Meet Iryna Gorbachova from Ukraine

SUPPORT OUR APPEAL FOR UKRAINIAN REFUGEES

Iryna is a marketing professional who fled Ukraine to Romania with her nine year old daughter and her parents last February, when the Russian attacks made it too dangerous to stay any longer. Read her story...

FLEEING UKRAINE​

​When we spoke with Iryna she felt tired, she hadn’t slept as she knew her home city of Zaporizhzhya in Ukraine had been under attack the night before. 

“I still want to go home” says Iryna, “I wait for it everyday”.

Iryna and her family didn’t plan to go to Romania. They decided on travelling to Bulgaria because the language and culture there is more similar to Ukrainian. She also describes Poland as a very close country in terms of culture, but already knew at the time that so many refugees had already gone there, it would be overrun.  ​

“The first week after the attacks we stayed in shelters, but they were cold and we got sick. The air raid sirens were going off all the time and my daughter began to get so frightened. This is what made me decide to go in the end, I knew I needed to save her life.”

"We started out the journey to Bulgaria, but the road conditions were terrible. There was so much traffic and worse still, there were missile attacks. We got across the border to Romania and we were all just so tired, so we stopped to be able to rest and wash and find some food. As we talked to the volunteers we realised that it was better to stay in Romania rather than take the journey on to Bulgaria. We felt glad that we were slightly closer to home, as we thought we would only be gone for a few weeks.”

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MEETING MARIUS​

​Marius Aonicesei Is the director of ADO, our local partners in Romania. He worked with Children on the Edge back in 2001 and now leads a comprehensive refugee response in Iasi.

Iryna first heard about Marius in the spring, through online Telegram and Whatsapp groups, that were hastily set up by Ukrainian refugees as they arrived, knowing no one and not speaking the language. 

 “He needed an English speaker. So I volunteered. I thought I was going home, I wasn't looking for a job! I went to help with food distribution and many people were in need. They were so disoriented and shocked by the situation, suddenly finding themselves in a strange country, shyly queuing for food in a warehouse”. ​

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A YEAR ON

Iryna with her daughter

​Whilst the media spotlight was constantly on Ukraine in February 2022, the frenzy of focus and the outpouring of donations has now waned. The need among the communities supported by Children on the Edge though, has only increased. ​

“We are all thinking now… people
must ​be tired of Ukrainians.”

​“There were actually less people needing food at the start. At this time there were lots of large organisations giving cash assistance, and people still had savings. But now most organisations have left, or stopped providing cash, people’s savings have gone but there are few ways to earn, and there are hardly any food distribution centres. Even if people can earn a small amount there is always the need to send money back to relatives in Ukraine, who need humanitarian support.”

The Drop in centre in Iasi, Romania supported by Children on the Edge was providing food parcels and basic supplies for around 200-300 people every week at the start of the crisis, now the need has increased, but there is only enough supplies to cater for 500-600 people each fortnight. Marius told us that the drop in opens on Tuesday every two weeks, and how one lady arriving said that “Tuesday is the best day in my life”. ​

The drop-in centre in Iasi gets very busy

Towards the end of 2022, a Day Centre was set up, as a community hub and socialising space for Ukrainian refugees in Iasi. Iryna says “The centre is the most popular place to go. People book into the sessions months in advance because they are always over subscribed. This tells me they are doing something right!”

The centre offers a huge variety of activities from Romanian lessons, dance, exercise, painting, games, IT support, and a space for children to do their online schooling together, rather than isolated at home. The space can be used for meetings or family birthdays, and doctors even visit to give consultations. 

​When we asked Iryna how this is different from other refugee services in the city she said: ​

"Other organisations are very bureaucratic. They have a certain criteria and tick boxes to get through, rather than talking to people about what they actually need. Marius and his staff act more like friends. They don’t build distance between people, and because they are always talking, always asking, they end up providing activities that people love.”

Iryna with her family

“My family goes to the Day Centre. My daughter loves the activities, and my Dad has gone to the Romanian classes. He has become the star of the class and is now quite fluent. This has a huge impact on their lives as most older people are so scared of going out when they don’t know the language. My mum still doesn’t like to go out on her own, but my dad can now go to the shops and do errands around the city. It has given him his confidence back.”

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COMING TO TERMS WITH NOT GOING HOME

Iryna now has some freelance work at a Romanian marketing company. She describes how it took her a while to accept that she would need to try and make something of her life in Romania. She spent the first six months volunteering so she wouldn’t focus on the trauma she had been through, and the worry and uncertainty.

“Everyone thought the stay would just be a few weeks. Each time there was some hope for a return date, it would get pushed back again, until we realised that this is not going to happen any time soon. We need to stop creating fantasies about going home. When the war is over we will go, but we need to accept this might be a long time. In terms of emotions, it’s like you never stop swimming.”

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

The Ukrainian refugees we support, like Iryna are no closer to getting home. They expected to take refuge for a few weeks, but weeks became months and now, a year later, Europe’s biggest conflict since 1945 is no nearer to a conclusion. 

This time last year, the media was awash with hundreds of people from all walks of life, uniting to help Ukrainian refugees. A year on, these families still need our help.

After our initial emergency response, we are now focusing on those refugees who are faced with the reality of a long term stay in Romania and Moldova. Ukrainian refugees now need quality support, connection and agency. 

To support Ukrainian refugees as they face a second year away from home we are:

• Supporting a drop in centre to provide food and basic supplies in Iasi, Romania. The centre has over 1,800 Ukrainian refugee contacts that use the service, each representing an average family of four. 200 food parcels are given out a week, with around 10,000 distributed since the centre opened.
• Supporting over 40 Ukrainian refugee children without parental care, who fled to Romania when their orphanage was bombed. A colourful residential centre in Iasi was refurbished, with activities scheduled daily and trained psychologists employed to help children deal with trauma. 
• Continue to provide shelter and care for refugees in Moldova, for those who are transiting through  and those who need to remain in the country. 
• Supporting a brand new Day Centre in Iasi, Romania. This bright and useful space in Iasi is being used by hundreds of refugees as a community hub to socialise, enjoy a variety of activities and connect to online school. 

Please support our appeal and help to provide a vital lifeline to marginalised Ukrainian refugees. 

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