Success stories! Valeria, a refugee from Ukraine, talks about integration and stability in her adopted country
I met Valeria during one of the projects based on the sustainability of the Ukrainian refugee population in Moldova. I noticed her from the start—intelligent, with a lot of common sense, and with a pleasant presence in the company she was in. From word to word, we got to know her better, and her story proved to be a success story on the side of integration as well as outreach to Ukrainian citizens settled on the territory of Moldova.
I am from Nikopol, but I studied in Odessa, and after graduation, I stayed there and started a family. I lived in Odessa until the outbreak of the war and probably would never have left there if we had not been forced to.
There I found a job, I gave birth to our son, and we lived a harmonious life, and that's probably why it took us both a long time to decide to come to Moldova. In fact, in the first weeks, I was determined to wait for the end of the war back home in Ukraine. Even though we experienced terrifying moments when, from the window of our apartment on one of the upper floors, not far from the airport, we could see the first explosions at five o'clock in the morning, we made reservations and went down to the shelter every time the sirens were screaming, whether it was day or night. We are really lucky because we were not, like others, homeless, but the idea of being out of work terrified us. Even in the first weeks, nothing worked, which meant we had to build our lives around the new reality. And maybe we would still be in Odessa today if my mentor hadn't insisted we leave. For our safety, but especially for the safety of our son, who was three and a half years old at the time.
I came to Moldova by chance. The husband is from Balti, and throughout the period from February 24 to March 6, the husband's parents insisted that we come so that he would know us well. We lived with them for the first two months and then decided to move. However, Balti is too small a city for our dreams and aspirations, but also for the skills we have. We moved to Chisinau. We rented an apartment and started looking for work.
Thanks to a wonderful woman, to whom I am deeply grateful for the link she sent me, I found out about the current job I applied for and was accepted. So, from 2022 until now, I have been working on the project of the organization "Positive Initiative" as a "Refugee Integration Assistant". I got this job almost immediately, because before my maternity leave, I worked in human resources. The project itself deals with the employment of people from the vulnerable section of society—former prisoners, people suffering from HIV/AIDS, drug addicts, etc. At the moment, the Ukrainian people living in the Republic of Moldova are also part of the vulnerable section because they were forced to leave their country to start the integration process in another country whose language they don't know, to start all over again, and this is due to the stress and the news coming from home every day.
After a year of work, I can say that the project I have been so involved in is not only beneficial to us Ukrainians but also very well put together. I am not working alone, but together with another woman who is extremely dedicated to this work. The project runs until the end of 2023, so the initiators are waiting for a proposal for the continuation of those involved. And here again, another nice part I want to mention is that in Moldova, it is possible to find a job from the very beginning without knowing Romanian.
In total, over the past year, we have managed to help employ over 60 people, many of whom are still working in the same jobs, while others have come back to us for additional help.
We have been able to make it easier to employ people in various fields, from administrative professions to manual labor. Among the people we've helped get into employment is Victoria, a woman from eastern Ukraine. She has spent her whole life working as a rehabilitative masseur for adults and children and wanted to continue in the same field. With the help of locals, we managed to get her employed in a state-run clinic, in a position that perfectly matched her qualifications. The Ministry of Health confirmed her documents and allowed her to work in the medical field.
Recently, I was contacted by Anastasia, a young woman from Mariupol who no longer has a home or even a town to return to. At the moment, she has no clear plans and has decided to stay in Moldova. I really wanted to be able to offer her a job and a friendly environment. With considerable effort, I managed to do so! Anastasia now works in a large workshop in the sales department. In fact, we get a lot of feedback from the people we have helped get employed, and we keep in touch with many of them. My previous work experience helps me a lot in this process.
What about Moldova? The main thing is not to compare it with Ukraine, my country of love. But overall, Moldova is a friendly country, and I feel comfortable here. Moldovans have similar values to ours, the same cuisine, etc. In my view, Moldova has good prospects, and there are many business people with entrepreneurial spirit in Chisinau, just like in Ukraine, and that's good.
If I'm looking back over the last year and a half of my life, I think we're lucky. I work in a wonderful organization with a great team where I am valued, respected, and supported. My son has many friends. We are in a foreign country, and we are starting to teach him the language. I don't plan to become a language expert, but I consider it essential to be able to say hello and exchange a few basic words with my team at my son's kindergarten as well as in other everyday situations.
We have no plans to stay in Moldova. We very much want to return and will do so at the earliest opportunity. However, my experience of living in Moldova will remain a very positive one. My only regret is that all this is happening against the backdrop of a war in my home country.
