A UKRAINIAN mum-of-one is hoping to raise funds to start a new life in the USA after initially fleeing war-torn Ukraine and arriving in Scotland with just £200.
Anastasia Isakova fled Kharkiv in March right after Russia invaded and evacuated the country via train to Krakow, Poland, before finding a sponsor here in Falkirk, fleeing to Scotland with little more than one bag between them.
Now, Anastasia, 32, and her seven-year-old daughter have been offered a sponsorship by a family in Charlotte, North Carolina via the United For Ukraine programme (U4U).
Lawyer Anastasia now hopes that her GoFundMe campaign can raise the funds necessary for a one-way plane ticket for her and daughter Yeva.
The pair initially escaped to Poland where they stayed for four months, with Anastasia working online where able and taking odd house cleaning jobs to get by.
Isakova left everything she owned in Ukraine including her flat and car, as well as much of her family and friends including her own parents and her ex-husband and Yeva’s father.
Her GoFundMe, set up just four days ago, reads: “Hello, my name is Anastasia and I am 32 years old, my daughter Eva is 7 years old and we lived in Donetsk in 2014 after the occupation and moved to Kharkiv and it all happened again.
“I found a sponsor in the USA through the U4U programme. They are a wonderful family who are willing to take us in. But they can’t help with buying tickets.
“My financial situation has deteriorated during the war. And I need help in buying tickets for me and my daughter. If you can help us it would be a real miracle.
“In Ukraine I worked as a lawyer, last year as a sales manager, after the war started in Ukraine my daughter and I went to Poland and there I worked and cleaned houses.
“My parents stayed in Donetsk. I am a lawyer by education. My flat and car were left in Kharkiv. We left Kharkiv with one bag for two.
“I need 2 tickets for me and my daughter and our two suitcases tickets if possible to Charlotte, North Carolina.”
Speaking today Anastasia said: “In July we flew to Scotland and now we live in Falkirk – there was a programme for Great Britain [to act] as a home for Ukrainians.
“When I was living in Poland I found out about it when England and Wales closed its doors to Ukrainians and only Scotland was left.
“I looked it up and wasn’t sure I wanted to. But on Instagram and the internet, landscapes and views of Scotland started to pop up and I knew I wanted to see it.
“We did the paperwork and got a reply three days later that we could go.
“I booked a flight for 21 July with the idea that it would be time to sort out the accommodation and the school so Yeva could get to school on time. On 21 July, we flew in.
“We met the volunteers and were taken to a hotel in Falkirk. We spent three weeks there where we met other Ukrainians who had also come on 21 July.
“We are communicating and now someone is back in Ukraine, someone lives in a nearby town, and someone has already left for the United States, but we are all in touch.
“It’s lovely here, there are very nice and kind people. The children at school are fantastic all very kind and open-minded.
“We are living with our sponsors David and Rosie.
“When war broke out in Ukraine and Britain opened its doors to Ukrainians he invested his savings in a flat and knew he would sponsor someone from Ukraine, and it just so happened to be us.”
Despite trying to get by in Scotland and attending college two days a week to learn English, Anastasia, a lawyer of over eight years, knows that they can improve their life in America.
Anastasia added: “On 19 November I posted on Facebook that we were looking for a sponsor in America and on 30 November, I contacted my sponsor.
“We called each other, got to know each other, and on 7 December, I got permission for me and my child to enter the country.
“America is attractive because it is the land of opportunity, freedom and security.
“When we got permission I started to monitor the tickets and realised that it was too expensive for me and I couldn’t go. I started to write everywhere I could, churches, volunteers, charities and airlines.
“A woman from one church contacted me and she said she would talk to the church leaders, who said they wanted to contact my sponsors in America.
“They talked and she said they couldn’t donate large sums of money to an individual so she suggested setting up a collection.
“I didn’t really believe it would work. It’s amazing and from all these events I think I’m definitely moving in the right direction.
“I left Ukraine with one bag and 10,000 UAH which is around £200, but I worked all this time both online and by cleaning.
“We did not go hungry because in every country, you could come and get all the necessary humanitarian assistance and plus work and allocated allowances.
“So when the ticket collection started to move I couldn’t believe it. I’m insanely grateful to everyone who has helped, and continues to help, it’s incredible.”
Isakova and Yeva are hoping that they can reach their goal of raising £2,500, which will allow them to begin their new life in America by early February.
You can donate to the GoFundMe page here: https://gofund.me/aed62c54
