Ukrainian summer students at Thompson Rivers University have created a tool to help those fleeing to Canada easily connect with resources of all kinds right across the country.
When Yana Hulak and Sofiia Shmyhovska applied for research internships last fall, they didn’t expect a Russian invasion of their homeland and it had them re-thinking their research. The pair were thrilled to have the chance to collaborate on a project aimed at strengthening social work collaboration between Canada and Ukraine, but things shifted in early 2022.
Hulak was a guest on The NL Morning News. “Honestly, I was extremely excited to be coming to Canada because the original purpose of the project was to work on strengthening social work education and community connections between Canada and Ukraine. But several months before our arrival visitation for Ukrainian people changed quite dramatically and so we had to adapt the project to the new reality and the new needs of Ukrainians who had left there homes. It seems lots of our people are coming to Canada and are choosing to settle in here so we decided to create a map that displayed all the places within Canada that can be leaned on by the Ukrainian community.”
“People arriving from Ukraine and the emergency immigration program are in high need of different social services and that is why we decided to create such a space that to help Ukrainian newcomers in Canada to find resources,” says Hulak. “The interactive map directs people to ‘safe spaces’ in Canada such Ukrainian churches, educational and cultural centres, childcare services, restaurants and more.”
Hulak and Shmyhovska are working with TRU Associate Professor and social work educator Dr. Oleksandr Kondrashov who is Ukrainian and moved to Canada some 20 years ago. He says the aim was to alleviate the many challenges that people face when making the sudden move to Canada by showing what resources are available and where programs are through an online map.
“We started doing this for a long time, but with the expansion of the war in February the “Stand with Ukraine” movement grew rapidly and many Canadians opened their homes and opened their places and there is more resources and supports so we needed to expand this map to include more current resources.”
In addition to the mapping project, the team recognized the importance of alleviating the language barrier that can come with moving to a new country. As a result, they also developed virtual English lessons that are currently being taught to more than 130 Ukrainians from around the world. Kondrashov says his team was already focused on developing resources to help Canadian families hosting newcomers to learn Ukrainian – it was his two new interns who decided to develop and offer English lessons to Ukrainians as well.
The opportunity for Shmyhovska and Hulak to do something meaningful for their fellow Ukrainians was made possible by the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship. Shmyhovska said the project is an excellent fit with her desire to improve the world and contribute to Ukrainian society. Her family, whom she misses very much, has been displaced around the world.
Over 2,000 students from more than 30 countries are taking part in the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship this summer to help solve complex problems across a range of industry sectors. Since 2009, Mitacs has matched more than 8,000 senior undergraduates with Canadian faculty. The program promotes Canada as a top destination for research opportunities and showcases Canadian research expertise around the world. This year, it is supporting more than 60 Ukrainian students through its Globalink Research Internship.
The interview with Dr Kondrashov & Yana Hulak can be heard below