{"id":128427,"date":"2022-03-24T10:36:20","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T08:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi\/?post_type=artikkelit&p=128427"},"modified":"2022-03-24T10:36:23","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T08:36:23","slug":"life-in-a-backpack-millions-of-women-and-children-are-fleeing-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"artikkelit","link":"https:\/\/www.kirkonulkomaanapu.fi\/en\/latest-news\/articles\/life-in-a-backpack-millions-of-women-and-children-are-fleeing-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Life in a backpack \u2013 millions of women and children are fleeing Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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Just a month ago Dmitriy, 5, was playing with his friends. Now, the phone is alerting his family about air strikes in Ukraine<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Four weeks of war, and over three million people have fled across the borders of Ukraine. A Ukrainian mother believes the next two months are crucial; she must be able to find work and send her kids to school. Finn Church Aid is helping refugees from Ukraine together with a Hungarian partner organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI HAVE SWEETS<\/strong> and a bottle of water, and here\u2019s my cat. In Ukraine, I had a real cat, too,\u201d says 10-year-old Maryanna<\/strong> whilst unzipping her light-coloured backpack in a playroom for refugee children set up at the airport in Budapest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryanna takes out a pencil case and opens it. It\u2019s full of colourful wristbands, necklaces, and rings. She has been busying herself with making baubles during her almost three-week long escape from Odessa in the south of Ukraine to Budapest, Hungary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryanna, her sister Yelizaveta<\/strong> (5), mother Vironika<\/strong>, and grandmother Svetlana<\/strong> left their hometown soon after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the first three weeks of the war, more than three million Ukrainians have fled to the surrounding countries, 1.5 million of them children. On top of this, there\u2019s an immense number of internally displaced refugees within Ukraine, who\u2019ve tried to make their way from the eastern parts of the country to the west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\tIt was a long way to Budapest from where Maryanna (10) and Yelizaveta (5) are from in Ukraine. The two sisters have only packed their most loved toys before fleeing the war. <\/span>\n\t\t\t\tIt was a long way to Budapest from where Maryanna (10) and Yelizaveta (5) are from in Ukraine. The two sisters have only packed their most loved toys before fleeing the war. <\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some of them have found a place to stay with friends and family, some spend the nights at refugee shelters, and some are waiting for a lift at airports and railway stations. Many have left their homes in a hurry and packed only the most essential items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI packed everything myself. And by the way, I\u2019ve made this myself, too,\u201d Maryanna says, proudly pulling out of her backpack a small, dotted pillow.
She says she laid hear head on the pillow again last night, when the family was travelling from Krakow to Budapest airport. The journey was long, but Maryanna tells she had a good night\u2019s sleep. She describes having curled into a ball on two seats, her head on her self-made pillow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bed, food, and something to drink<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s another family in the playroom for refugee children at the airport. Mother Kate Pugachova<\/strong> and her sons Daniil<\/strong> (8) and Dmitriy<\/strong> (5) are playing Uno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kate says the family had spent the previous night in a makeshift bed in the corner of the playroom. There are other facilities with beds for refugees at the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, last night there were a lot of small children crying and making noise,\u201d Kate says. She points at the blue-coated workers of the Hungarian Interchurch Aid, FCA\u2019s partner organisation, who helped them set up a bed in a calmer environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have to pay for anything, which is extremely important in this situation. The organisations here are doing so much to help people. They\u2019re playing with the kids and offering food and drinks. We can rest and sleep. That\u2019s of huge and important help to refugees. I\u2019m actually pretty surprised about all this support,\u201d Kate says, visibly moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust look at them. They\u2019re laughing and playing,\u201d she says, pointing at the children bustling around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kate Pugachova (background) together with her two sons Daniil and Dmitriy is heading to Istanbul where family has friends. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The journey has been long. Kate and the boys left their home in Dnipro on 8 March, and they\u2019ve been on the road and staying with friends for nine days already. Kate says that she had listened to the air raid alerts for four or five days before she made the decision to leave. The boys had already learned to go to the bathroom for cover when they heard the sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was sitting in my kitchen with friends when we heard yet another alert. That day it lasted for three hours,\u201d she describes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following day Kate left with her boys. A few days later they were reading news about air strikes in their hometown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI give myself two months\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Daniil and Dmitriy are giggling and piling up colourful blocks to build a tower in the corner of the playroom. By accident, they place a blue and a yellow block next to each other, and for a moment, the highest part of the tower boasts the colours of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kate is glad to see the boys busy. Fortunately, they didn\u2019t need to witness nor experience the destruction of the war in their hometown, but they\u2019ve seen photos and videos of the aftermath from all around Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Kate, the children don\u2019t quite understand the situation. The activities in the playroom at the Budapest Airport have made the morning easier for the mother. What seems to concern the boys most at the time of the interview is the flight ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s their first. They\u2019ve been asking the entire morning when, when, when, when is the time to board,\u201d Kate says, shaking her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\tDaniil, Dmitriy and Yelizaveta enjoy the Budapest airport child-friendly space FCA have created together with their Hungarian partner HIA. <\/span>\n\t\t\t\tDaniil, Dmitriy and Yelizaveta enjoy the Budapest airport child-friendly space FCA have created together with their Hungarian partner HIA. <\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The family is headed towards Turkey, where friends are waiting. They\u2019re promised to let Kate and the boys stay for a month or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve decided to give myself two months,\u201d Kate says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that, she\u2019ll have to make a decision. Either she\u2019ll get her documents sorted, look for a job in Turkey, and send her children to a Russian-speaking school \u2013 or return to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her older son Daniil is on his second year of school already, but his schooling was cut short when the war started. The teacher has given classes remotely on Zoom every now and then, and Daniil has taken part, depending on the circumstances and connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School books were left behind in Dnipro, but the boy has used a notebook for his assignments. Kate deems education important but also says that it\u2019s not the most pressing matter on her mind right now. First, she\u2019ll need to find a safe place for her family, so she can give her mind a moment of rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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War in Ukraine has forced 3.5 million people to seek safety as refugees. 1.5 million of them are children. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Schools suffer from war<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The impact of the war on children\u2019s schooling is immense. Classes haven\u2019t been run normally in Ukraine after the war started. Almost 500 schools in Ukraine have suffered damages due to bombing and shelling, and according to estimates, 69 of them have been completely destroyed.
Maryanna, the girl who showed us the contents of her backpack, says she already misses going to school. She speaks excellent English and says English and math are her favourite subjects. She misses her friends the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a lot of friends in Odessa, but now my best friend is in Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryanna\u2019s teacher, too, organises remote teaching on Zoom. Maryanna has taken part in the classes as best she can, but it hasn\u2019t always been possible. The long escape took the family first from Odessa to Lviv in western Ukraine, then Krakow and on to Budapest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the interview, Maryanna, her sister, mother, and grandmother are going to fly to Bulgaria, where their plan is to settle by the coast of the Black Sea for a while. Her father and grandfather are waiting for the women of the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryanna believes the family will return to their home in Odessa eventually.
\u201cBut it\u2019s a good idea to go to Bulgaria, because our Black Sea is there. There we\u2019ll be close to Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An entire life in a single suitcase<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A few hours later, Maryanna\u2019s little sister Yelizaveta and Kate\u2019s boys Daniil and Dmitriy are sitting in the corner of the playroom, playing with phones. The phone in the hand of 5-year-old Dmitriy vibrates, and he takes it to his mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn air alert in Ukraine,\u201d Kate reads, shaking her head, and gives the phone back to her son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kate opens the suitcase slightly and takes out a toothbrush and toothpaste. She nips to the airport loo to brush her teeth, puts the boys\u2019 Crocs sandals in a plastic bag, and closes the suitcase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\tMany families fleeing Ukraine are heading to friends and family living in the neighbouring countries.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tMany families fleeing Ukraine are heading to friends and family living in the neighbouring countries.<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Kate has packed some of the family\u2019s things in two plastic bags, because everything packed in just one suitcase exceeded the airline\u2019s weight limit for luggage. In total, the luggage for the three-strong family \u2013 a suitcase and two plastic bags \u2013 weighs to the tune of 30 kilograms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon it\u2019s time to go. The boys put on their coats, and the family heads towards passport control. Kate hugs us, and we wish them luck for the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recall her earlier words. If things take a turn for the better, Kate and the boys will return to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s safe, if our schools are like they used to be. They might bomb a school tomorrow. Too many schools have been targeted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Text: Ulriikka My\u00f6h\u00e4nen
Photos: Antti Yrj\u00f6nen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FCA is helping refugees in Ukraine and Hungary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n