Support Nonna, a Ukrainian refugee, settle in BC

Hi, my name is Kelsey Siemens. I am a resident of Abbotsford, BC, and I am fundraising for Nonna, a Ukrainian refugee, to support her as she settles into our community.

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Meet Nonna.

Nonna is one of the bravest people I’ve ever met. Despite not knowing a single person in Canada, Nonna is packing up her life and moving to Abbotsford in February.

Nonna was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Nonna had lived in Kyiv at the start of the Russian invasion at the beginning of the year.

She tells of a harrowing escape out of Kyiv as the bombing began. With very few of her worldly possessions, Nonna and her beloved cat, Nori, camped out in the cramped basement that served as a bomb shelter (an hours drive out of Kyiv). She knew there were Russian soldiers outside of the cabin, and could hear the blasts of bombs nearby. It was the cold of winter, and the cabin did not have electricity. She ran out of food and supplies, and made the heartbreaking decision to leave her beloved country.

She travelled 10-hours in the Ukrainian countryside. She eventually boarded a bus full of scared families and screaming children, and embarked on a 25-hour journey to the Ukrainian-Polish border. With the support of aid-workers and organizations, from there she travelled to Norway.

Since March, Nonna has been enrolled in a Norwegian school to learn the language. Because Norwegian is a difficult language to learn and Norway have many job opportunities and doesn’t support immigration, Nonna has made the decision to move to Canada indefinitely.

Sadly, both her parents have passed away and her brother is fighting in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and her friends are now scattered across the globe.

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How we have connected with Nonna:

Over 15 years ago, at our engagement party, our grandparent’s on our paternal sides discovered the most delightful connection— My grandparents had sponsored Rob’s Great Aunt, a refugee, to come to Canada. They lived with my grandparents for several months as they got settled in Abbotsford. Like so many others in the Mennonite community of the Fraser Valley, our families have deep roots in both being supported, and supporting those who have fled war torn countries. At the start of the invasion, Rob and I felt moved to do repay the kindness so generously bestowed to our ancestors and do what we can to support refugees settling in the Fraser Valley.

It is with sheer delight and joy that Rob and I are supporting Nonna to settle into Abbotsford. When we connected with Nonna, the initial plan was for Nonna to live with this until she was able to secure a job and earn money in order to move out on her own. A Good Samaritan has since offered Nonna a free and private place to stay in a central area of Abbotsford!

If you feel called, Nonna would greatly benefit from all the love she deserves, in the form of friendship, community, financial security and practical resources. Nonna and I are working on an amazon Wishlist that will be sent to our house for when she arrives. I’ve also started a GoFundMe page for her. Donations of any amount to help pay for her plane ticket and everything she will need to start a new life in Canada.

Nonna is compassionate, courageous, curious and bright. She is a cat-lover, and enjoys the beauty of nature, animals and children. Nonna speaks perfect English (she has taught English and has worked as a translator in Kyiv). She is currently looking for a job for when she settles into Abbotsford in February. If any of have any ideas of a suitable job for her, please private message me.