When MCCC Student Oleksii Myhalchuk came to the United States from Ukraine in August of last year to study and play soccer, his homeland was not at war. However, growing up in Ukraine, Myhalchuk was no stranger to the tensions between his nation and Russia.
“For the whole world the war started on the 24th of February, but for Ukraine, it started like in 2014, when Russia occupied Crimea. Like, I was scared Ukraine will force my father to join the army.” Myhalchuk says.
On February 24 of this year, as Russia once again invaded Ukraine, those familiar fears became realities.
Oleksii says his community is torn. “It’s hard to combine, because you are living in two completely different worlds at the same time. Here everything is fine, everything works. Peace. School. But in Ukraine it’s war.”
This is reflected by comments from Oleksii’s English as a Second Language at MCCC, Professor Allyson Carrozza known to many of her students as Professor Ally.
Carrozza says, “I think it’s extremely courageous for these students, in the midst of everything that’s going on, to still come to class, do the assignments, sit for exams and perform the way they are.”
The local community, Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian, have networked together to deliver sustained support to Ukraine and the broader Ukrainian community in Mercer County.
For Myhalchuk, each day begins not knowing what has happened to his loved ones as he slept.
He says, “When I wake up, [the] first thing I’m doing, I’m going to [the] internet, and I’m just scrolling the news. I’m calling my father like, “How are you doing guys?”
While his family is in Kyiv, Oleksii considers them relatively safe. Still, the danger is such that Oleksii’s father has made arrangements for Oleksii’s 14-year-old brother to soon leave and stay with a family near London whom the Myhalchuks have never met. Oleksii talks to his brother frequently, offering advice on adapting to a new country. He tries not to touch on the war, sticking to other topics.
“Usually food. I am asking like, ‘what are you eating?’ because there are issues with fresh food.” says Myhalchuk.
The constant fear and uncertainty are shared by the Ukrainian community of Mercer County as they coordinate to aid their fellow Ukrainians like the Myhalchuks.
Ukrainian American CEO of local business United Support Solutions and founder of Autism charity WeMake Tony Lesenskyj can often be found working to sort aid supplies at St. George Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Yardville, NJ. Dozens of volunteers of all ages, sorting donations and loading them onto a truck create a constant murmur.
Lesenskyj says, “Being part of a Ukrainian family, you’re prepared from birth about what the Russian government is capable of doing. There were periods of time where everything seemed like it was good but it was only…they were just waiting, and our parents reminded us every day, never trust that government, and through history, we’ve always found that to be true.”
The Ukrainian preparedness Lesenskyj describes has contributed to a multi-community effort, which has been not only impressive, according to those co-ordinating it, but sustained.
“Goods are coming in every day. People just want to help, whether it’s monetarily, or donate something, or volunteer their time to sort through these things. The community’s been fantastic,” Lesenskyj says
Still, there are hurdles and complications, including the cost of shipping, and restrictions on many of the most needed supplies.
“Our biggest challenge right now is, even though we’re shipping a lot of this off to Ukraine and to Poland where the refugees are, the cost of shipping right now is about 50 cents a pound. But that will change, that’s what we’re worried about right now,” Lesenskyj says.
This does not mean an end to the effort, rather it requires a change in strategy, he says, adding, “At the end of the day it becomes a business decision. You’re better off using that money for them in Europe to buy it there.”
Shipping the donated goods is also complicated by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, which limits the export of military equipment to non-US citizens. Not limited to weaponry, the restrictions complicate the shipping of items like body armor and walkie-talkies.
For this reason, St. George’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church sends these items to the Falls Township Police Department, which sorts the donations of restricted items before they are collected by the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center to be flown to Ukraine.
When the effort was announced on March 4 Falls Township Police Chief Nelson Whitney and his department initially expected to do a single night of collections, but have found the outpouring of support from the community so significant that it remains ongoing
“The outpouring of support from the Ukrainian community was tremendous.” Chief Whitney says, “We call it here ‘Operation Urgent Aid’.
Tony Lesenskyj’s experience at St. George Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been similar.
“Quite frankly,” he says, “the Ukrainians can be a pain in the ass because when they set their tables for dinner, there’s enough to feed a hundred families at that dinner… But, again they’ve gotten to the point where they’re not gonna live under a Putin regime. Never! And that’s why they’ll fight to the death.”
For his part, Myhalchuk has seen a strange sense of normalcy develop among his family in Ukraine, even as they experience multiple daily alerts of incoming munitions.
“My brother is even playing soccer with his friends in a small field near our house…People just get used to it,” he says.
The uncertainty remains, however.
“You’re living and you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. For example, if my visa will expire, I don’t even have a place to be deported to,” Mylhalchuk says.
Explaining what he hopes to return home after the war, Oleksii describes a scene readily familiar to many New Jersey residents.
He says, “We have tradition that on Sundays we have a family dinner, and we are eating pasta. So this is what I miss, you know, just bring[ing] all your family member’s together, just [to] sit talk, without the bombs outside, and just continue living your normal life.”
