Alla Savchenko may have arrived in Canada since July 7, but her routine brings her back to her country every day. “Every morning, I open my eyes, I take my phone and I look at what happened in Ukraine during the night,” says the 44-year-old woman. “Then I call my parents to ask them if everything is okay. I can’t go about my day if I don’t hear from them. »
Alla’s parents remained in Donbass, a region defaced by war, where they have always lived. For Alla, who grew up there, the conflict did not start in February 2022, but in 2014, when pro-Russians seized part of this Ukrainian territory. Between bombings and curfew, Luhansk, where she lived, had become a “zombie city”, says this Russian-speaking mother, a graduate in Ukrainian language.
To flee the conflict, she left with her daughter to stay with her big sister in Israel. Seeing that things were getting worse, they asked for asylum there. After two years, a letter received in the mail gave them a week to leave. “The school year wasn’t even over. I was traumatized,” says Alla, who had to return to Ukraine.
The specter of exile loomed again in early 2022. Early in the morning of February 24, the windows rattled with intensity in Alla’s cozy Luhansk nest. In the sky, an unusual buzz of planes. “That’s it, it’s war,” his friends texted him.
The first weeks went by in this alert atmosphere. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a reputedly neutral organization where Alla worked, had evacuated its foreign workers. The locals had to stay.
She was in Israel in April, enjoying her nephew’s wedding, when she realized she would not be able to return home. “My colleague, who worked in the office next to me, had been arrested. […] We were accused of having been enemy spies. »
A new family
At the same time, she receives several outstretched hands from the other side of the world. In Norway, a friend tells her about the visa she could have for one year. In Montreal, Julie, a former Russian student of Alla who has become a friend, brags about the three-year work permit offered by the Canadian government with the possibility of residence. Above all, Alla did not want to relive the same rejection as in Israel. “If I went to Europe, I was afraid that I would be sent back to my country after a year. I wouldn’t have had the strength. »
She chooses Canada and applies for her visa online overnight. In the early morning, she already had an acknowledgment of receipt. What did she know of this country before landing there? ” Absolutely nothing ! she laughed and stroked Lola, her tiny dog in a pink t-shirt. “I knew hockey. And Niagara Falls. »
With a close-knit clan of friends, Julie and her sister Maude have become “her Quebec family”. “I cried during the 11 hour flight,” she recalls. “But I landed in this family and I immediately felt good. As soon as she got off the plane, the Ukrainian found herself bathed in the soft warmth of Montreal, right in the middle of the Jazz Festival. “Seriously, I’m in love with the city. »
A ballet of generosity
With the guarantee of her friends, Alla was able to rent an apartment in Rosemont. Entering this empty space is a shock. “I had nothing. Not even a towel,” she said, still moved. “I needed everything. Clothes, furniture, a bed. How was I going to find all this? »
The network activated, and the response was quick. The family of a lady who was moving to a CHSLD offered her her belongings. “When the truck arrived, I was crying,” said Alla, who gave the surplus to other Ukrainian families. “I thought to myself, it’s a miracle. A person will end his life, but I was going to start a new one with what he gave me. »
Clever with his hands, the owner’s son also came to give a brushstroke, and his sister donated clothes. “From the first evening, I was invited to dinner,” says Alla, who never ceases to praise the affability of Quebecers.
Every day was a little party. In a sort of ballet of generosity, neighbors and friends came ashore to offer help, a word of welcome or… an aperitif. “We rang the doorbell to bring me dishes, a piece of soap, maple syrup or a card with kind words. Sometimes it was people we didn’t even know. They had heard about my story on the Internet. »
The job she found in a computer company is another “miracle”, thinks Alla. By going to an organization that helps immigrants to find out about francization, she practically came out with a job. “I was waiting at reception when I heard someone say ‘Hey, is that you?’ She was another one of my Quebec Russian students who had worked with me at the OSCE in Luhansk! says the Ukrainian, still not believing it. This friend helped her find a job, which she has had for four months now.
Tame the calm
Her 22-year-old daughter finally arrived in October, along with her beloved mini-dog (who hasn’t just made friends in the Montreal squirrel community). Things settle down, and Alla must now tame this new calm which brings back the torments. “If you’re left alone for even a minute, your thoughts come back. »
I stopped predicting things in my life and I don’t know what will happen. But right now, I know that I don’t want to leave Montreal. I’m too well here, with my new family from Quebec.
There is still a big issue to tackle: learning the French language. Her daughter, who has more time than her, is still on a waiting list for the full-time course. In the meantime, she is actively looking for work to keep her head above water.
“Starting a new life in another country is always difficult,” says Alla, who does not see herself anywhere else, however. “I stopped predicting things in my life and I don’t know what will happen. But right now, I know that I don’t want to leave Montreal. I’m too well here, with my new family from Quebec. »