A journey of resilience: A mother-daughter tale of hope

Oxana, 45, and her daughter Polina, 6, are on their way to kindergarten. “Come on love, keep up” Oxana says.  

They are accompanied by Dima, a dog that usually hangs around the Refugee Accommodation Center where they live. “Polina named the dog after one of her friends in kindergarten here in Moldova” Oxana says. “Now he follows us everywhere!” she laughs. Much like other refugees who left Ukraine due to the full-scale war initiated by the Russian Federation in February 2022, Oxana and Polina originally planned a short stay in Moldova, planning to stay no more than a couple of months.

Almost two years have passed since their arrival.

When Oxana remembers the first week of the full-scale war in her home city Dnipro, she remembers the mud, the cold, the air raids and Polina’s tears during their time in an old bomb shelter from the Second World War which she says felt like a dim, lightless hole in the ground.   

“Polina would stay outside of the bomb shelter crying ‘I don’t want to go in there‘. In the beginning we weren’t as emotionally numb as we are now”, Oxana says. 

Over a week into the war, Oxana, her husband, and Polina finally decided to make their way to the Dnipro train station. “After hours of waiting, we got on the first train that arrived, its windows were covered in black – it was the train to Odesa. This is when I told Polya that daddy is not coming with us.” Oxana recalls with tears in her eyes. 

After the very long train ride to Odesa, and then another bus to a town close to the border with the Republic of Moldova, Oxana and Polina were faced with a long line of cars and the chaos of large amounts of people fleeing the country. Desperate to get across and carrying only backpacks and a bag of clothes and toys, they decided to walk seven kilometers on foot to reach the safety of the Moldovan border.

After crossing the border and arriving in the small town of Causeni, they checked into the Refugee Accommodation Center “Gratsia”, a government-owned shelter that was set up with the support of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and remains their home until today.

Spring ended, and so did summer, but the war in Ukraine didn’t stop. Understanding there’s no quick solution, Oxana enrolled Polina in the local kindergarten and started looking for a job. 

After a few months at a local sweets factory, Oxana secured a more fitting job for her skills. With a background in music, teaching, and management, she found employment at a Digital learning centre and child-friendly space in Causeni, where children can learn, play, make art and even sing karaoke. The initiative allows Oxana to earn a living and spend time with local and Ukrainian children after school.   

Here, Oxana has created a welcoming environment for the children using her skills, and is known as “Doamna Oxana” (Ms. Oxana in Romanian) “Children are children everywhere, no matter if in Moldova or Ukraine. They are full of energy, even after school. It’s truly contagious,” Oxana says. “I like this job. It requires a lot of patience, but I manage,” she adds with a smile.

With Polina in kindergarten and Oxana enjoying her job, and both benefitting from Temporary Protection that allows their legal stay in Moldova, Causeni has become their second home. 

“We chose to stay here because it’s close to the border. I hope the war will end as suddenly as it started so I can return home to my husband, and Polya to her father” Oxana says.