We all know about the war in Ukraine. There is no end in sight and the suffering is intense. We are blessed to be able to help.
To date, we have supported 14 Ukrainian refugees to come to Findhorn, The Park, Moray, Scotland, to live in safety and security, with care and friendship - each in their own way contributing an enormous amount to our community. There are 10 adults and four children.
We are now aware of two more families who urgently need to come.
Vira visited last year but her daughter was too late in her pregnancy to join her and wanted to have her second child in Ukraine close to her husband. Vira returned home to visit them and help get the babies visa and travel documents. Whilst Vira was in the community she brought her boundless energy and creativity as a volunteer in our garden plus at Solsie and in Duerten’s garden. Her passion is permaculture.
and here is a letter from the sister of Katya, a Ukrainian who has already settled here and is now running our community cafe:
Dears,
We are a family from Ukraine. When Oleksandr and Hanna met each other we didn't even expect how our life would change as we had a lot of ideas and plans at the place we were born. Sooner or later we got married, and it was a very awesome time.
Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of hostilities in 2014, we had to moveto a more peaceful place. The best thing that could happen to us happened there - our kids were born. And we are a family of 4 now.
Oleksandr is 36 years old, and Hanna is 38 years old. Our older son’s name is Erik, he is 5 years old now, and our daughter’s name is Emillia, she is 3 years old now. Kids are very interested when somebody is reading books and tales, and can listen the whole day. Also Erik practices karate and has already achieved results, but Emiliia prefers drawing. For the last 12 years Hanna has enjoyed embroidery (cross stitch, hardanger) and does it very well. Oleksandr's hobby ispapercraft, scale modeling and computers (not only hobby).
In 2022 we had to leave Ukraine to be in a safe place due to the war. We have been living in Hungary, Budapest since autumn 2022. And we are willing to relocate to Scotland to be close to our relatives andorganize all the lives of our kids and find our right place and our calling.
We think - this place is Scotland.
Thank you for your support.
Please help us help them. Any amount is a great gift. Thank you.
Robin Alfred (Chair, Findhorn Refugee Action Forum)