Vikki and Daryna have seen their country Ukraine torn apart by war in the past year and their families separated. Despite that, they remain remarkably resilient.
In many ways, Vikki Harashchenko, 14, and Daryna Dyablo, 12, are typical teenagers. They can be shy, giggling easily as they consider their favourite Ukrainian pop bands or K-pop group BTS. But they’re also keen when describing the musical theatre production of Chicago they’re working on as part of Lights Up after-school theatre.When they’re not in school, the girls are usually together – skating at The Shipyards rink or hanging out at the library.
Vikki and her family lived in a Lviv, where her father, mother and grandmother all worked for the military. Then Oskana’s sister told her about a new program opened by the Canadian government to fast-track visas for Ukrainians. Oskana, Maria and Daryna travelled to Poland to apply for a visa, leaving Daryna’s father and 23-year-old brother in Ukraine.In Canada, a Ukrainian church group connected them with a North Vancouver family willing to take them in.Lifelong friendship with Ukrainian woman When Leanne Melnyk was 11, her dad’s Ukrainian newsletter put out a call for pen pals for girls in Ukraine.
After several missile strikes on Lviv, however, Irina agreed to let her daughter leave the country, accompanied at first by her grandmother. Little government help is provided for unaccompanied minors arriving from the Ukraine, says Melnyk. “It’s a really big gap in the system,” she said.
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