Just a bit of my family history.
You can see my Dear Grandmother Serafyma in the short video below. She was born in Tomashivka village in the Kyiv area in 1937. She’s the only one of my grandparents left.
She’s got Ukrainian and Polish roots. She remembers WWII well and this time is especially hard on her. Two of her older brothers were called up by the Soviets and sent to the front line. No training, no weapons. To be the canon meat. Just to run towards the enemy and shout. With the flags. To exert moral coercion on the enemy. 7-years-old Serafyma was being sent to count the German soldiers in the neighbor’s house to report to the partisans as her father was involved in the partisan movement.
Serafyma graduated from Kyiv Shevchenko University to be a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature but she had to teach Russian.
Today, she sits in the corridor at the time of the air alarms. She spends most of her time listening to the radio to know what’s happening at the front line now.
She has never written any poems in her life. But she has recently written one and I recorded it when we came to visit her at Easter. I’ve translated it into English.
This is her personal contribution to the victory, her protest against the enemy. She is strong. She wants to do something to help so much but what else can she do??? Can you imagine what the level of engagement of the society is like if my 87-years-old grandmother started writing poems like this?!!!!
You can join us via the Canadian Support Ukraine Foundation. Check out the website to learn more: www.CSUF.ca. Feel free to contact Dale Shumka who’s the president if you have any questions. Our Dorosh Heritage Tours team of volunteers works with CSUF directly to help the refugees, equip the soldiers, and support rebuilding efforts. We’re here, on the ground and we provide direct support to those who need it the most.
Sincerely,
Andriy Dorosh
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