The word refugee conjures images of rag-clad wanderers roaming dusty village roads, their hopes suspended for an undetermined amount of time.
But most of the 20,000 Ukrainian refugees who crossed the U.S.-Mexican border into California over the last year are more likely to arrive in Mexico by plane, wearing polo shirts. And the majority of Ukrainians living in the U.S., according to one expert, are here temporarily. Some have moved on to Europe and Canada. And most Ukrainian refugees desire to return upon the war’s end to rebuild their cities.
On the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Europe’s second-largest country, those providing humanitarian aid to displaced Ukrainians are thankful to be back in the spotlight, as work and money is still needed.
But meanwhile, the mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers who have fled their homeland find themselves lost in an unfamiliar American landscape.
Meet the Kovalchuks
One such Ukrainian family is headed by Petro and Olga Kovalchuk. Before the Russian invasion, the couple, both physicians in their mid-thirties, had the professional payoff that comes from years of study and sacrifice.
After medical school, internships and residencies in their specialties of ear, nose and throat, they were “young doctors, trying to find our way,” Petro said. They built their family during this time, which now includes Bohdana, 8, Mykolo, 7, and Ivan, 5.
With the pandemic raging, Petro and Olga moved their family from Kyiv to a smaller town of Cherkasy, where Petro’s father had a thriving, but tiny ENT practice. Everyone in the town of 300,000 knew Dr. Mykola Kovalchuk, said Petro. Patients came from all over Ukraine to be treated.
His father’s dream and his dream: open a larger clinic. The trio pooled their talents and opened Doctor Kovalchuk Family Clinic. The 10-room space complete with a surgery center and a full waiting room operated just six months.
Then, on Feb. 24, 2022, the Russians invaded Ukraine and…
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