Ukrainians set to arrive in N.L., seeking refuge from war
CBC
It was less than a month after Russia invaded Ukraine when Kelly Power got a message from an old friend asking if she'd take in her 16-year-old brother — if he could make it to Newfoundland.
The boy was in Ukraine, and his sister was trying to get him out. She'd lived in Newfoundland and worked with Power at a pharmacy four years before. They got along and stayed friends, even after the sister moved away.
Power, 52, said she didn't think twice about agreeing to take the boy in.
"If I said no, he wouldn't have anywhere to go," she said in a recent interview with the Canadian Press. "I was his way out."
The teenager is now scheduled to arrive in St. John's on Monday, aboard a plane from Poland chartered by the provincial government and carrying up to 175 Ukrainian refugees.
The flight is part of a massive effort led by the provincial government and buoyed by a network of unaffiliated volunteers — and people like Power — who are working to bring Ukrainians to Canada's easternmost province and ensure they're safe, housed and cared for.
Newfoundland and Labrador opened a satellite office in Warsaw, Poland in March to help Ukrainians fleeing Russian attacks resettle in the province, beating Ottawa to the punch by almost two months.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday the federal government would open an office in Warsaw to help Ukrainians come to Canada, and made a surprise visit to the capital city of Kyiv on Sunday to formally reopen the Canadian Embassy.
Newfoundland and Labrador Immigration Minister Gerry Byrne insists the plane arriving Monday is the first government-chartered flight to bring Ukrainian refugees to Canada. His department had not confirmed how many would be on board as of Sunday evening, but a spokesperson said Friday 175 was the "working number."
Power gets emotional as she talks about the teenager arriving Monday — whose name The Canadian Press has agreed not to publish — and all of the things he'll need: clothes, bedding, help with his English and friends.
She said his sister worked hard with the team at the Newfoundland and Labrador office in Warsaw to get him a visa, a passport and a way out of Ukraine and into Poland to make the flight.
The trip to St. John's will be difficult, Power said: he's leaving his parents behind, as well as his dog. He's never been on a plane and he only just turned 16.
Adilya Dragan was preparing a box of clothes and supplies for the teenager on Friday afternoon.
The 32-year-old from Russia lives just outside St. John's, and she moderates a Facebook group dedicated to sending medicine and supplies from Newfoundland to Ukraine.
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