Ameliia’s letter: The war in her words

Earlier this year, Ameliia was a carefree teenager living her everyday life in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Now, she is a Ukrainian refugee whose family has fled the country to escape the war.

As she tries to come to terms with the destruction she has witnessed and everything that has happened, Ameliia wrote a letter describing her experience.

She has given Lethbridge News Now permission to reprint her letter so we can share her experience and help others understand what is happening in Ukraine.

Here is her letter, reprinted in her own words.

____________________

Is this a dream?

Let this all be a dream, a nightmare that is about to end…

At five o’clock in the morning, Thursday, February 24, it been 17 days since I’m 17.

Get up, you can hear the explosions…

I got up in a panic and sat on the sofa in the living room, the idea came to my mind to turn on the TV …

We have a war.

And then everything was as if in a fog, for a few more hours everything clear was cloudy, everything bright was dull, and everything sonorous suddenly became deaf.

Awareness came only the next day, when we were thrown up due to the fact that the explosion was in the next street.

How? Why? Why do we need all this? What to do next?
So many different questions were spinning in my head and I didn’t find a normal answer to one, I couldn’t.

Panic swept the whole country, everyone who could leave, left the capital and big cities for villages and towns.

Those who remained did not fight for sugar and clothes, did not shout at each other, everyone was just quietly afraid and waited for everything to end, preparing for the worst.

The longest queue was not to the store, but to the military registration and enlistment office. Hundreds of men and women lined up to fight for their country, to show that they are not cowards, but a brave people who will protect those who are dear to them. Even a boy of 11 stood in line to sign up and help his country, of course he was not accepted, but thanked for his courage and devotion to the country.

But unfortunately, we can’t always protect, it’s not always in our power. When rockets are being fired, the only thing you can do is sit in the basement and pray that none of your loved ones get hurt.

Prayer did not help some: so many cities of Ukraine were occupied and so many houses were destroyed, so many families were killed – not to count. Every morning you wake up with a request that these are not your relatives, and when you see what has got into the house, you pray that no one will die there.

So many children were left without parents, and how many parents were left without their children.
And you read the news and see how the boy is standing near the body of his mother, crying and not knowing what to do now and how to continue to live.

You read the news and see how cars with children and people are mercilessly shelled. You see how the houses where you used to live are burning.

You are trying to get through to your teacher who has not been in contact for seven days, but all to no avail.

And you cry and you sob, and tears flow down your cheek, burning your soul.

How can we all continue to live after this?

Why do we need all this?

We never wanted war, we never wanted violence, we lived our lives and at one moment everything was taken away from us, the future was taken away and the present was taken away, life was taken away, leaving just the right to survive.

And my people are screaming in pain that overwhelms them, because there is nothing else, they can do.

They are screaming in the streets to rally, they are screaming on the Internet to form groups, they are screaming and asking for help because they have seen and heard the war.

They saw the blood and tears of an entire nation and heard the cries for help from their relatives.

I am so grateful to the people who protect our land, thanks to our army for remaining people even during the war and helping us as much as they can. We will never forget that!

And despite all this, we have hope, hope for the world.

I hope to walk down my favorite street with my friends singing some song, I hope to walk again without fear of seeing an explosion and hearing sirens.

I hope to hug all my relatives.

I hope to walk around the square in Kyiv and visit those places that I did not have time to visit.

And I hope to sincerely smile again at the clear and peaceful sky, feeling a light breeze on me.

I hope for life in Ukraine!

____________________

Ameliia’s family has escaped to Poland, where they are awaiting documentation to come to Canada.

A Southern Alberta family has volunteered to host Ameliia’s family when they arrive, and dozens of people have donated household items, food, and money for their flight to Canada. A GoFundMe campaign has also been set up by their Canadian host, Sherry Silvaggio.

Millions of families like Ameliia’s have been uprooted from their homes. The United Nations says more than 10 million Ukrainians have been displaced, and close to four million people have fled Ukraine since the war began.

To support Ukrainian refugees who want to come to Canada, the Canadian Government has introduced a special measure called the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel. It offers Ukrainians and their family members extended temporary status, allowing them to work, study, and stay in Canada until it’s safe to return home.

If you would like to help or host a refugee family, the federal government provides information for Canadians on how to sponsor a refugee.

Provincially, the Alberta Government also has refugee support information available, including details about how to support privately-sponsored refugees.

This is Part One of a series of features on one family’s escape from Ukraine and arrival in Canada. The entire series will be featured on Lethbridge News Now in the coming weeks.

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by LNN Staff

Ameliia’s letter: The war in her words

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