Settlement

All my life I didn't want to live in another country. Even my parents really wanted to live in USA, but not me. When the war started, all Ukrainians, including me, were thinking that there is no point of this war, that today in 2022 it`s impossible for war to take place. We all used to think that it would finish in several days, and we would be able to come back home. Even my father, who always was doing everything for his family’s safety decided to stay home and just wait. But it was a huge mistake.

I understood that we needed a place to stay, and in a while we all understood that we needed a place to live, but not just to stay. That`s why we started to search different programs for Ukrainians affected by the war and we found CUAET supported by Canada. So, we decided to go there because I know only English and Canada is the only English-speaking country that opened the corridor for Ukrainians (apart from the UK, where everything is very expensive).

By the time we landed in Canada, I had already found a host family who accepted us to live in their house for several months for free. So, our host family met us and helped us come to their home. My first thoughts were “Now it is not time to relax. “Yes, we are in safe place, but we have nothing.” We had all summer still ahead, but all I did was look for a job.

I was really surprised of the people`s kindness because strangers were helping me with documents, food, clothes, etc. I met those people for the first time in my life and have never meet them since. Everyone wanted to help me to feel myself like at home. I remember that on the Day of Victoria there were lots of fireworks, but I was afraid of it. It took me several weeks to calm down.

I really enjoy Canada and I understand that it is the best place for people who are running from war, from any place where it is not safe. Today, I found my job and a place to live. This is my greatest achievement. I don`t want to tell you anything about food in Canada because I can compare it with Ukraine. I understand that I did my best and Canada has really helped me to make my life better.