The first day at school is an exciting moment for every child, especially when you are in a new country. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, two thirds of Ukrainian children start the school year away from home. The heroes of today's story told how they meet Ukrainian students in one of the schools in Canada.

Zlata and her family came to Winnipeg at the beginning of the summer. A family from Kherson, was forced to flee from their home in the first days of the war. Diana Shcherbakova tells how it was: "We left on the very first day of the war, at ten in the morning. We were on the road for five days. We arrived in Poland, then the CUAET program opened in March, and we decided to fly to Canada."

Volunteers helped with the school supplies. "The backpack 4 hope initiative" was created thanks to the community organizations of Manitoba. Zlata and 700 other Ukrainian children received sets of school supplies for the new school year.

"Recently, I wrote a review and looked at the statistics. They gave these gifts to seven hundred children. My Zlata was very happy to receive a huge schoolbag with stationery," says the girl's mother Diana.

Despite the fact that Zlata, like all newly arrived children, is facing a difficult process of adaptation to a completely new environment for her, the girl was looking forward to the start of the new school year. And in the first week, the seventh-grader already managed to create a pleasant impression on the teachers. Hard-working, capable and persistent, the teacher Tracy describes the girl in these words: "Since her studies have only recently started, I don't know her very well. But I can already tell that she is really interested in everything we do. She helps other children who may need translation, and that's really nice of her. And she really wants to improve her English in order to study better at school."

And Zlata herself does not hide a positive impression from us.

"I really like it, it's very cool here," says the girl.

Although Zlata is now used to the new school, she admits that the beginning of her studies was still painful: "When I first came, I remember how scared I was, I even cried. And when I crossed the threshold, my fear is gone."

Thanks to the fact that during the summer the girl improved her English at the UNF summer camp, now learning a foreign language does not cause problems, but sometimes modern technologies come to the rescue.

"Zlata can get along with us. She is still learning English, so like other English learners, she sometimes uses a translator. But she is hardworking and has a desire to learn. And my task is to communicate with her as clearly as possible," says teacher Malgozhata Tomchyk.

Zlata is not the first student from Ukraine, and according to teacher Malgozhata Tomchyk, she is not the last. The school is ready to take care of each new arrival child and give them the support they need: “At Pembina Trails, we have a process for all our new arrival families. First, we meet one-on-one with families, organize excursions for them, and explain school rules. We make sure that students feel safe and comfortable."

Zlata quickly found friends among her new classmates.

"I got to know everyone, but now I mostly communicate with only three girls from Ukraine," the girl shares.

The seventh-grader quickly joined the team and adapted to the new educational environment, and this is primarily due to the teachers, who see the support of newcomers as their main goal.

"I try to make sure she feels she can come to me when she doesn't understand something. And that she knows she has classmates and teachers who are ready to help her when she needs it," says Tracy Matthews. 

Contact Yuliia Kovalenko, our civic journalist, to share your story and explore civic issues: yuliyakovalenko@u-channel.ca.

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