Massias: I would go back to Ukraine, but...
WILLIAM Massias didn’t hesitate when he was asked if he would return to Ukraine, the east European country now fighting a deadly war with Russian military invaders that caused him and his family to flee.
“Yes, I would go back, because I love the country and we have a house there,” the Jamaican businessman told the Jamaica Observer on Monday. But there was one caveat; the country cannot be under the control of the Russian Government.
“My wife and I were thinking that if Russia were to take over, what kind of government would be there. That would certainly be a consideration,” Massias explained.
Massias, his Ukranian wife Victoria, and their five children — Alexia, 15; Leigha, 11; Liam, 8; Maya, 6; and Timothy, 3 — were resting in a hotel in the western Poland town of Lubin after finally making it across the border, bringing to an end a long and agonising trek — most of it on foot — from Lviv in western Ukraine that began last Friday.
“It took us four and a half hours to get across,” Massias said, adding that they received assistance in that effort from the same Ukranian woman, Leda, who had got them shelter in a “nice little village” Saturday night after they had spent hours among a large, chaotic crowd trying to get into Poland.
“Leda was the one that got us through the border to passport control in Poland. After that the Polish soldiers were so good to us, they gave us food and drink. From that point is was just amazing,” Massias said.
“A friend of my family’s has a good friend here and he came and met us at the border. We drove five more hours from there to get accommodation because there was no hotel close by. He lives in an apartment so we didn’t want to go and crowd him so I told him to just give us a hotel, so that’s where we are now,” he added.
The family, he said, will spend the next two days recovering from their ordeal, after which they will embark on the 153-kilometre (95-mile) journey to Warsaw, the capital city, where they will try to get travel documents updated, given that the children’s US passports have expired.
That process will likely involve them speaking with US State Department officials as the family has Jamaican and US citizenship.
Massias and his family had been living in Ukraine since January 2021 because his wife needed to deal with a health issue that was proving difficult to treat in Jamaica.
Initially, they did not intend to live in the country for more than a few months, but the cost of the medical procedure, plus the cost of living, influenced their decision to purchase a house in Dnipro.
“We came here because the medical service is First World and the cost is so affordable — I’m even embarrassed to tell you what it is,” he told the Observer a week ago.
“Her entire procedure was less than US$400, and that included doctors and private hospital fees.
“I was so impressed with what they did and how they handled everything – I was blown away. And then I started to see the cost of living, how low it is, and the service is excellent for a quarter of the money that you pay in Jamaica,” he added.
“When I go to the supermarket I full up two carts with groceries – some of the items that are extremely expensive in Jamaica – and when I go up to the cash register with every imaginable food in there, the bill comes to US$150,” Massias explained.
“So I said okay, plus I could still do all my work online, so it was perfect for us,” said the CEO of online deal and discount provider Brawta Living.
An additional benefit, Massias said, was that his children could be exposed to other cultures and languages throughout eastern Europe.
But when Russian President Vladimir Putin started beating war drums the family moved to Lviv in western Ukraine. The relocation, though, was painful for the family as his wife’s mother refused to travel with them.
On Monday his wife spoke to her mother, who assured them that she was fine. The only problem she has had so far is the loss of Internet service.