By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
CAYUGA—Oksana Roma hasn’t been sleeping much lately. Ever since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine last week, she has been worried sick about the events unfolding where members of her family still reside. Her relatives are aiding in the humanitarian effort to help the hundreds of thousands of civilians trying to flee, as well as supporting the Ukrainian soldiers fighting to protect their country.
Images of burned-out buildings and war-torn streets fill Roma with a deep sadness: “You reminisce about how things used to be, and now that they’ve been completely destroyed, it’s just heartbreaking. It really is.”
CAYUGA—Oksana Roma, pictured with her daughter Mila, is thankful she and her children are safe in Canada, but worries for family living in the Ukraine.
—Submitted photo.
Roma grew up on a farm in Grimsby, only recently moving to Cayuga. It was her grandparents on her father’s side who originally immigrated to Canada, following the Ukrainian holocaust of 1932-33. It was also known as the ‘Holdomor’ or ‘Terror Famine’, during which Joseph Stalin attempted to engineer a man-made famine that ultimately led to the death of millions of Ukrainian civilians.
“My grandmother came to Canada for a better life for herself and a potential family. My father was born here in Canada. I’ve been a Ukranian-Canadian all my life,” said Roma, reminiscing on her upbringing, which centered around involvement in her local Ukrainian community.
She explained what makes Ukraine such a unique country: “We have a lot of different regions in Ukraine. Everything from the mountains to down by the sea. Every region has its own different costumes, which are full of vibrant colours, their own little traditions. It makes Ukraine kind of unique…. A big part of our culture is dancing and playing the bandura (a plucked string folk instrument).”
Her Ukrainian relatives currently live in Ternopil, a city in western Ukraine.
“They are doing well. Not well, I should say, but they’re not being physically bombed or anything like that. We speak to them on a daily basis. They’re scared; their children are scared. They hear the air alarms going off in the middle of the night, causing them to run to the basement to hide from potential attacks that may occur. Thankfully they haven’t been impacted by the bombing themselves.”
She said they are engaged in the local humanitarian effort “bringing a lot of supplies, bringing things that are needed, including food, to the soldiers that are fighting more in the regions that are trying to protect their lands and fight for their freedoms.”
She added, “We’ve got some friends down there that were from Kyiv. They ended up leaving and are now in Romania; they kind of just went with the flow and ended up where the road took them.”
Others in Ukraine haven’t been so lucky, with massive lines of people and vehicles amassing at nearly every available border crossing out of the country. Men aged 18-60 have been banned from exiting the country, leading to significant suffering as families are forced to separate at the border with no real assurance that they will reunite.
“It’s heartbreaking to see that the Russian government is actively killing innocent Ukrainian civilians, committing war crimes, invading sovereign territory unprovoked. This isn’t a war that anybody in our country wanted; it isn’t something we were anticipating would happen now.”
She continued, “It’s one thing when you have a war and warzones, and you’ve got army fighting army. This is beyond that. Innocent civilians are dying. They’re bombing hospitals, schools, residential buildings. It’s gotten to the point where it’s beyond a war of power. It’s innocent people being targeted and losing their lives.”
Like many around the world, Roma praised the will of the Ukrainian people, who have largely presented a united front in the face of the overwhelming scale and scope of Russia’s actions.
“That’s how we are. We have faith, we’re strong, we stick together, and God willing, we can accomplish anything. This is the kind of people we are. We’re always willing to help, and of course at times like this we’re going to stick together, we’re going to fight together,” she said. “You’ve got people helping each other out in the street, you’ve got people housing each other, trying to do whatever we can to help one another out.”
Many neighbouring countries of Ukraine have come to their aid as well. Roma noted her mother’s side of the family hails from Poland, where Roma says she has relatives involved in transporting refugees from the border to cities in Poland: “It’s so great to see the Polish community helping us out so greatly and doing what they can to accommodate our civilians trying to flee from war.”
Here at home, Roma has been taking part in activism protesting the war, including participating in a rally at Hamilton City Hall last weekend. She said she has stayed connected to the Ukrainian community in Hamilton, expressing that she hasn’t found a similar community to rely on here in Haldimand.
She said those looking to help can do so through the Red Cross or Unicef, both of which are spearheading fundraising efforts aimed at helping humanitarian efforts for the millions of displaced Ukrainians.
“We can only do what we can do, but we will certainly go down fighting and doing our best to protect our home, our country, our roots. Everything our parents and grandparents have fought for to give us our lives today.”
She hopes to see an end to the conflict before it gets worse.
“Even on the Russian side, there are Russian soldiers who are so young, 18-19 years old, that don’t even really know why they’re there,” she said. “These poor soldiers’ mothers not knowing if their sons are going to return. They have been sent to war essentially without even knowing what they were going there to do.”
