Atikokan Stands With Ukraine

An Atikokan area tourist lodge is helping Ukrainian families relocate to Canada.

Brown’s Clearwater West Lodge is opening its doors to offer support and help families integrate into new surroundings.

Co-owner Aniela Hannaford says the idea started with wanting to help at least one family. When her family was discussing it, they determined that they could do more.

“It went on beyond that too. We have more beds than that. Let’s see if the community is behind us with this idea that we have, and if they’re behind us, then let’s see if we can help as many families as possible,” Hannaford.

Hannaford says the support was overwhelming from the start, allowing them to put their grassroots initiative into motion.

She says the objective is two-fold.

“We will guarantee employment for three families and support for the summer. The remaining families that come over to use the other portion of our facility, they will be on a transition, a soft landing type initiative.”

Hannaford says they’ve already connected with three families. The first arrived in mid-April.

“Our first family is a family of four. Our second family is a mom and a son. Dad had to stay behind and fight there. Currently, they are in Greece. We’ve received visas for mom, and we’re awaiting visas for son.”

For Christian Egwuom, Vika Katsal and their two boys, David and Filip, their journey to Atikokan started with their evacuation from their home in Kyiv on the day of the Russian invasion.

They would first hold out in an underground shelter before making the decision to flee to the Ukraine-Poland border.

Egwuom says they knew that would be dangerous.

“People find it difficult to leave the country because of the safety,” says Egwuom. “You might be trying to leave. There’s no guarantee yourself that you’re gonna be safe. Most people who leave are being shot at on the way. Some who tried to leave couldn’t make it to the border,” says Egwuom.

The trip to the border would require a lengthy train ride.

Eqwuom says they boarded a train with a capacity of 30.

“In this crisis, the train had to take up to 450 people. The children have been allowed to sit down. The adults are not allowed to sit down. You have to stand for up to 22 hours,” says Egwuom

The ride would be slow and done in complete darkness to escape the attention of the Russian forces.

Upon reaching the border, the family endured another long wait to get across.

“We also have to spend almost 11 hours on the border before we can be able to cross because the queue there on the border is so long, up to three miles,” says Egwuom.

Eventually, they would cross and make their way to Austria, where they gained approval to come to Canada and eventually to Atikokan.

They are now settling in with their newly-extended family.

They celebrated a birthday for David, who turned 10 last weekend.

Katsal, speaking through her husband as an interpreter, is overjoyed by the support received.

“People here are so amazing, so awesome. They are so hospitable, so open-hearted to accept our family. They are very kind. The unity and happiness that has brought to my life, I can’t explain it enough,” says Katsal.

“My kids are really enjoying it the most. They have been enjoying the family and the facilities. This is one of the most important things that the kids find it very easy and very happy to reunite with the community,” says Egwuom.

Both boys recently started school at North Star Community School.

Egwuom says they are very grateful for what the owners of Brown’s Clearwater and the community have done for them.

“Things are just moving more easily than we expected. It’s possible that had we been in a big city, it could not have been so easy. So it’s very awesome.”

It’s only been about a month, but Egwuom says his family is preparing to set up permanent roots.

He says the friendliness of the people and their acceptance of them convinced them their stay will be long term if they can.

“We are planning to be in the community if we have a constant job. You know when you can be able to have a constant income and stable income. So that’s what we need. If we can find a good job and settle down, of course, we want to be in the community,” says Egwuom.

Egwuom is an electrical engineer. Vika is a civil engineer. They now looking into what they need to do to continue those careers in Canada.

Hannaford now considers the Ukrainians as an extended part of her family.

“The boys have just melted into our family. Vika and Christian have too, and whatever we can do to support them beyond their time here at camp, we will do it,” says Hannaford.

More families are on the way.

The lodge has also received calls from others across the northwest asking how they can help.

Some businesses are coming forth with job offers.

“They can access this pool of skilled labour professionals, people that want to move on and really want to work, and it’ll improve their business and improve their relationships too. It’s only enriching for everybody.”

Hannaford says, though, they can’t do it alone.

“The more community support, not just in Atikokan but in northwestern Ontario, we can get, the more families we can bring over. We can allow them to decompress, let their children be children in a camp setting.”

The lodge is not getting any government funding for their initiative. 

A crowd-sourcing account has been set up, if you would like to help financially.

eTransfers can be sent to atikokancf@gmail.com. In the message, or in a separate email, indicate the donation is designated for Atikokan Stands with Ukraine. Include your name, address, phone number and email. A PDF receipt will be emailed back.

Donations for $100 and over can also be directed through Atikokan Community Fellowship.