Ukrainians in Calgary unite to help newcomers adapt to Canadian life

Refugees walk after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland, Friday, April 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits) Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Posted Jul 13, 2022 4:03 pm.

Last Updated Jul 13, 2022 7:42 pm.

A University of Calgary (U of C) student is helping Ukrainian kids adapt to Canadian language and schools through a summer camp, Mount Royal University (MRU) hosted a lunch on Tuesday for refugees living on campus.

MRU says it’s hosting the lunch to help the 100 refugees on campus connect with their community and people on campus.

Mark Keller, director of residence services at MRU says they’re helping refugees as much as they can to get established in Calgary by offering their dormitory residents to Ukrainian families. He adds they’re keeping people on campus until August 15.

“We also understand that it’s not going to get better right away… there’s gonna be a time period where people are adjusting, and we wanna be here to answer those questions and provide that support,” Keller said.

Sviatoslav Shurbin left Ukraine two weeks before the war started, but his heart and thoughts go to his family and friends who are embracing the war, “everyday I have that moment when I think: no I need to be there not here.”

Even if Shurbin goes back, he says it won’t be the same country he left, as the war has changed how it once looked like.

Anastasiia Stepanchuk, PhD student at the U of C’s Cumming School of Medicine (CSM), says in a tweet she came to Canada four years ago to start her studies, but Ukrainians who are coming to Canada today are fleeing war and their situation is different compared to hers.

#UCalgary PhD student Anastasiia Stepanchuk from @UCalgaryMed is on a mission to help Ukrainian evacuees at summer camp to make kids feel more at home in Canada https://t.co/rVQoAxHQJF pic.twitter.com/zsjCeV5USR

— U Calgary (@UCalgary) July 13, 2022

“One month ago, my mom and my two younger brothers also came to Calgary but with very different situation, they’re fleeing the war in Ukraine. I realized that my brothers would have to start school in September in a whole new setting, in a whole different language,” Stepanchuck said.

“A lot more Ukrainians coming into Calgary might have a similar problem. Therefore, I had an idea of bringing all the kids together, all Ukrainian new comers, and review the basic subjects of the Alberta curriculum in order to help them adjust to the new language, and to the new school system.”

She adds the three-week summer school is launching is August, so far there are 71 kids registered, and many teachers are volunteering to be part it.

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