“We are extremely grateful to the community and to the CBC for your report, because that is how we knew about this opportunity for us,” said Palamarchuk, 31, on Tuesday, hours after a plane landed in Winnipeg. This opportunity includes a safe place to live and work, an offer made by people in the Clear Lake and Onanole, Man. Cottage communities, with financial support from Elkhorn Resort and Harrison Park Township. “They emailed me directly after they saw the news show you did and got their papers fast enough. The first ones who arrived want to work right away, which is great for us,” said Chris Phillips, director of Elkhorn Resort. . The couple has experience in the hospitality industry. With their excellent English, they will work as servers in one of the restaurants and will stay in staff accommodation. “It was a great experience,” Phillips said of the process of bringing the couple to Canada. The resort works with at least two other family groups who also want to move here after seeing the CBC story. “I feel good. When I hear from some of these people and what they are going through, it’s very heartbreaking,” Phillips said. CLOCKS Hanna Palamarchuk and Mykola Prysiazhnyi arrive in Manitoba
“I can not believe we are safe,” says Ukrainian refugee starting a new life in Manitoba.
A couple fleeing war-torn Ukraine landed in a quiet cottage community in western Manitoba, offering them a safe place to live and work. 3:24
Palamarchuk and Prysiazhnyi’s journey began in Kyiv on February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“I heard the first one, I’m not sure, was it a rocket or was it the fighter jet at 5:00 in the morning? And then I heard the explosion not so far away. I woke it up. [Palamarchuk] “And we started looking for news to see what was going on,” recalls Prysiazhnyi, 33.
After spending the next day in Kiev metro stations, which doubled as bomb shelters, the couple decided to reunite with others heading west to Poland.
Honestly, I can not believe it. I still can not believe that this is our reality. I can not believe we are safe.- Hanna Palamarchuk, Ukrainian refugee
“We hoped to be back in maybe a week or two because we thought the negotiation would start and they would come to some kind of conclusion and we would stop fighting,” Prisyazni said. “But it escalated more and more.”
Just on the Polish border, the couple was moved by the kindness of strangers.
One of them picked them up and took them to his family home until they could find another place to stay.
“Lucky Coincidences”
In March 2021, the couple had started the immigration application process for the Federal Employees of Canada Program, based on their small e-commerce leather business. (It is paused because they had to leave all their tools and materials behind, but they hope to start again soon.)
On February 28, two days after their departure for Poland, they made an appointment to provide their biometric data to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
On March 17, the Canada-Ukraine Emergency Travel Authorization Program was launched. The next day they applied for temporary residence with an open work permit. Within two weeks their CUAET applications were approved. The IRCC is now processing their permanent residence applications.
“So many lucky coincidences that brought us here,” Prisyazni said.
“Honestly, I can not believe it. I still can not believe that this is our reality. I can not believe we are safe,” added Palamarhuk.
The two arrived in Manitoba with just two small survival backpacks they had prepared a month before the Russian invasion. Each bag contained: their documents, a laptop and chargers, their valuables, a camera, flashlight, three sets of T-shirts, socks and underwear, a sweater, first aid kit, protein bars and toiletries.
One of the first stops of Mykola Prysiazhnyi and Hanna Palamarchuk in Manitoba was a quick shopping spree in view of last week’s snowstorm. (Karen Pauls / CBC News)
With the county locked up before a blizzard, Phillips took them to nearby Erickson to shop.
This part of Manitoba has a large Ukrainian population. Every summer, the nearby Dauphin community hosts the National Ukrainian Festival of Canada.
The news of the arrival of the newcomers spread quickly.
Within minutes, the manager of the Co-op store introduced them to one of his employees, who is from Ukraine.
Her eyes filled with tears and her voice broke, she and the couple immediately started talking to each other in Ukrainian and shared an emotional hug.
“It was unexpected and strange,” Palamarchuk said with a wide smile on her face.
“It is from Vinica, about 30 miles from where we grew up,” Prisyazni added. “In different parts of Ukraine, people speak a little different Ukrainian. And she speaks Ukrainian the way we do.”
Hanna Palamarchuk receives a hug from an employee at the Erickson Co-op who is from the same region of Ukraine. (Jaison Empson / CBC News)
As they searched for shampoo, cereal, bacon and bread, several people stopped to shake their hands and welcome them to Canada.
Palamarchuk and Prysiazhnyi are still worried about those left behind in Ukraine. They are also worried about the future of their country.
But they are grateful that they have the opportunity to start a new life.
“We are very lucky and very happy to be in Canada,” Prysiazhnyi said.
“We are extremely grateful to the Canadian government for allowing us to enter. We are extremely grateful to CBC News for making this report, which made it possible for us to provide all the information we needed. And we have high hopes for the future.”
