We are not OK 💛💙

We have friends in Ukraine that posted this  a few weeks ago .  

"Things NOT to ask a Ukrainian these days":  

1.  "Are you ok?"....... No, we are not. People who stayed in Ukraine are either being bombed or waking up to sirens every 2 hours. If they had to flee Ukraine, they are not okay either as they are incredibly home sick and worried about their friends and family.

 2. "So what's your plan?" .....You mean, for today or for tomorrow? We don't have a plan. That's it. No plan. We used to have our plans and strategy sessions and vision boards but now everything changes so fast that you can't have a plan. 

3. "How long are you going to stay in...?"......... I don't know. We don't know. This question is bothering us from morning till night and especially at night, so please, don't add to it. 

4. "Is your apartment in Ukraine ok?"..... I don't know. Yes, it is for now. but I don't know for how long. Or no, it isn't. What are you going to say if it isn't?

 5. "Do you need help?" ....YES! All Ukrainians need help right now. The problem is we don't like asking for help and we get embarrassed to tell you that we need something. 

 WHAT YOU CAN ASK OR SAY OR DO INSTEAD:

 1. "How are you feeling TODAY?" 

2. Send flowers or a card or chocolates -even virtually 

3. Cook a dinner 

4. Take a Ukrainian out of their bed and house for a nice walk EVEN when they tell you they don't want to 

5. Ask simple things: did you eat today? what did you eat? do you have a job? do you have money? do you have summer clothes (people fled in February, they only have winter clothes with them). 

6. Come and give them a big HUG! 💛💙

I say "Our friends" , but until the war started we never knew them .  In just a few weeks we will be picking up Denis, Tetyana and their son Oleksandr from the Montreal airport.  They will come to live at our home in Canada .  There are so many challenges that they will face in the future , but for now they will have a safe harbour in the storm.  

We feel blessed and honoured that we are able to help.  

There are a few needs while we help them to get here and get settled . Their travel costs will be around $1500 for the family . If anyone would like to help with this it would be very much appreciated . The other big need that they will have is a car.  We live out in the country and only have one vehicle and they will need something to get around .  If anyone has an extra car for a couple  months  until they get settled, or we return to Kyrgyzstan and they can use ours,  or feels impressed to help buy them a used car , that would be appreciated as well . 

There will be many changing plans, many questions un answered and so much up in the air, but we are looking forward to the day that we can all  

Come and give them a big HUG! 💛💙