I thank God the people of Scotland like family... there will always be a
Mum fleeing war-torn Ukraine with teenage son has seen the‘best of humanity’since people of Lanarkshire took them into their homes and hearts
A Ukrainian refugee, who endured the heartache of leaving behind her husband and daughter when fleeing her war-torn country with her teenage son, says she’s seen “the best of humanity” since the people of Lanarkshire took the pair into their hearts.
The conflict has splintered Luda Holomovza’s family and shattered the “perfect life” she had with them and their beloved dog Miki in their apartment in the now ravaged Lviv.
Because Luda’s husband, Vova, is regional manager with a French food company and keeps supplies coming into the country, and her 22-year-old daughter, Vika, is a recently graduated doctor, both are key workers who consider that their rightful place is to remain in Ukraine.
Luda fled the country on April 26 with her 15-year-old son, also Vova, as Putin’s forces advanced on Lviv – her family’s home city in the country she loves.
They travelled by bus from Lviv to Poland and slept in Warsaw Airport before flying to Edinburgh the next morning, where their host family, the
Nicholsons, met them and drove them to their new home in Strathaven.
They settled quickly into life in Lanarkshire, with Vova now in fifth year at Strathaven Academy, where he is studying for National 5 and Higher qualifications.
Having graduated from university with a business degree and working at a senior level in industry, Luda returned to her great passion, hairdressing, trained with many international stylists, and worked for 10 years in Lviv’s most prestigious salons.
But when Jane Nicholson – who welcomed Luda and Vova into the Strathaven home she shares with husband Don – reached out to local hairdressing salons in the hope that they’d offer her a chair to rent, the language barrier proved too much of a hurdle.
That’s when Jane’s friend and neighbour, Frances TurnerTraill – who, with husband and business partner John, runs FTT Skin Clinics in Hamilton – stepped in.
Touched and inspired by the determination and resilience of talented Luda, Frances installed a back-wash facility in her spacious clinic on Bothwell Road.
Now Luda, who is taking English language classes, is building up a growing client base through the hairdressing appointments she offers on a Friday and Saturday.
And Frances and John, who have a son and two daughters, have invited Luda’s Ukrainian friend, Viktoria, and her 17-year-old son, Nikita, to come and live with them in Strathaven.
The couple are currently attempting to source a visa for the mother and son to enable them to leave Italy, where they are currently sheltering, and join them, Luda and Vova, as part of the warm and welcoming Strathaven community.
“The people of Lanarkshire have been very kind to us both,” said Luda, 44, who speaks to her husband several times a day.
“Strathaven Academy have been very kind and supportive to my son and everyone we have met in Scotland has been very friendly and helpful. Coming from a war where we have seen the worst of humanity, it has been heartwarming to see how
kind and caring people can be to strangers. We have seen the best of humanity here in Scotland.
“My daughter, Vika, has just graduated as a doctor in Ukraine. We do not know where she will be sent to work. We are waiting to hear. Obviously, this is a very stressful time for us all, as there is a possibility that she will be sent to the east of Ukraine.
“My husband is still in our apartment in Lviv with our family dog, Miki. There are many air alarms in our city when we have to shelter in the basements. These happen day and night, and can last for many hours.”
Luda, whose father, brothers and their families are still in
Ukraine, says she was overjoyed when Frances offered her tailormade space within her awardwinning aesthetics clinic.
“I was so happy,” she said. “Frances’s clinic is so beautiful and all her staff are such lovely girls and have been so kind to me. I have come to Scotland because I had to leave Ukraine. Scotland has been very kind to me, but it is important to me that I work and I provide for myself and my son.
“I am not someone who wants charity. I am someone who wants to work and to pay back to this country that has helped us so much. Frances has given me the opportunity to do this and I am very grateful to her.
“Everyone has been so friendly. The girls in Frances’s clinic could not have been more welcoming to me. They are a very friendly family and have taken me in as one of their own. My English is not perfect, but it is getting better every day and I am working very hard to improve it.
“My colleagues in the clinic and my clients all understand that sometimes I do not understand straight away and are very patient with me. Sometimes, it is very funny when I get the wrong word and we can all laugh together.”
As well as giving her space in which to work, Frances set Luda up with Instagram and Facebook business pages, and compiled some posts to promote her services.
“It was never my plan to have
a hairdresser, but sometimes life gives you curved balls, and I just think it is the right thing to do,” said Frances.
“It was a case of ‘if you can’ – and I could. I spoke to my staff and I spoke to my family, and everyone was like ‘let’s do this. Let’s give her a hand-up.’ And the girls are really keen to help her with communication. Her English, in just four weeks, has improved incredibly.”
Now, Luda works alongside make-up artist Sharon Cuthbert
within the clinic, offering complementary hair and makeup consultations on Fridays and Saturdays.
Asked whether she sees her family’s longterm future in Lanarkshire, or if it’s her hope to return home, Luda said: “This is a very difficult question for me. My husband, father, daughter, brothers and their families are all in Ukraine. My home is in Ukraine. I love my city and my country. My life was perfect in Lviv, although
maybe I didn’t realise that until the war came.
“My son is now in the education system in Scotland. Realistically, that means we may be here until he finishes his education, maybe longer if he goes to college or university.
“Scotland and her people have been so kind to us, and we cannot thank everyone enough for everything that they have done and the kindness that we have been shown. But, I want more than anything to go home to my family and live in peace in my own country.
“Until that can happen, I just thank God that the people of Scotland have taken us in and treated us like family. There will always be a little bit of us that is Scottish now.”
Iamsomeone who wants to work and to pay back to this country that has helped us so much