Desperate as family dodge bombs
Anna Sulima hopes the kindness of the people of her new home country can help reunite her with family from her old one in occupied Ukraine.
Sulima, a paediatrician who now lives in Hamilton, faces the daunting task of trying raise funds for airfares to get her father, sister and nephew to join her in New Zealand.
She hails from the city of Makiivka, in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, which is now effectively well behind enemy lines in the ongoing war.
Sulima’s sister – who like her is also a fully qualified paediatrician – and nephew have also fled their home country and are now living in Germany, but with minimal income and totally reliant on the goodwill of their German friends.
Getting them to New Zealand is relatively easy, however it is a much more difficult prospect for her father, who is 60 and, in pre-war times ran a small chain of hardware stores.
He, along with her mother and grandmother, are still in Makiivka.
‘‘This is a huge issue. Because of his age he is not required to join the military, but it is very difficult for him to leave. We will have to figure something out.’’
And for her mother and grandmother – who initially fled to Poland after the Russian invasion but lost their passports in the chaos – leaving remains an impossibility, as least for the foreseeable future.
At the suggestion of a friend she set up a Givealittle page, which has met with a good response so far – however she is still about NZ$4000 short of the NZ$7000 she needs to cover the cost of the flights.
While she is in good daily contact with her parents – ‘‘They tell me a lot that ‘We are fine, you don’t need to worry, the bombs are landing far away’’’ – she lives in a state of constant concern for their welfare.
While internationally recognised as being part of Ukraine, Makiivka has, since its capture by pro-Russian forces in 2014, been under the de facto administration of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
That was around the time Sulima fled to the capital city Kyiv, where she lived for three years. Fearing worse times were about to befall her homeland she made the move to shift herself and her children Mark, 11, Maria, 9, and Maggie, 6, to New Zealand in 2017.
Sulima and her family lived in Auckland for about five years before recently making the move to the lessexpensive city of Hamilton
‘‘It was my teenage dream to visit New Zealand . . . and I wanted some safety for my kids. When I came here, I felt it could be my home.’’
Hamilton has proved a haven that she hopes she can soon share with her sister, nephew and dad – at least until the war is over.
‘‘I’m a permanent resident. This is my home now. They will just have temporary visas and will be staying until the war ends, and they can recover from the stress and upheaval. They will be able to work when they are here, and they want to work and contribute.’’
Sulima said she was embarrassed to have to ask for help, however her income as a paediatrician, specialising in clinical
research, is barely enough to cover the cost of paying the bills and supporting her three children.
‘‘I don’t like to ask for help in this way. Other Ukrainians are suffering much more. My relatives are very resilient . . . but I feel there is much they are not telling me. I feel they are living with constant anxiety. It’s really tough, because, for me, it is impossible to save $7000. I’m just so grateful for everything I have received so far.’’