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This Story Is About Strength

"I don’t want to tell a story about misery. Let it be about strength."

Every story of starting over in a new country is a story of survival and resilience.

War, though, is always a story of loss and endless tragedy.

Natalia, her elderly mother, and “a half” — the adopted calico cat — left their home during the first year of the full-scale invasion. Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and finally Canada. Months on the move, hoping the war would end. Crossing borders with two suitcases and a cat. Chasing safety and a new beginning. In moments like that, staying strong isn’t easy.



Zhygaltsova  Nataliia
Zhygaltsova  Nataliia

In 2019, life looked promising. Natalia bought an apartment. Her son left to study in Poland. She moved her mother in and adopted a stray cat to keep her company. Things were coming together.

She lived in Odesa, a vibrant port city on the Black Sea — a place of history, culture, and life. Her office was on Derybasivska Street, the heart of the city, where the cat roamed freely before becoming part of the family. For 13 years, Natalia worked on Canadian agricultural projects in Ukraine, focused on business development. She visited Canada in 2010 and formed friendships that, years later, became a lifeline.

Life felt steady—until it shattered.

"When something exploded, I’d rush home so my mother wouldn’t be afraid."

When the war escalated, Natalia adjusted quickly. First, to the sound of bombs. Then, to finding bomb shelters, volunteering, and buying supplies for defenders. Eventually, she fled with her mother and cat to Moldova. In those first four days, she wasn’t just surviving — she was organizing. Helping the Jewish community connect with aid networks, teaching others to use tech tools to get support.


Then came a gruelling 45-hour taxi ride through Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Poland. The cat’s travel documents were a constant worry — would they be allowed through?

Eventually, she reunited with her son in Kraków, Poland, where he was studying. While finishing a Canadian project remotely, she also volunteered at a distribution centre, helping fellow refugees get food, clothes, and medicine. Like many who fled the war, she grappled with survivor’s guilt and symptoms of PTSD — the constant weight of those left behind. Volunteering didn’t heal her—not while the war still rages—but it helped her stay grounded, to cope, to keep moving forward.


That’s when she embraced the Canada-Ukraine Emergency Travel Program. With a background in English teaching and friends in Canada, she leaped.

With nowhere to live, Natalia, her elderly mother, and their cat were taken in by a kind couple. Later, they moved into a two-room apartment, but it was more than she could afford. Eventually, she had to downsize to a smaller place just to keep up with the bills.


Even after arriving in Canada, she continued to give back. She supported Ukrainian women entrepreneurs, helping them overcome language barriers and build confidence. Though the project ended, she still meets with some of these women, now friends, as a volunteer mentor.


Teaching English in Ukraine and working at a Ukrainian school in Canada helps her stay connected to her homeland and culture.

“When I enrolled in English courses, I was under severe stress after spending a long time in an active war zone. What I was really looking for was a mental reset, and it worked. The course with Natalia helped me step back from deep, prolonged stress. I found the motivation to keep learning. She made me believe I could do it, gave me hope, and I truly feel my progress.”
— Viktoria Dotsenko, businesswoman

Then came new challenges: a kitchen job, a hand injury, surgery, stress, and the relentless pressure of starting over and covering the bills. Still, she kept going.

"I was searching for work, sometimes juggling two or three jobs just to get by. It was especially hard after the injury and surgery. But people helped — friends, acquaintances, even strangers."

After having a stable life, a home, and a good job, she’s now rebuilding from scratch. Supporting others has always been part of who she is, both professionally and personally. In 2023, she began volunteering at a retirement home, where she found purpose in caring for the elderly. Bringing joy to the residents brought light back into her own life, along with a sense of fulfillment. By the end of 2024, it became her job as a caregiver with Warm Embrace Elder Care.

"In 2024, my bandura arrived from Ukraine — a treasured part of my past now with me again."

Natalia proudly showed her bandura. She spent 16 years learning to play it in school, college, and university. A hand injury interrupted her path as a musician, and she’s still working toward recovery. Despite the pain, she teaches students and performs at retirement homes and Ukrainian cultural events.

One performance stood out — a charity concert in Cambridge, hosted by Grassroots, raising funds to repair guest houses for those fleeing war. She played through the pain.

Natalia believes the doctors will help her recover — she can’t imagine life without the ability to share Ukrainian music through her bandura.

"I believe life is about happiness. It’s not easy, but we must find joy in each day and support one another — that’s how the world keeps going."

Natalia’s life in Canada is filled with new friendships — people who support her, and people she supports: former colleagues, volunteers, neighbours, and church members. She shared a photo of paper hearts — each one representing a story of someone who helped, listened, or simply showed up when it mattered most.

“From the very beginning, I remember that sofa that Oleg Stukalov from Grassroots Response to the Ukrainian crisis brought me. It is how I met this organization”. After that, Natalia became an active volunteer for Grassroots Response: hosting families, supporting people in the hospitals, driving them to the Foodbank, performing at events, to doing fundraising for families and much more.

Natalia shares: "Once a woman said that she had nowhere to sleep, she had nowhere to live. I took her to my apartment, showed her the bed and asked, "Here is my bed, do you want to sleep here?” And for some time, we slept together in the same bed. What other options were there? That woman needed help here and now..."

Now, Grassroots is helping Natalia's mother to solve the problem with the Work Permit. Thanks to the "Right to Stay" Program, specialists can help Ukrainians with documents.


Choose an action. Stay human. Keep building. Keep caring.

No matter how hard life gets, we can still bring value, still share kindness, still find meaning. That is a strength. That is how life should be.



 
 
 

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