted.“You can’t make solid plans. We never wanted to leave and I would like us to go back home, rebuild our country and know there is peace for everyone. But we don’t know when that will be possible.”
Now, when there is no heating and no electricity back home, the new plan that they build as they hope for peace is to stay in Romania until spring.
Olyna is grateful for the Ukrainian friends she has made in Romania, a country about which she knew nothing and which surprised her with its solidarity and supportiveness. She often speaks with her new friends about how unexpected it was to get such support during the first weeks of the war, when Romanians opened their homes and their souls to them. “Thank you so much, you are impressive” is Olyna’s message for all Romanians.
Like any mother, Olyna is happy that Ukrainian children have spaces to interact and play in. “They badly need to socialise in their mother tongue. They are small, they don’t yet fully understand what is happening. They need positive emotions, they expect good things to happen.”
Christmas will certainly be different in Romania than it would have been back home, but Olyna manages a big smile for her children. “It’s our duty to provide a festive atmosphere for them. They expect gifts, they expect a holiday. We will have a big family dinner and chat online with our friends in Ukraine.”
A story collected by Ana Maria Ciobanu for the Abandonment Baggage campaign. This project is financed by CARE through the Sera Romania Foundation, Care France, and FONPC.
