Natasha Williams has lived in Quesnel for five years and loves her adopted country, the community and the husband she moved to be with. However, her heart belongs to her home country of Ukraine and right now she’s fearful for its future.
Tears well up in her eyes as she describes the unfolding conflict and the affect it’s having on the people.
But her eyes flash when she speaks of what she describes as the international terrorists and her belief the military actions in the Ukraine are all being orchestrated by Russia.
“The world is not such a large place, what happens in the Ukraine affects the entire world,” she said.
Williams is desperate to let the world know how important it is to listen and learn what is going on. She also wants to put together a team of people in Quesnel who will work towards awareness of the situation in the Ukraine and raise money to help the Ukrainian people.
She recently returned from a visit to the Ukraine where she was looking to reconnect with former colleagues who work with street kids and other social issues as well as visit her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.
“I was born to a Ukrainian father and a Russian mother, we accepted both in the family and I spoke both languages,” she said.
She also has sad memories of growing up in a country severely affected when the old Soviet Union collapsed.
She spoke of the hardships her family and other Ukrainians endured.
“Food was rationed and the lineups to get what was available were very long,” she said.
“Everything was difficult. All our money disappeared from the banks.”
She fears these conditions may return with the chaos in her country.
But it also breaks her heart to see such tragedies as the downing of the Malaysia commercial airline and the death of protesters.
Williams spent from March to June of this year in the Ukraine and while in her home city of Danetsk, in the heart of the current conflict, Natasha moved her daughter and granddaughter to inside the Ukraine, away from the fighting
but knows the entire country is in turmoil.
“We saw many small communities closed and guarded by the rebels,” she said.
“There were barricades and weapons and people in camouflage
everywhere.”
In Canada, Williams wears a head wreath of flowers, which draws attention to her everywhere she goes.
“I can’t wear a helmet and uniform and fight for my country but I can wear this uniform which is a symbol of my culture and love of my country,” she said.
“I want people to ask me why I wear this. I want to tell them what’s going on and help the world understand.”
She believes Russia will not stop with the Ukraine.
“They’ll move into other countries,” she said.
“People need to wake up and see this is a Russian march across Eastern Europe.”
If you would like to contribute your efforts to Natasha’s cause, e-mail her at nata.69@i.ua.
