A mother and her two children that fled Kyiv in Ukraine five months ago have been reunited with her partner and are settling in Millthorpe as part of a project to help Ukrainian families live in the central west of NSW.
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Millthorpe resident Pip Waters, along with her partner Greg Wells, is voluntarily working within the Central West Ukrainian Support Group to assist regionally placed Ukrainian refugees.
Viktoriia "Vika" Hordiika and her two children Vladyslava 13 and Myroslav 7 fled Kyiv soon after the conflict began. Dmytro Bushuyev, who was not fit for military service and was allowed to leave, arrived in late July.
The journey for Vika and her children was not an easy one. For five months they were living in exile and experienced the worst sides of humanity in Austria and Abu Dhabi.
After racking up over $6,000 in debt her journey ended when the three of them arrived in Australia under a humanitarian visa. Mr Bushuyev, a journalist and political commentator, arrived two weeks later.
When they arrived in in Millthorpe one of their first outings was to witness the fireworks at the recent Millthorpe Night Market, an event that Ms Waters was concerned may bring back the trauma of the regular bombings of the city they once called home.
"I was really worried that the fireworks may upset them, but he said that they were a rainbow in the sky instead of bombs," she said.
The challenge for Ms Waters and the family now is to find suitable accommodation when there is just so little about. On every other aspect though, schooling, food and transport, the community is throwing their weight behind helping out.
"We can get them jobs, we can get them into school we even had someone donate a car for them to drive," Ms Waters said. "The problem is finding them somewhere to live."
Vika has secured a job at Tonic restaurant and the children have been enrolled in James Sheahan Catholic High School and Catherine McAuley Catholic Primary School in Orange.
Ms Waters said that the group was now looking at innovative solutions to their housing crisis and approached parish priest Father Greg Bellamy who suggested that they reopen the old convent in Molong.
"It has about six bedrooms but it's freezing cold, has nine foot ceilings and no decent heating," she said. "We need to completely refurbish it with new carpets, painting and heating."
If anyone can help this family, or one of the many others that are looking for support, contact Pip Waters on 0408 669 006 or donate on the Go Fund Me page