Now in Canada, Scott Stephenson’s Facebook page features pictures that showcase the happy life he recently had in Ukraine.
“I lived there for two years,” said Stephenson, who is married to Anna Babkova, a Russian who moved to Ukraine 13 years ago. “We were living together in kyiv and I had to come back here to get vaccinated and then I was going to bring her with me.”
The Russian invasion then took place and Babkova fled Ukraine. She is now stranded in Turkey.
“It finally hit me,” said Stephenson. “My wife is a refugee.”
Babkova has applied for permanent Canadian residency and a short term visitor visa.
“It’s very frustrating because I feel totally alone here,” said Babkova during a Zoom call from Bodrum, Turkey. “But I know that across the ocean, he really does everything every day.”
As Chris Lewis watched the war unfold from his home in New Glasgow, NS, he pushed himself to help in any way possible.
“Can we bring in Ukrainian families that know each other so they are not isolated when they get here?” asked Lewis.
Lewis launched a Facebook group to help jumpstart the effort. He said more Ukrainian refugees will soon be coming to Nova Scotia, including a family that will be staying at his home.
“They will be in town within the next 14 days,” said Lewis. “It is a mother and two children.”
Lewis also has a message for his fellow Nova Scotians.
“There is a lot of darkness on this planet and we have to shed a light,” said Lewis. “It is the light that can make a difference.”