It wasn’t that long ago that 14 year-old Olha Slobodianiuk was lining the bathtub with pillows and blankets to be a safe haven if the Russians began bombing her home. 

Now, Slobodianiuk has a bed of her own and it led to tears of joy.

The 14 year-old and her grandmother, who is also named Olha, are living in Petrolia with Carol and Rory Roddy. They’re among the first Ukrainians to make the community their home as war rages on in Ukraine.

Carol Roddy and her husband started thinking about offering their home to someone fleeing the war as soon as they saw the images of Ukraine across their TV screen. 

“We had just seen it on the news, and we thought how awful it was. We could help financially and so many people are doing that. I just think we’re so fortunate, really. So, we talked about it, I said, ‘What do you think about having them here?’”

Her husband agreed and they contacted a group in London working with Ukrainian refugees. She prepared all the paperwork and had a police check. She was told it would likely be the summer before someone arrived in their home.

Then, Roddy found the Save Ukraine Sarnia-Lambton group and contacted them. It only took a little while for the Slobodianiuks to be matched with the Roddys. They arrived in Petrolia Sunday.

The Slobodianiuks have shared some of what they faced. They lived in a mining town between Mariupol – which has been decimated by Russian bombing with thousands killed – and the port city of Odessa – another Russian target. The threat of bombs dropping in their village was constant. 

“At one point, the air raid sirens are going off, and the Russians were 17 kilometres from the city. And the air sirens had been going off Olha – the granddaughter – she has lined the tub with pillows and blankets and she was sleeping in the bathtub for fear that they were going to start shelling,” Roddy says.

While the Ukrainian army has pushed back the Russians from their home, it is a likely target because it is a mining town.

The Slobodianiuk have been in contact with friends and neighbours by cellphone, but even that is difficult. A neighbour has a key and recently gave them a video tour of their home. “That just really broke her heart,” says Roddy.

And the Petrolia woman does her best to provide not only a place to stay, but a bit of comfort. “We share a lot of hugs,” Roddy says of the elder Slobodianiuk who is close to her age. “She is very religious person and she keeps saying that her inner voice or God is telling her to continue to look forward. Don’t look back.”

After the video tour of her apartment, Roddy says Slobodianiuk said “I gotta listen to that voice. I just gotta move forward.”

The pair have settled into the Roddy’s home. At first, they were together in a room. Roddy was concerned they might wake up in the night and be frightened because they didn’t know where they were so she placed them together.

Young Olha has already moved into a bedroom downstairs after a bed was donated for her. “She crawled onto the bed after we’ve made it and she started to cry out of joy.”

Roddy says the community – both in Sarnia and Petrolia – have been incredibly generous, donating whatever the pair needs. That includes a keyboard for young Olha who is an accomplished pianist.

The group Save Ukraine Sarnia-Lambton is continuing to look for people to house refugees. The first of three chartered flights of people fleeing the three month old war arrived in Winnipeg on the weekend. One of the flights will be landing in Toronto by the beginning of June.

Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu says 50 families have offered to house some of the refugees. Roddy says if people are able, they should become involved. 

“It’s been a great experience in the community. I can’t believe that community between Sarnia and Petrolia and just people coming out of the woodwork … People have just been phenomenal. It is just such a loving community.”