Despite the 13,000 kilometres of physical distance to the war in the Ukraine, people in Perth are rallying to find spare rooms, much-needed funds but also friendship and support for those displaced by the conflict.
While most teens catch up with friends or play sport, 15-year-old Perth student April Narustrang has been busy raising thousands of dollars for airfares and navigating immigration to help a Ukrainian family to come to Western Australia.Irina Bradley spends eight hours a day organising escapesMore than 3.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the start of the conflict, according to the UNHCR.
"So, I searched up if we could get them here [and] I found that there are ways … so I started finding out how we could contact a family, how they could contact us, how we could get all the documents done, flights, money etc."She soon got in contact with a Ukrainian woman, Ilyana, who was forced to evacuate to Bucharest with her eight-year-old daughter, Zlata, after their home in Irpin, a small city around 20km north-west of Kyiv, was destroyed.
Once Iliana and Zlata have settled in Perth next month, April aims to continue helping others in need.Roma Popadynec's parents came to Australia as displaced persons in 1949, after World War II. While waiting for the refugees to arrive, Ms Popadynec decided to put a post out for donations in her community in Perth's western suburbs.
Born in Latvia, Ms Bradley has lived in the city's southern suburbs for around nine years with her husband and two sons. Ms Bradley spends around eight hours a day doing what she calls "pro bono work" with the aim of "helping some people survive or escape." Ms Litwin has been rallying for the community hall to offer English classes for the new arrivals, and her hard work has paid off.
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