Anastasiia by Mrs. Smith

 

Many of you will remember the 2022 blog I wrote about Anastasiia, the Ukrainian refugee whom my husband and I were sponsoring through the Homes For Ukraine scheme in 2022. I can’t believe over two years have passed since then.

In the end, Anastasiia did not come to us in 2022. She reached Barcelona and, by the time her UK visa came through, she had already found a job and decided, understandably, to stay, even though she spoke no Spanish. She spent over two years there, but she finally arrived to live with us last week. We are really enjoying getting to know her: she is a resilient, courageous young woman who has suffered more uncertainty and trauma in her short life than we can imagine. It is unbelievable that, just as Covid was coming to an end, her country was invaded and life became completely unsafe and unbearable for her and other Ukrainians. The conversations we have had in just one week about the things she has seen and overcome, and her associated emotional and practical struggles, related in her trademark matter-of-fact tone, have been frankly heart-breaking.

My husband and I met almost 30 years ago at university in London. We have been married for 25 years,  worked hard, raised a family and suffered serious illnesses and bereavements as well as some of the most joyous times. Last year I completed my MA and in October I begin my PHD. We have seen our sons make their way through prep school, grammar school, university and the world of work. But in seven days, Anastasiia has taught our family more than we might ever have learned without meeting her. Is there any lesson more important than how to find the courage and resilience to look adversity squarely in the face, discover fearlessly who you really are, and push yourself to work to become the best person you can be for yourself and the world?

Anastasiia was just 18 when she fled Ukraine, two weeks after the war started, and made her way across Europe alone with just a suitcase and backpack. Her mother had already left; her brother, father and grandmother remained behind in Kherson, which was under attack. I am glad to say that they are all now out of Ukraine and safe in different countries. While in Barcelona, alongside working full time in any job she could find to support herself, Anastasiia continued her passion of drawing and design and submitted a portfolio of work and an application (which she managed herself, in a foreign language!) to the University of Arts, London. Only around a quarter of applicants to this prestigious university are successful, and she was one of them. She is living with us now with a view to moving into university halls in London to complete her foundation year and then a three year Bachelor of Arts. It has been her dream for several years to do so and, because of the terrible circumstances of her life, she is starting her studies three years later than most UK students would. She arrived in London exhausted and under a lot of stress, still with just one suitcase of belongings, but enormously excited about the prospect of student life ahead of her.

However, there is already another sizeable bump in the road. Anastasiia is determined to keep working online for the website/graphic design company employing her, although - run by another displaced Ukrainian - it is not well-paid. She has applied for a loan for her university tuition fees, which she will have to re-pay. But it turns out that she cannot apply for a loan for maintenance costs, as UK students can, because her foundation year is not an integrated part of a four year degree. We have discovered that, once her tuition fee loan is approved, she can apply for a hardship bursary to help with living costs, but it would not cover all of her accommodation costs. And because of one of those frustrating bureaucratic glitches, she can’t apply for the bursary - which there is, anyway, no guarantee she will get - until she’s already enrolled at the college in September. Meanwhile, her accommodation have already sent an advance bill of almost £3000 which must be paid by mid-August.

Anastasiia is an incredible young woman and her journey is just beginning. She is extremely upset by this latest hurdle, and trying to be practical about the fact that she might not be able to take up the university place she has earned. Watching on, I am enormously proud of what she has achieved and coped with over the last three years and humbled by her attitude in the face of every obstacle. I feel so deeply that she deserves the chance to pursue her dream. Many of you asked how you could help and wanted to send money for Anastasiia when she was due to arrive in England in 2022 and news of the Ukraine war was shocking us all. The situation in Ukraine is still shocking; it is still completely unsafe for Anastasiia to return to her home country. Her family, all now refugees, have lost their homes and are scattered across Eastern and Western Europe each doing their best to survive and, hopefully, to keep physically and mentally strong. So if you would like to help Anastasiia take the next step of her extraordinary journey, please consider donating anything, however small, to a collection fund to help her on her way to her foundation year, and to the freedom, she’s so determined to achieve. The fund will remain open for donations until the end of July. I know that Anastasiia will do it alone, somehow, someday, if she has to. But I hope you’ll agree that she deserves a chance to do it now, with our love and support.

Anastasiia’s Fund

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Mrs. Smith