North Mississippi family welcomes Ukrainian family

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss (WCBI) – A family in our area is helping Ukrainian families fleeing from the Russian invasion of their homeland.

Due to the conflict in Ukraine, many families are looking for refuge in the U.S.

Rodney Mast, a North Mississippi farmer who is also the caregiver to three Ukrainian children, wanted to do more for the Ukrainian people amid their hardships.

“You just can’t imagine the pain that these people are going through; they lost their home, they lost their community, their supermarket, the people they went to bought coffee from every morning, the places they played ball, the places they went fishing, the places their grandma and grandpa took them. It’s gone. It’s over. They got to start living again,” said Rodney Mast.

Forced to flee from the Ukraine, Nadiia Romanova recalls what she describes as a terrifying morning leaving everything as she was told to take what was dearest to her. And that was her family.

“We didn’t have a chance to think. It all started at 4 am in the morning, and we were in the heart of the city. Which is the city that borders Russia and we heard bombing and missiles. And we had to stand up and move somewhere to the central part of Ukraine in order to run away from being attacked right at that moment. It was hard, and I don’t wish anyone to live through that,” said Nadiia Romanova.

Nadia moved to the U.S a couple of weeks ago and said she is grateful to her host family for their southern hospitality.

Nadia also believes that moving to the Mississippi gave her family a chance to be safe, to start over, and be together.

“It’s difficult to say what hopes and plans right now we are just happy to be here far from the war and to have a chance to regroup and a good life. It’s difficult to say what our plan is. Our plan is just to live, our plan is to bring my child up knowing that she didn’t hear the missiles and rockets and didn’t know the world of war anymore,” said Nadiia Romanova.

As for the Mast family, they will continue to help the family as they start over.

So it was very easy to just connect with them, and knowing some of their culture and a little bit of who they are, from having visit there and being involved in Ukraine, gave me the heart and desire to give them another chance in life,” said Rodney Mast.

If you are looking for ways to give or to help during the Ukrainian Crisis, visit www.internationalhostconnection.com