Café Ukraine provides new entrants to Ottawa with social space, snacks and networking

Ukrainian newcomers to Ottawa are Ukraine on Carling Avenue Café Ukraine opened near Lake Dow's on Friday night, rushing to the Youth Association Hall. Refugees from the war in this country meet with others in similar waters, share coffee and snacks, exchange stories, and they are a new country.

Yaroslav Baran, a board member of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and a former president of the Ukraine-Canada Conference in Ottawa, is one of the organizers of the cafe. He hopes it meets the niche needs of newcomers.

"Based on the statistics we see, there are already more than 4,000 Ukrainian refugees in the Ottawa Gatineau region," he says. "And all sorts of organic support structures are born. People have volunteered to be host families. They are working to pass on support information such as English as a second language and how to get a SIN card. There is an organization, and this happens very quickly.

"But one gap we noticed is that there really isn't a place for people to get together and actually meet. Was. Swap Intel and share experience. For example, this is how I got the job, or this is what I did to get my driver's license. "

"We only share our first-hand experiences and actually connect."

Judging by the standing-only crowd on Friday night, the need for such a connection is real.

Waleed and Yuliia Naeem appeared with their two children, Amir (5 years old) and Amina (2 years old), less than two weeks after arriving in Ottawa. Wald has been in Pakistan since the beginning of the war and was unable to return to their home in Dnipro.

"The war is approaching, and I realized that if I didn't leave immediately, I might not be able to leave," Yuria said. The family reunited in Frankfurt and flew to Canada together.

Julia said he decided to go to the cafe when he first heard it.

"Meeting your own person is important and you can get a lot of information. It is important to meet because we all get information from different sources. We are all new in this society, so we can inform each other and share news about different cities. ”

Veteran and volunteer Janice Voss of the nearby Canadian Army has just arrived in Ottawa. I was showing the Anastasia Kuzumenko. On Thursday, some of the beaded bracelets she made incorporated the letter "V" into her Morse code for victory.

"When I heard about this place on Facebook, I wanted to help, so I made these bracelets for volunteers. Hopefully people will give them some money.

Meanwhile, Kuzmenko arrived in Canada from Colombia, where he taught English as a second language. After the war began, she decided to come to Canada instead of returning to her home in the Donbas region of Ukraine, where her work and food are scarce.

She hopes the cafe will be a place where you can hear the experiences of others when looking for her apartment or job. The latter expects as her translator.

"I came here to meet, network and interact with more people, and where I live now is from here It's only a 15-minute walk, so I'm definitely back. "

Balun, the hall on the second floor of 911 Curling Avenue was previously underutilized by various, mostly Ukrainian community groups. It is said that it was a conference space. The café is open 24/7 from 6 pm to 9 pm on Tuesdays and Fridays and from 2 pm to 9 pm on Saturdays, with free meals and Wi-Fi, and other organizations available. Provides information from. For example, the Canadian Red Cross has a welcome kit available for new arrivals in Canada. According to Balan, the Ukrainian Parliament of Canada is working with state agencies to put together a comprehensive welcome package.

"I think they'll be on sale next week. When it's done, it'll be available.

" We're turning the cafe into a resource center If you want, it's far less formal than that. "

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Cultural Center offers free space and invoices for light meals, but donations It will be accepted.

“We have a donation basket for those who want to donate,” says Balan. "But I emphasize that this is completely selective. I don't want to lose people because they are daunting to it. Just come, come, come, come. , Just connect with others. "

bdeachman@postmedia.com