By Julie Waters
OPENING their hearts and homes to Ukranian refugees was an experience that ‘enriched our lives’ according to a Bangor family.
Debbie Thompson has spoken of how she and her husband Ian were ‘privileged’ to welcome Maya and her mum Svitlana Kasianchyk into their home for 11 months after they fled to safety.
She spoke of the warm ‘welcome and support’ the youngster, who was then aged seven, received from her classmates and teachers at Grange Park Primary School.
The mother and daughter later returned to Ukraine, where they were reunited with Maya’s father Vitali, an essential worker, but have since returned twice to the seaside city on holiday.
Mrs Thompson, who has been regularly attending the peace vigils since they began in the city, was pleased when young Maya agreed to share her experience of being displaced and finding refuge in Bangor.
She said: “I thought that as we had been hearing letters from children from war torn countries every week, particularly Gaza where so many children are suffering, that it would be a good opportunity for Maya to share her story of when her family had to flee the only home she’d known.
“So Maya and her mum put together a very emotive reflection of their experience of being displaced and finding refuge in Bangor, which Maya shared on Sunday afternoon.”
The local woman recalled how she and her husband first decided to open their homes to those in need.
“After seeing the horrific pictures of families fleeing the atrocities of the Russian army in February 2022, after the invasion, we decided to register with the government Homes for Ukraine scheme.
“After copious amounts of online form filling, it became evident that the government had no method of matching us with a family. So we then registered with a charity in Northern Ireland called Starfish which put us in touch with a family who had fled, under fire, a city called Energodar in East Ukraine.”
Mrs Thompson said of the Kasianchyk family: “They were now living in Kyiv, and, concerned for their safety due to the atrocities at Bucha, and the huge convoy of Russian troops north of Kyiv, decided to apply for refugee status for the mum, Svitlana and daughter, Maya, in Northern Ireland.
“Vitali remained in Ukraine working in an essential civilian job. They were referred to the Starfish charity and that’s how we were matched.”
Said Mrs Thompson: “They arrived in Bangor in the summer of 2022 and filled our empty nest with so much love and joy, as well as of course so many challenges from being uprooted and displaced from their whole lives.
“Maya, aged seven when she arrived with very little English, enrolled in Grange Park Primary and the school – the principal, her class teacher, all the other teachers and pupils – could not have been more welcoming and supportive. They went above and beyond to make accommodations for her and as a result, she is now fluent in spoken English.
“Maya loved every minute of her time there and still keeps in touch with all her former classmates and teachers. Her Mum enrolled in English classes at South Eastern Regional College and made a life for herself, making lots of new friends here too.
“They had never been so close to the sea before, and walks along the coastal path from our home in Bangor West proved the best kind of therapy needed during those challenging months.”
The mother and daughter stayed with the Thompsons for almost a year, before deciding to move back to Ukraine. “They now live in Vitaly’s home city in the west, close to the Polish border,” said Mrs Thompson.
“They have returned here twice for a holiday since they moved back and we met them in Poland for the New Year a few months after their return.
“As for us, this experience has enriched our lives. We now have not only our immediate family in Bangor, but another family in Ukraine. Maya is like another granddaughter to us.”
Said Mrs Thompson: “We have always believed in demonstrating hospitality to those in need, as is our Christian belief and humanitarian duty and we feel so privileged that we could help this family in this small way by having them in our home. We are the better off for it and we are humbled by this family’s bravery.
“We long for peace, and Ian and I look forward to the day when we can visit them in Ukraine. Until then, our home is always open to them for much needed respite in Bangor, which they now consider as their second home.”
