By Matthew Sims
An early morning phone call changed Ukrainian Maryna Karavaieva’s life forever, leading to her and her children fleeing from the central city of Poltava and seeking refuge in Williamstown.
“The war started for me about 5 am with the phone call from a girl my husband worked with: “Myrhorod military airdrome is being bombed just now”,” she said.
“It was 125 kilometres from us and 25 kilometres from a place where I spent my childhood with my grandparents.
“I called my relatives in Melitopol, who live just near another one military airdrome, and they said the missiles were falling there at the moment.”
She decided to spend the first night with her husband Valerii, her 13-year-old-son Genya and her 6-year-old daughter Anna in the hallway, with mattresses on the floor and most of their belongings moved away from any potential blasts.
“The first night, we were already in the corridor because the rule of two walls can save your life,” Mrs Karavaieva said.
“The first wall takes the hit, the second saves you from the fragments of the bomb.”
Williamstown’s Des Olsen said he and his wife had started to discuss the potential for the family to come to Williamstown as soon as the conflict began in late February.
His wife Helena has maintained a connection to her family in Ukraine, as her uncle is the children’s great-great-grandfather.
However, the fact that Valerii was not allowed to leave due to being of conscription age meant Mrs Karavaieva did not want to leave yet.
She said the second bombings spurred her and her husband to make the decision to take up the offer.
“In the beginning of April, it was the second time the missiles bombed our city and the other cities in our region, so we decided that it was time to take the children away to save their lives and not to ruin their psyches,” Mrs Karavaieva said.
“All of us had one backpack [each] with the clothes and documents.
“My backpack was with my photo equipment because I am a photographer and I was planning to do the same here in Australia.”
The family then left on Monday, April 4 and took a 26-hour train trip to the western Ukraine city of Uzhgorod and another 9-hour car trip to Prague before catching a flight to Melbourne, which arrived on Sunday, April 10.
“Since then, we live in a loving and caring family here in Williamstown,” Mrs Karavaieva said.
“Now, my daughter is already at school together with her Australian cousin and my son is going to start his language school this week, as well as I.
“[The] kids like the country very much, they are very excited about the wildlife and natural beauties.”
Mrs Karavaieva said the future was still uncertain.
“The area is still comparatively calm but nobody can tell where the missile falls down the next day,” she said.
“My husband continues working for a logistics company he worked for before the war started, but they cut the wages in half and increased the amount of working hours from 40 to 60 per week.”
Ms Karavaieva said she hoped for peace in Ukraine as soon as possible.
“This morning, my son told me that his friend sent him a message that yesterday his cousin and her family all died because of a bomb in [the] Zaporizhean region.
“Three of my cousins defend our country in war now and I want all [of] this [to] stop and people [to] come back to their families safe and alive.”
Mrs Karavaieva said she was grateful for the support she and her family had received.
“The only thing I can say that I believe that nothing happens by chance,” she said.
“It was kind of a destiny that brought us here.
“So I will try to do my best to become a good participant of Australian society for the time we are going to spend here.”
Mr Olsen said the family were appreciative of all of the help towards creating a comfortable environment for Maryna, Yevhenii and Anna, including the Williamstown Uniting Church and the pledge from the Williamstown Rotary Club for a computer for Genya to use during his high school education.
“We would like to thank our various friends and relatives who helped us finance the cost of bringing the family to Australia and helping us settle them in,” he said.
Mrs Karavaieva said the amount of support from the Williamstown community has been especially beneficial.
“It was a surprise that some people from the neighbourhood made us some welcome presents,” she said.
“The director of the ballet school in Williamstown was very kind to us and allowed my daughter to attend the classes for free until we get settled.
“So I want to say thank you very much for all the people who helped us anywhere on our way.”
