March 22 – March 30
Life in Paris!
Life is good! When you’re in Paris, how can it not be? Another week has gone by and everyone is slowly settling into something that somewhat resembles normal life. The family is grateful to have their own space and to be able to gain a sense of independence after an incredibly stressful few weeks. They are in a hotel for a few more weeks and then will be able to move to a little bit larger AirBnb. Paperwork is being processed for them to be able to go to Canada, but no one has any idea how long that will take.
Everyone is spending some time every day studying and learning English. This isn’t helpful for being in France though! This past week they got some snacks from the grocery store and had to pay for them twice because they couldn’t explain to the security guard at the door that they had already paid for them!
They are also able to talk to Sasha on the phone every day which is a huge blessing. It is hard for all of them to be separated, but technology is able to somewhat bridge that gap.
A highlight of the week was being able to see some of the sights in the area! Anne-Marie and Chris took them out to a castle and some other landmarks and everyone had a great time. It is so awesome that they are able to have experiences like this to learn about the area and France since they have never been out of Ukraine before this past month.
Next Steps Progress
The most exciting thing that happened this week was that everyone was able to get new IDs! No one had a Ukrainian International Passport, so these new IDs will be extremely valuable in helping them to get things set up to go to Canada or potentially the US in the future.
There was also an announcement this past week from President Biden that the US will accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees! We are hopeful this will open doors in the coming months for them to still be able to come here to Utah, but there have been limited details from the US government on a plan for that. We are hoping that it is more than just nice words and a political gesture of support.
Even with this positive announcement, it is currently nearly impossible to get them here in a short amount of time. Jon Yuri Faber and Justin Faber were interviewed about this in the last week in a larger article that talks about the struggles that Ukrainians face when trying to get their family members to Utah. You can read the article and watch the news report here.
Bake Sale
On Saturday, March 26, a fundraising bake sale was held in Bountiful, UT by Emily Leger (Anne-Maries’ Sister) and her mom Diane Cales (Anne-Marie’s Mom). It was a great success and so awesome to see so many individuals in the family and community stop by and contribute! We are so grateful for all the people in the community and throughout the world who have contributed and helped Sasha, Elena, Anya, Dasha, Nikita, Violetta, and Arianna.
Thank you
Thank you to all who have supported so much already. We encourage you to continue following along with the weekly updates to see the journey of this sweet family. We hope that it helps you to remember the millions of people whose lives have been turned upside down in the last month and of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
