Nearly a year after arriving in Sooke, a single mother from Ukraine and her two children face an uncertain future.

Sofia Slobodeniuk and her young son and daughter left Ukraine in March 2023 to seek refuge in Canada during the worst of the war.

After an arduous journey with little more than the clothes on their backs, followed by a stint in Slovakia to complete their paperwork, the family arrived in Sooke in August. They spent the first three months with the Levines, a family experienced in sponsoring families from Ukraine. After 18 months in the Ukrainian safe haven in East Sooke, Slobodeniuk was able to find an apartment.

She still works at her first job in a beauty salon and started a second job in housekeeping at Island Health in April, while she applies for permanent residency.

“My goal right now is to work full-time at Island Health,” she said.

Her English has improved to the immigration level 5 required for a job as a housekeeper, and she is still working towards level 9, which is essential for her other job.

“Overall, we’re doing well and we’re doing our best,” she said. “But my heart is still in Ukraine. I think I would choose to fight for my country, but right now, Canada is the best for the safety of my children and their education.

Although her son (9) and daughter (7) are doing “very well” at school, the summer holidays have presented some challenges.

“The kids really miss their friends and the activities at school,” she said. “I wish I could spend more time with them, but I work two jobs to give them a better life.

“My daughter’s English is great,” Slobodeniuk said. “She can read and write English, but not Ukrainian, so I’m working with her online to teach her. They still want to go back to Ukraine. My daughter misses riding on her father’s shoulders and walking with her feet in his shoes, and they both miss their grandparents’ cooking.”

The longing for home is compounded by the difficulty of keeping in touch with family and friends online due to the time difference and limited opportunities offered by current circumstances in Ukraine, she noted.

Slobodeniuk said her son now better understands why they cannot return to Ukraine because of the war, but the situation for the mother and children is still difficult.

“It can be very painful because of what we’re going through,” she said. “People don’t understand that there are no simple answers about our future right now.”

Slobodeniuk can at least take comfort from the recent news that her brother, who was seriously wounded during the war against Russia, has moved to Switzerland with his girlfriend to start a new life there.

While she is grateful for the encouragement, support and kind words she has received from many people, Slobodeniuk has an important message she wants to share with women. This message partly stems from the first story she did for the Sooke News Mirror.

“I was disgusted by the many men who contacted me offering money in exchange for sex,” she said. “It got so bad with one man in Sooke that I had to report him to the police for stalking. Women need to be very careful, especially on social media.”