My Warm Table ... with Sonia
My Warm Table ... with Sonia
Fleeing Ukraine and Rebuilding Life with Olga Hurina
Witness the strength of the human spirit through Olga Hurina's eyes, a Ukrainian humanitarian entrant whose life took a dramatic turn when war forced her from her homeland to the unfamiliar shores of Perth, Australia. Leaving behind her husband and a career in public service, Olga's story is one of resilience and hope. Amidst the backdrop of the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, she shares her emotional journey, the challenges of adapting to a whole new world, and how she's now contributing to her new community while reaching back to aid those in Ukraine.
Our conversation with Olga culminates in a broader discussion about displacement and the strength required to rebuild a life from the ground up. We hear about the impact of war on infrastructure and the daily struggle for normalcy, while celebrating the remarkable strides Olga has made towards establishing her independence in Australia.
Her tale is a profound reminder of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, paying tribute to the resilience of displaced individuals globally and the unquenchable human spirit to chart a course toward a more hopeful tomorrow.
Links:
Echoes of Ukraine
Photovoice project: Fleeing the War across Oceans
Assets - organisation to support refugee survivors
Dress for Success WA
Movie: 20 Days in Mariupol
Warm thanks to:
Sponsor: Females Over Forty-five Fitness in Victoria Park
Sound Engineering: Damon Sutton
Music: William A Spence
... and all our generous and inspiring guests around the warm table this season!
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My Warm Table, translated into Italian is Tavola Calda. These were the words my Papa used to describe a table of good friends, good food and good conversation. I always aim to create a tavola calda in my life and I hope this podcast encourages you to do so too!
It's very hard to find hope in my heart and I try to keep my attention in the very small thing. I go to the job, try to earn money and in this case, support to be financially independent. to be able to provide some funds for the humanitarian aid humanitarian organization. I try to be an active member of my community too, in different days, support people who my fellow Ukrainians who currently live here.
Sonia Nolan:Thanks for joining me, Sonia Nolan, around the warm table, or the tavola calda as my Italian papa used to call a welcoming table of acceptance, positivity and curiosity. My Warm Table podcast aims to create that and more, as we amplify stories of Western Australians making our communities better. My Warm Table Season 3 is proud to be sponsored by Females Over 45 Fitness, with a studio in Victoria Park and also online all over Australia. So now please take a seat and join us for Season 3 as we explore stories of hope.
Sonia Nolan:The world changed on February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Sonia Nolan:You'll recall seeing the visions on the nightly news of thousands of women and children traversing the countryside to make their escape to safer lands, while their men stayed on to fight.
Sonia Nolan:Since that time, more than 8 million displaced Ukrainians have sought refuge in another land, including more than 11,400 who have entered Australia through a humanitarian program and other visa pathways. One of these people is Olga Hurina, who left behind her husband, her career, extended family and friends and her apartment in the heart of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, to start a new life alone here in Perth, with just a backpack full of essentials. She is resilient and determined in her quest to learn new skills, adapt to a new culture, speak a different language and contribute to her community. Despite the darkness, Olga has found hope in Australia and, through the generosity of Australians. She joins us around the warm table to share her story and give us an insight into what life is still like in Ukraine. Olga, thank you so much for joining me around the warm table.
Sonia Nolan:Thank you, sonia, I'm also happy to be here today,
Sonia Nolan:and there is a big story around what brings you here today to my warm table. The very small part of that story is that I met you some months back when I was a mentor in the Diverse Women in Leadership program, where you were a participant, and then got to know you follow your story through social media, actually and seeing you on LinkedIn and the things that you were achieving, and I was just so impressed and inspired by you, olga, in what you have established here in Australia after a circumstance which was not of your choosing, which came perhaps very spontaneously in your country, and you fled the Ukraine and came and resettled in Australia. So I'm very much inspired by you as a human and I hope that you're able to share your story with us as to what life was like for you and what life is like for you now.
Olga Hurina:I arrived in Australia in March 2022 as a humanitarian entrance because of the full war invasion in Ukraine. I have a happy life in Ukraine. I'm married, I have a husband, I had a successful career, I used to work in a government agency as a public servant and I have oldest brother and sister. Unfortunately, my parents passed away, but still my family quite big and it was. I leave all of this in Ukraine and in Australia I start a new life from scratch.
Sonia Nolan:Straight from scratch. So when you say you left all of that behind, it was your husband who encouraged you to come to Australia. Is that right?
Olga Hurina:Yes, my husband encouraged me to leave Ukraine because of the war. He thought about my safety first of all. In Ukraine, we have a rule, a law. In Ukraine we have a law regarding this law All men have a duty to serve in the army. They can't go across borders. Only women and children can do this and it was not safe to stay in Ukraine and he encouraged me to leave and hopefully his sister, who lives in Australia, offered me a shelter here and we decided to leave Ukraine and move to Australia.
Sonia Nolan:So did you move with your husband or?
Olga Hurina:he had to stay and serve and protect the Ukraine. As I mentioned, only I can go across borders. My husband stays in Ukraine and he is currently in Ukraine and he is safe. It's hard to say, because no one is safe in Ukraine now. We keep in touch, we communicate every day, day, but unfortunately we don't see each other personally more than two years.
Sonia Nolan:yes, yes yes, and so your husband had a sister, has a sister here, yeah, and so she was able to, you know, organize for you to come to australia.
Olga Hurina:Yes, it was good that Australian government they create a special pathway for Ukrainians who try to escape the war, and my sister-in-law helped me to write the application and submit through the government portal and after several hours I received a permission, a visa. I was granted by visa humanitarian visa and I was able to come into Australia. And that happened in March. Yes, that happened in March. I arrived 14th of March.
Sonia Nolan:And the Ukrainian. The Russian invasion of Ukraine happened in was it February?
Olga Hurina:In February, 24th of February.
Sonia Nolan:So within three weeks you were able to leave and come here.
Olga Hurina:But it takes near the week to actually arrive in Australia because of the problem in move across the Ukraine. Problem in move across the Ukraine, if you know, more than 8 million Ukrainians leave Ukraine the first months after the war started and it was very hard period of time. I was lucky one because our neighbor had a place in her car and in this car we're traveling. Four people in the car three dogs, one cat and one small turtle A turtle, Turtle yeah, wow.
Sonia Nolan:That's an unusual carload of people and animals.
Olga Hurina:We all try to escape the war. You know, not only people suffer because of the war. We also should think about the animals. We also should think about the animals. Unfortunately, a lot of them people live in their house. They can't bring them into a new country, and it's so sad story. And in this time we should support not only people who now in ukraine, we also should help the animals, the little creatures who also suffer because of the war.
Sonia Nolan:yeah, and that's what makes us human, and it's what makes us families and what makes us communities, isn't it? Yeah, all of the things that we take for granted here in Australia. Is that something that you're seeing, olga, that you see that in Australia it's a very different place to Ukraine. What were your first impressions when you came to Australia?
Olga Hurina:Oh, I think I arrived at night and it was very humid, as you mentioned. Definitely, what the most I like in Australia that you value the human life and the government try to make the policy which support people in different circumstances, and not only people.
Olga Hurina:Also, you think a lot of the society, you think a lot of the animals and environment and I listened to one of your podcasts and one lovely participant, lovely lady, she mentioned this is important when we create the environment in the city, think about not only about not think about the people. We should think about the small creatures who are also around us. Yes, because we take place from them. Yes. And it's important to find balance.
Sonia Nolan:Yes, that was Donnelly Patman when she talked about rewilding Australia. Yes, some wonderful thoughts that came out of that conversation I had with her. Yeah, thank you for listening to my podcast, Olga. That's very exciting, it's a pleasure. But this podcast episode is all about learning about the Ukraine, learning about the situation there, learning about what brought you here to Australia. So are you happy to talk more about the Ukraine and your life in the Ukraine and what things were like before February 2022?
Olga Hurina:As I mentioned, I have a husband and we enjoy our life together, and I used to work in the government agency and our agency was responsible for preventing corruption in Ukraine preventing corruption in Ukraine, the department where I used to work. We were responsible for development of anti-corruption program in the local and government agencies. We have some problem with corruption but we try to do our best to improve the situation and this is a process which is long in time and I have good co-workers. I enjoy my work in Ukraine and, as I mentioned, the war started on the 24th of February. As I mentioned, the war started on the 24th of February.
Olga Hurina:I know about the war through the call from our friend who actually lived in Kharkov it's a Ukrainian city which is very close to the Russian borders and it's the first city which suffered from the Russian attack and he called us near the 5 o'clock in the morning, 5 am, and said you know the war started and it was very hard to accept this news.
Olga Hurina:How the war? Because you know, before this day was a lot of conversation about the war, but I expect that after the second war that so many people were killed, millions people, we should think never war again and this happened and maybe within three days, russian troops came very close to Kyiv. Apartment my balcony I can see the lights from the bottles and it was very. I was very scared and it was a terrible experience. And now I understand why my husband encouraged me to leave Ukraine because I used to work as a public servant. And then the Russians came to the city, occupied the city. They already have a list of people who serve for the government and if they occupied Kiev, he as a man, he thinks, oh, that I can be in a danger, they can came and put me in the prison because of my position.
Speaker 4:This is what that was about my. Yeah, this is my life.
Olga Hurina:This is all about my life in Ukraine yeah, I want to take us back further into. Yeah, this is my life, this is all about my life in Ukraine.
Sonia Nolan:Yeah, I want to take us back further into your growing up in the Ukraine. Mm-hmm, yeah, something that's making you smile. Yeah, I'm so glad that we can find some really happy times in that, because it then became quite dark, but the happy times in the Ukraine. I know one thing that you like is making sure you preserve the culture through singing of folk songs, and that embroidery is another very big and important part of the Ukrainian. I guess story and folklore and culture Tell me about growing up in the Ukraine.
Olga Hurina:I was born in a small city which name is Komsomolsk. It's Poltava region, central part of Ukraine. I know my parents. I was not inspected child. Oh, you were surprised. Yeah, I was surprised. I am a third child of my parents. We have a big difference age difference between my oldest sister and oldest brother, my sister older than me for 20 years. Oh, you were a surprise.
Sonia Nolan:Yeah, I was a surprise.
Olga Hurina:And my parents loves music, loves singing, and I grow up in their family, in the environment. They all sing. This is why I so love Ukrainian folk songs. And when I resettled in Australia, when I read the news in social media when one lovely lady, marta Soba Butler, tried to find and organize a Ukrainian choir in Perth, I decided, oh, I should join this initiative. And now I'm a proud member of Ukrainian choir Echoes of Ukraine. Every week we have a rehearsal in Mailand suburb, actually at our church hall, and we are very happy to share our culture, our songs, happy to share our culture, our songs. And maybe twice a month we have a concert in different communities to show our culture. And I'm quite happy that Australia is a multicultural country, very multicultural, and people happy to know another culture. In this case, it's always inspired me and it's my song, it's my treatment from the mental health disease.
Sonia Nolan:Yes, great therapy, great therapy.
Olga Hurina:Especially from when you went through so difficult times, so challenging period. It's definitely a treatment.
Sonia Nolan:So you grew up singing folk songs which you have brought to Australia, which is wonderful. I'm wondering whether, a bit later on, you might sing one of those folk songs for me at the end We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Okay, so you grew up in the Ukraine the youngest by far of three children, and then did you go to university, did you? Yes? What did you study at university?
Olga Hurina:I have three degrees. My first degree, my first qualification, I'm a lawyer, a lawyer.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Olga Hurina:Then I graduate another university and my second qualification I am auditing and accounting. And the last one as I mentioned, I used to work as a public servant and it's a requirement for the public servant in Ukraine to have a degree in the public administration. Yeah, and the last one I am a master of public administrating.
Sonia Nolan:You're incredibly qualified, such an incredible woman, yeah and you know Australia also.
Olga Hurina:When I arrived in Australia I identified how important to have a local qualification, and here I received qualification. I graduate a certificate for work health and safety in North Metro TAFE and I'm very proud to have this qualification here.
Sonia Nolan:And congratulations on that, because that is a huge achievement for many reasons, but one of those reasons is that English is your second or third language. How many languages? Third language, I knew there'd be more than another one. So tell me the languages that you speak.
Olga Hurina:I speak Ukrainian, I speak Russian and I speak English.
Sonia Nolan:And now you speak English. Did you speak English before you came to Australia?
Olga Hurina:I learned English in the school but unfortunately I didn't use English at my work and you know, language is a life tool. It is and you should use language in your daily conversation. We do. If you not use, you lose this and it's happened in my case. But when I arrived in Australia, I joined the AMEP program. It's a special program for the adult migrant where you can improve, uplift your English conversation skills, language skills, and I graduated certificate 3 in English as a digital language in South Metrotave and I'm quite happy. Through this program I found a lot of friends and we still keep in touch and some lectures. We also. They still support me and we change their emails.
Sonia Nolan:They're always curious how I am, how you were going yes, which is wonderful, and your English is very, very good. It's very, very good and interesting, as you were saying how you have to keep the language current, otherwise you lose it, and my papa always used to say, which means you need to dissolve your tongue. That's translated exactly, but it is that once you get into a language, your tongue needs to, you know, sort of get into the motion of what it is. You need to say so he used to always say so yes, I understand exactly what you're saying. You need to immerse yourself so that you're saying it all the time, so then it's just natural for you to be speaking in that way.
Olga Hurina:Thank you for sharing your story.
Sonia Nolan:But your English is excellent and that you know. I know when we spoke a bit earlier before we started recording, you said you were a little bit nervous because English wasn't your first language. But let me assure you that you are just sharing your story so beautifully and so articulately in another language.
Olga Hurina:Thank you, my teachers and South and North north metro tafe.
Sonia Nolan:They will be very proud of you. Very proud of you. I've got so many questions that I'd love to explore with you and I hope you will indulge me and um and see how we go with the with these questions. Ol, how did you find the resilience and the emotional fortitude to leave? I know that perhaps it wasn't even a choice, it was a necessity. But where did the courage come from?
Olga Hurina:When I arrived in Australia I only have a backpack with essential things which my husband collected for me for the first time and when I arrived I was fully frustrated because I didn't know what to do here in Australia. But after I decided to move forward step by step. When I arrived in Australia I had problems with language, cultural difficulties, mental health problems because I was very sad and felt not good because of the war in Ukraine. I tried to find a way to resolve this issue. I joined an adult migrant English program. Then I joined another program which helped me to be more proficient to how to enrich the community life here in Australia, for example, through ASET.
Olga Hurina:I joined to civil program. This is a program for volunteers and leaders of different communities. They share with us some skills and knowledge how to be proactive, how to manage their community organization, how to apply for the grant, how to receive funding if you want to be a good leader, how to improve the skills. I graduated from this program. After this I joined another program. This is a diversity women leadership program, which is where we met.
Olga Hurina:Again, through the communication, through the lectures which share with us them stories and what uplift them, I found the way which suit me to move forward. I also participate in the program Women Career Clinic. This program was organized for women who is qualified, overqualified, in their country but because of different circumstances they arrived in Australia and tried to find them pathway to find a job here in Australia, because it's quite hard in the beginner here in Australia, because it's quite hard in the beginner. This program helped me to improve my job interview skills how to go through the job interview, local job interview, how I lived my resume. But I also can't forget about Dress for Success.
Sonia Nolan:I was just going to mention them because there's a lovely video of you on Dress for Success website talking about the help that they gave you.
Olga Hurina:Yeah, this is quite. It's a perfect organization. I met them volunteers at the one Job Expo here in Perth and through this link, I participated in several workshops online workshops with them. Again, they helped me improve my resume, prepared me for the job interview, to create my LinkedIn profile. They also shared with me some techniques how to improve my daily well-being routine Did.
Speaker 4:I do that too.
Olga Hurina:Yeah, they also provide this kind of workshops. Yes, they also provide this kind of workshops. They provide for me five different outfits which are appropriate for the job, for the person who tries to find the job. As I mentioned, I arrived in Australia with only a backpack and at that time I didn't have appropriate clothes. I should buy this, but it cost a lot and they provide this help for me. We now have a very good relationship, communication, and then they offer me to join them like annual campaign to empower our. I say yes, I want to participate in this because I should support the same, the women who in the same situation as me, who struggle to find a first job or not first job because of some circumstances which happened in their life, and if we have enough funding for the organization who provide support for these women, it will be good. It's a perfect initiative, absolutely. Women for women, women for women.
Sonia Nolan:Absolutely Women for women. Women for women Absolutely Beautiful words.
Olga Hurina:I encourage other people to support this organization and provide the funds for them or share the clothes, because it's also very sustainable practice. It is these clothes not go to the landfill. These clothes, if it's appropriate for the job, can help others.
Sonia Nolan:Yes, dress for Success. Western Australia an excellent organisation, absolutely. You mentioned your backpack a couple of times now.
Sonia Nolan:Yeah, I'm very curious to know what did you and your husband pack in the backpack that you brought to Australia. What were those? You know, sometimes you hear those, you know those sort of what if conversations. You know, if you were stranded on a desert island, what would you take with you? And you know, thankfully, for many of us they're just what if situations, that can be playful, but for you it was real life what did you pack in your backpack to take and start a new life?
Olga Hurina:To start a new life. Some T-shirt, some pants, underwear, passport, what else? It was a small quantity of things the knife A knife, yeah, a little bit of food, dry food, sneakers, and I think that's all you know. After this experience, I realized that through our life we collect the things and when we pass away our children, they don't know what to do with this thing. And after this experience I completely changed my mind and now I'm don't think about the things I try to buy less, only essential things for me, because you know I still had this fear if I I should move further, what I will do with these things with this stuff, yes, no.
Olga Hurina:In this case we need a small quantity of things, only essential things, only essential things yes. I think now this is for me for the rest of my life. That was a big learning.
Sonia Nolan:Yeah, yeah, was there anything sentimental that you packed with you? Was there anything?
Olga Hurina:Some. You know I didn't bring the photos because photos in the phone, you know, nothing special, only essential. Because at the car they have a small place for the things in the back of the car. And my husband told me you should keep in mind that if you should walk across the border you shouldn't have hard things because you carry too heavy.
Sonia Nolan:Very practical.
Olga Hurina:Very practical. Yeah, In this case, only what I need. I still have a key from my apartment in Kiev. I think it was one of the heaviest things.
Sonia Nolan:Yeah, and I guess, heavy in the hope that one day you'll be able to return to your apartment.
Olga Hurina:Yeah, but I don't know when this day will be, but I don't know when this day will be Olga.
Sonia Nolan:what is it that you want Australians and I guess particularly our warm table listeners to?
Olga Hurina:know about what's going on in the Ukraine. The horrible things happened in Ukraine. As I mentioned, I have an oldest sister and oldest brother. Before the war, my sister lived in Mariupol. It's a big city which near the Azov Sea and near 300,000 people lived in the city before the war and in March 2022, Russia put all their effort to try to occupy this city because it's close to the sea, it's a big port and it's again if they occupied, if it give them the way to link the donbass with the crimea, which have already occupied by russia. And, uh, it was a horrible time for the people who lived in this city.
Olga Hurina:My sister shared with me what happened during this time, during March and April 2022. It was daily bombing. It was daily bombing the people who lived in the city. They didn't have electricity, they didn't have water. They don't have the opportunity to go to the shop and buy the food. They struggle to find the food. In this case, my sister should go to the spring near the church which is close to the house where she lived, to have water they don't have electricity in this case, and gas In this case. They're not able to cook the food and they make a fire near them residential houses to cook the food on the fire. They broke their furniture and used it as wood to make a fire. Most of the time they spent in the basement to try to survive after the bombing attack and she lost 20 kilos because of the stress.
Olga Hurina:Gosh yeah, and this happens daily with our cities which are very close to the front line in the Donbas region. But again another city which is close to Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv. The recent things they bombed Kharkiv, where I studied every day, and they destroyed not a military object like. They destroyed the residential houses where actually people live and I read the news every day 3, 4, 5, 10, 15 people, including the children, was killed because of the bomb. And again, you know we have a rescue team. This is the first people, firefighters who came to the place and give support people who struggle or was injured in this attack. And what they do? They put missiles. They sent missiles again to try to kill these people who help and support the injured people, and it's so horrible practice which Is unjust and immoral.
Olga Hurina:Yes, it's completely immoral what happens now in Ukraine. In this case, we need support, we need special system of weapons who protect us, protect our sky, from this attack. And again, people whose houses were destroyed need a new shelter where they can temporarily escape, survive and live. In this case, in Australia, we have several organizations who provide humanitarian support for Ukraine for people who need shelter or to support the animals who also struggle because of the war. This is a crisis appeal fund which organized by the Rotary Club. I can send you the link.
Sonia Nolan:Yes, and we'll put those on the show notes.
Olga Hurina:I think that's really important For the organization here in Australia who support, who provide the humanitarian aid help for people who are in Ukraine now. We will be very grateful for this support, if you can do this.
Sonia Nolan:Yeah, thank you for that, Olga. I just remember when the Russian invasion of Ukraine happened in February 2022, our news feed was all full of the photographs. Our news feed was all full of the photographs, the images of women and children fleeing, and you know all of those that mass, mass status of displaced people leaving the Ukraine. You know, we saw it all over there Eight million, eight million people leaving, and they were shocking images for us at that time. And now we don't see that on the news anymore. We're not seeing the everyday. You know, for many people, it could be that they they've forgotten, because we live in a country where it's easy to forget these things but, it is so important.
Sonia Nolan:You know your story is so important for us to remember that it actually is still an everyday occurrence over there in the, in Ukraine. People are still suffering, they're still in war. It is not a situation that has ended or is potentially likely to end very quickly, so it's very complex and it's still very dangerous. So so thank you for reminding us of that.
Olga Hurina:Yeah, you know, I completely understand people in other countries. It's very hard to every day read the news or watch the news from the TV about the same, about the bad things, about the same about the bad things. But what I want to mention, another conflict arises and it's also keep attention for another conflict. But I think it's all have linked, link it and you can imagine how exhausted is people who still in Ukraine Because every day they don't have a rest from this story. Every day they try to deal with this.
Olga Hurina:It's so hard period of time and I don't know what the disease and what happens in the future, what we have in the future, how many mental problems, yes, and how to resolve how many resources we need to rebuild our infrastructure, resolve how many resources we need to rebuild our infrastructure. This week the Russians destroyed a big plane in Ukraine which created heat in the winter and this enterprise provides this service for a big area, quite big area, and I don't know how the people survive in the city, in the closed cities, without the heating in winter. Destroyed, all infrastructure killed people because we have another opinion. All infrastructure Killed people Because we have another opinion and we decide to live with another values, not support the tyrant and them politics.
Olga Hurina:It's very hard Then I can imagine, and sometimes our conversation all about the hope, and then I read this it's very hard to find a hope in my heart and I try to keep my attention in the very small thing. I try to keep my attention in the very small thing. I go to the job, try to earn money and in this case, support, to be financially independent, to be able to provide some funds for the humanitarian aid, humanitarian organization. I try to be an active member of my community. In different days I support people who my fellow Ukrainians who currently live here.
Sonia Nolan:It remains a very live situation in the Ukraine right now, doesn't it? Yeah, the Russian war is still going.
Olga Hurina:The war is still going and in this case, I encourage people who listen to our podcast to try to indifferent. They support Ukraine. Ukrainians want peace. We have a life and we have a right to choose what the life we want for us, for our children, for our grandchildren. And if we decide that the European values are important for us and we follow and we want to follow this path, we have the right to choose this. We don't want to return back to the period when we were a part of the USSR, because in this part, why I know Russian? Because in this part why I know Russian, because when I was a child at the school, you can learn only Russian. We have Russian schools. Unfortunately, ukrainian culture was forbidden or it's not encouraged to learn, and we have like a it's a stolen history um, and now we're quite happy that we receive independence and after this, we um have the opportunity to improve our culture, to learn more about our history in the past, because we didn't have this opportunity when we were a part of USSR.
Sonia Nolan:So, coming to Australia, olga, how hard was it for you to find a job? How was the resettlement process for you? You talked about the support a lot of the support that you got, and with Dress for Success and without telling us where you're working or anything, but just the journey of finding a job. How hard was that or how easy was that?
Olga Hurina:Well, it was not easy. Again, through participation in different programs, I be able to improve my resume, to complete my resume, to create a LinkedIn profile, and I also found new friends here in Australia very important have a wide networking and through this networking which I create, I share my resume and my resume came to the right person who decided to invite her for the job interview. It was my first job interview in Australia and after this they made a decision. We can offer her a job and, yeah, it's like a miracle for me and I am quite happy to contribute and to use my skills and experience here in Australia.
Sonia Nolan:And so tell me about your housing, your accommodation situation here in Western Australia.
Olga Hurina:Oh, you know, now it's a huge problem to find accommodation. The market is so tough, yeah, tight, tough, tight.
Olga Hurina:Yes, the market is so tough, yeah, yeah, tight tight yes yes, and the first seven months when I arrived in australia I live with my with family of my sister-in-law and I'm very grateful for them, for their first support that they provide for me and we're in a good relationship. But I realized that I should move forward and also some circumstances arise from them side, because their youngest son should go to the higher school and maybe they can like move in another area. And I decide, oh, maybe I should find another place for me, place for me, and I was lucky to met ray and carmel ward, who actually became my second family. As I mentioned, my parents passed away in uk but I found a new family here in Australia. This family offers a room in their house and we have a very good relationship.
Olga Hurina:Women inspire me, very good relationship. Women inspire me. The first woman who inspired me is my mother because through her example I realized how strong you should be when you go through the challenging times. But through CamelWord I thought that you should be an active member of the local community. She is a volunteer, she is volunteering all her life and she contributes so much for her local community and people around her and this is a life example for me to follow, to also try only think not about yourself. Also think about the others. And Ray here also inspired me because he has so positive attitude. He always smiles. It doesn't matter what mood you have, what the weather, the main thing you should be happy and share a smile with others. I'm quite happy that I met these people here and I proudly can say that my second family here.
Sonia Nolan:And so the visa that you were granted as a humanitarian entrant is that a permanent resident? Is it a temporary resident? It obviously allows you to work, which is a blessing. What is the process in regards to being a humanitarian entrant and the type of visa that you were able to access?
Olga Hurina:In 2022, australian government. In 2022, the Australian government created a separate humanitarian program for Ukrainians. It's a special type of visa and this visa has the working right, but it has a restriction only for the three years. Yeah, my visa expired in 2025 and this also the problem, because the this create uncertainty. We don't know what will be the decision from the australian government regarding this deadline. We will find a solution which will be good for the people who escaped the war here in Australia and decide to stay here and contribute to Australian society, to be a proud member of this society, but still keep in heart Ukraine and share the knowledge and culture that we have, our heritage.
Sonia Nolan:Yes, and make Australia richer with this information and this beautiful addition of culture.
Olga Hurina:Yes, this is definitely what I like in australia, because I I in the past I didn't have this experience to communicate with. So multicultural society, yeah, but here, yeah, it's unique country, what I like also in australia then you are smart and have a desire to achieve something. You definitely can do this and implement your dream, um, and it doesn't matter what the family you have, how rich you are, uh, the main thing, if you your desire to achieve something and it's, um, I like this in Australia the most.
Sonia Nolan:Yes, yes, it is definitely one of the beautiful things about our country. Yeah, it is. We are a very lucky country. One of the things that you introduced me to, olga, in the conversations we've had leading up to today, is the Photo Voice Project, which is run through I think it was funding through Healthway, through Lottery West and through Curtin University, and that is where a group of people from the Ukraine who've come out on. I guess it talks about displaced persons, it talks about the humanitarian entrance into Australia and I guess this is specifically Western Australia, and there is a PhotoVoice online project which I will put a link to in our show notes for this episode.
Sonia Nolan:But it's such a moving and insightful PhotoVoice project in that it invited participants to take photographs and show, I guess, a photographic depiction along some key themes, and one of them was about leaving home.
Sonia Nolan:Another one was about life goes on and adjusting to life in Australia.
Sonia Nolan:Then it talked about feeling grateful for what they've discovered in Australia and then, obviously, it's one thing to feel grateful, but there's always going to be the Ukraine in your heart, yes, which is, you know, I think, a story of every migrant, of knowing that they had a. There was a beautiful quote from somebody on that project that said we need to remember our full life in the past and try to build a full life in our present, and I thought that was a really beautiful way of describing that you can move on but you can't forget the full life you've already got from your hometown. And then thoughts about the future was the other key theme, and what really struck me as I was looking at these beautiful photographs was the connection with nature that people have found in Australia, and the most striking photograph for me was this beautiful collage of the sky in different iterations of the sky at sunrise, at sunset, and blue skies or cloudy skies and it talked about what they loved about the sky was that it was safe and there was nothing.
Sonia Nolan:No fear in the sky, nothing, no bombs dropping from the sky.
Olga Hurina:It was so moving. You know that you mentioned about the sky and in my thoughts I memorized one of the day after this full invasion. After this full invasion, then I heard the sounds of a plane under me and it was like an army plane and it sounds very scary. You want to sit down on the floor on the ground and cover your ears because of these sounds? Yeah, definitely eclipse sky. If you don't have this horrible experience, this horrible experience, you can't imagine how important to have a safe sky.
Sonia Nolan:Yeah, it's a remarkable story your life already. Olga, I want to thank you so much for joining me around the warm table. Thank you for enriching Australia. Thank you for the community spirit that you have brought to Australia, all the volunteering that you're doing, the awareness you're raising for us about the reality in Ukraine, but bringing your skills with such grace and humility and resilience to us. We've got so much we can learn from you. So thank, thank you. I wonder if I can put you on the spot to share a folk song, or if you're happy to sing, or if you're happy to maybe even just just tell us in words you know, speak your language and then and then maybe translate some of the words for us. I would be so honored if you could do that, if you're comfortable doing so.
Olga Hurina:Yes, I will do this with joy. I want to say thank you. In my language this means thank you for the support that Australians provide for Ukraine, and maybe I can sing a short song in Ukrainian. I would love that. I would love that this is a song about the love. It's a bit sad, sorry, but I want to finish this story in good spirits, please. We should love each other and respect each other, and the life will be perfect. Who falls? Who does not know love that mountain does not know?
Speaker 5:Hi, I'm Kelly Riley creator and head coach of Females Over 45 Fitness, or FOF as we are fondly called. Our studio is located in Victoria Park and we are also online all across Australia. At FOF, our members range in age from 45 through to 84 years of age at the moment. They're amazing examples of hope. Let's meet one of our members now and be inspired by her story.
Speaker 4:My name is Peter and I'm in my 50s and I'm an artist. I love painting and teaching painting to anyone willing to learn. I train at FOF three days a week and it's actually been a life changer for me. I had a serious cycling accident an undiagnosed broken foot, and spent a number of weeks in a wheelchair, thinking my future life was going to be one of immobility, pain and a burden on my family. After seeing a FOF advert on Facebook, I was on the phone and making an appointment to see Kelly and what was the beginning three years ago of a partnership with not only FOF but my strengthening body?
Speaker 4:Hope for me means that I can now be a grandparent along with the best of them. I have four grandsons. I'm going to get upset now. I have four grandsons with whom I spend a lot of time. I can run, jump, lift, throw skateboard, chase, swim, get on the ground and crawl with them with confidence, and do it all again the next day. I've also been training again with my kayaking husband, who competes in the Avon Descent. I could easily have given up and stayed on the couch, but that little bit of hope that peaked during the advert had me.
Sonia Nolan:Thanks for joining us around the Warm Table. My Warm Table is produced, hosted and edited by me, sonia Nolan. It's my way of amplifying positivity and curiosity in our community. I invite you to share this conversation with family and friends and follow my Warm Table podcast on Facebook, instagram and LinkedIn. Also, you can subscribe and follow my Warm Table on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and maybe even leave a review, because it helps others to find us more easily.
