Nicole Perry March 31, 2023
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine forcing over ten million civilians out of their homes, Kamloops B.C., among other Canadian cities, has received an unexpectedly high number of refugees over the last year. As media interest dies out, so does community support.
“There’s the idea that because we don’t hear about it, it means that people don’t require the help anymore,” says Paolo Bigit, Ukrainian Humanitarian Effort Coordinator and Diversity Outreach Coordinator at Kamloops Immigrant Services (KIS).
Requiring a safe place to live isn’t the only thing Bigit’s refugee clients seek; he says a community willing to accept their presence and provide support, however possible, can alleviate some of the shock that comes with such an abrupt change.
Community Response
The Russian invasion of Ukraine presented a need for an emergency response in Canada that hasn’t been incited in the past. Bigit says the biggest difference was that they were declared refugees.
The Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET) gives Ukrainian nationals without refugee status the opportunity to take up temporary residence in Canada with a work permit until it is safe to travel home.
Bigit says, “The federal government was able to react in a way that was proactive and was fast enough given the circumstances.”
Canada’s emergency travel initiative posed a challenge of coordination for each province and local agencies involved in immigration services.
“I feel that because of the speed that it was taken and the importance that they gave it to it, it caused issues of organization and coordination,” Bigit says. “There wasn’t much for agencies like ours to follow through.”
Less than a month after the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, Kamloops had already begun receiving Ukrainian refugee families. In the summer of 2022, Bigit says Kamloops was receiving two to three families every other week.
Rates of refugee arrival are still high, even as the rush to act hastily and face problems as they arise has eased. “It has dropped from what we were seeing at the beginning of summer, from 2022, but in Kamloops specifically, we are receiving, on average, about one to two families every two weeks.”
Bigit joined the cause as Ukrainian Humanitarian Effort Coordinator in early April of 2022.
“People were already ready to serve and help the newly arriving families as soon as the war broke, in late February of 2022,” he says, recalling a long list of potential volunteers and donors amid thick discourse on the topic accompanying constant media coverage.
“Every time the media stops producing content on the given issue, any kind of support does drop,” says Bigit, having observed an undeniable drop in community engagement from the front lines.
This, along with people not knowing how to help, negatively impacts non-profit organizations that rely on volunteer efforts.
“There’s a misunderstanding in the community that you have to have money, you have to have physical resources to be able to volunteer, be able to do something good for the community,” he says.
Bigit has expanded the definition of “volunteer” to encompass anyone who can offer help in areas that are accessible to them.
“We were able to diversify our portfolio of volunteer opportunities,” he says, identifying some as monetary, clothing, and furniture donations along with acts of service; this could be transporting items from one house to another for a Ukrainian family if a vehicle and the ability to operate it is something you have to offer.
“If you don’t know anything else, but you do use the bus every day, how about you take a Saturday morning and take the bus with one of the Ukrainian families and explain to them how the bus system works?” Bigit says.
Uprooted into a new place without the chance to research simple ways of life that differ from home, systems such as pressing a button to signal cars to halt for you at a traffic light aren’t the common knowledge locals categorize them as.
“Other countries will not do that. They just cross, right?” Bigit says. “Anything and everything counts, even those things that you think don’t, do.”
As locals, there’s always knowledge to provide, Bigit says. This can include practices such as checking job application statuses and employer expectations in Western Canadian culture.
As her children fidget in their seats, excited by the flashing tiaras on their heads celebrating St. Patrick’s Day of 2023 with pizazz, Elena Fedorchenko’s soft-spoken words ring amongst the echoing chatter of Ukrainian refugee families, hosts of new arrivals, volunteers, church members, and organizers of the event.
Tonight’s Ukrainian Welcome Dinner is full of smiling faces decorated with green hankies as children gleefully run around Kamloops United Church. Fedorchenko has come to Kamloops with her family of two girls and a husband who had been ahead of her in arriving.
The largest challenges that have stemmed from the move are to do with teaching the girls English and finding daycare for her youngest, she says.
Bigit’s list of volunteer possibilities addresses the childcare needs of Ukrainian arrivals who are seeking work. He says,“One may be a grandma who’s lonely three times of the week, so those three days she can take care of the children of one of the Ukrainian families.”
Fedorchenko says her children have had to adapt to an English-speaking environment. “In the beginning, it was difficult to start speaking, but now they have more friends and they go to some activities where they meet children and they speak English so now it is easier for them to begin this process.”
She says programs such as Strong Start have given her youngest a chance to prepare for kindergarten, while her oldest takes extra English classes.
Bigit’s work with Ukrainian refugee families brings to light the current housing problem as it links to them. “There are opportunities, and there are units available, but only [for] those who do not have a family.”
Refugees face unique challenges aside from culture shocks and language barriers. Bigit talks about the abrupt change after potentially traumatic situations that bring a layer of difficulty to their move.
He says he is there to lend an ear to his Ukrainian family clients who are wary of opening up to their hosts or others in the community.
Bigit takes one of many pauses, deep in thought. He seems to feel the toll of working with clients who have experienced such impactful events. “I want to fix everything,” he says, with an edge of sadness reaching the surface of his voice.
Over his time at KIS, his perspective on what he can accomplish in assisting his Ukrainian refugee clients has kept him up at night, he says. “There are still some people that are going to be left behind.”
Creating Connections
Amongst a crowd of volunteers, the PIT Stop Coordinator, Jill Borho, chops onions in the light haze of smoke wafting through the bustling kitchen at the United Church. Before Ukrainian families and churchgoers arrive, the church is filled with people setting cutlery and flowers over checkered tablecloths on rows of long tables.
At the same time, the kitchen is alive with dinner preparations. A wave of heat emanates from within along with chatter amongst volunteers about the conflict in Ukraine and community interest.
With a group consensus that media coverage on the crisis in Ukraine and its extenuating circumstances has died out, Borho adds that more media coverage without potential bias demonizing all Russians is what we need.
Tomas Bijok, the previous PIT Stop coordinator, is a first-generation refugee from the Czech Republic. He acknowledges what many Ukrainian refugees must feel as they are uprooted into Kamloops, saying, “[It’s a] huge culture shock, very different culture.”
The collaborative nature of the monthly Ukrainian dinners connects churchgoers, other community members, and anyone willing to help out, from organizing to volunteering. Bijok says, “It’s a real collaboration, right across the board,” as he moves to check the pot of soup steaming to his left.
Having been at each monthly dinner so far, he considers what purpose they offer. “One of the biggest things that this has done, it’s allowed our Ukrainian refugee community that’s in Kamloops to integrate and meet people in our community,” he says.
Borho is only starting as a PIT Stop coordinator, excited about her first dinner. She strongly upholds the kitchen-wide opinion that a sense of community is of utmost importance.
“When you’re sitting down with a group of people, you can sometimes forget your troubles, for that one hour,” she says. “Enjoy upon it as a community, like together, everyone working together in every aspect from preparation to consumption to the cleanup.”
As the smell of coffee is replaced with that of simmering soup, guests fill the vast church adorned with purple wall hangings and accented by stained glass windows. Even the menu welcomes everyone, including vegan and gluten-free options.
Stomachs fill up as soup is brought to each setting along with bread and salad, and onlookers turn to face a line of Sim’ya Ukrainian dancers, a loudspeaker propped on one’s shoulder. With smiles that energize the entire space, each young dancer takes to the stage with a series of spins and jumps exciting a clapping audience.
Making these dinners possible is the partnership of the United Church, Thompson Rivers University, KIS, the Ukrainian Society, and the Ukrainian Catholic Church, whose hard work has created an environment where Ukrainian families can feel like they’re part of the community.
Elena Fedorchenko feels welcomed by actions such as this. “When they have some holiday celebrations, they offer us to come,” she says, light in her tone.
Diversity and Inclusivity
Bigit says he sees a benefit in expanding the dinners to represent the diverse population of Kamloops. “Having a limited number of cultures represented each night is beneficial. But having more will just support learning opportunities.”
Bijok says, “I don’t know if we could cook for more,” as he bustles about the back of the kitchen, single-handedly adding the final touches to his soup.
Bigit says he views Kamloops as a diverse community that isn’t necessarily inclusive enough to support its varied representation.
Looping back to the media’s purpose in situations such as the Ukrainian crisis, he says, “because the media is no longer covering it, there’s an opening for arguments … [which] could lead to misinformation.”
Stigmas that develop from disinformation can translate into behaviour that, as Bigit says, “make it so that any of our clients, even including the Ukrainian clients, feel that they have been left out, or that the people in the community might not want them to be here.”
Bigit says KIS is working on educational projects to address diversity education. “We have 30 students in total from multiple high schools, for multiple secondary and elementary schools, from the school district 73, who are now going to be leaders in their own schools in a wide variety of projects.”
Employers are being educated as well, Bigit says, “[with] the creation of an equity diversity and inclusion introductory toolkit for employees and employers.”
Making the monthly Ukrainian dinners open to anyone interested in providing support has been beneficial in what Bigit defines as their current purpose.
“The dinners’ objective is to create community connections for those who are arriving” he says. “[These have] been and will continue to be the key component for a long-term, successful introduction into a community.”