Manitoba’s Ukrainian community holding first Remembrance Day close to heart
Global News
Manitoba's Ukrainian community is thinking of loved ones overseas ahead of a day of remembrance when Canadians are honouring fallen soldiers and veterans.
Liudmyla Faradzheva looks at photos of her son each day and messages him whenever they have a chance.
Originally from Odesa, Faradzheva hasn’t seen her 21-year-old in more than a year. He’s back home in Ukraine fighting for their country.
Faradzhava says she’s touched to see Canadians wear poppies, reminding younger generations about the fallen soldiers and veterans who sacrificed so much for them to enjoy a relatively good and free life.
“You can sleep in your bed, calm, all night without the sounds (of) alarm(s), like you must run somewhere (and) hide,” Faradzheva, who arrived in Manitoba four months ago, told Global News on Thursday.
This year, Remembrance Day highlights a painful reality the Ukrainian community has been experiencing for nearly nine months.
Refugee Lesia Yaroshenko sees how the Ukrainian children at Winnipeg’s Chief Peguis Junior High, where she works, are holding their first Remembrance Day on Canadian soil close to heart.
“For them, the war and those who are in the military service, it’s not something from the past and from faraway lands and from the TV screen. For them, it’s their personal story,” Yaroshenko said.
“Those pictures remind us of what we see every day in the news from Ukraine and what we receive from our friends and relatives from Ukraine, so it really hurts.”