Kateryna Nazaroya: ‘We are very thankful for everything’
This entry is part [part not set] of 13 in the series The Immigrants Among Us [http://manchester.local/inklink-series/the-immigrants-among-us/] Kateryna Nazaroya lived in the city of Chernivsti in western Ukraine near the border with Moldova and Romania. She came to the U.S. in 2022 with her husba
Country of origin: UKRAINE
Now lives in Exeter
Kateryna Nazaroya lived in the city of Chernivsti in western Ukraine near the border with Moldova and Romania. She came to the U.S. in 2022 with her husband, Bohtan, and her young son to flee the war with Russia.
Initially, they stayed and endured the war. They helped organize relief with some American and Canadian contacts, evacuating people from the East where the invasion occurred to the relative safety of the West of Ukraine.
“There were some successful stories, and there were some that the buses were attacked with shells. And then we got a few soldiers from the United States that wanted to help us. They were traveling with our guys from Chernivtsi with the buses to evacuate the people. The war was right there for four months,” she said.
The decision to come to America was a difficult one for her.
“For me as a patriotic lady, I never thought about this. What was bothering us, we adopted our son when he was three years old, and he lost his parents. He lost all his family, and it was stressful for him because when he would hear the air raid alarms, we would wake him up and he would run somewhere else and hide all the time,” Kateryna said.
They entered under the United For Ukraine program which provides a two-year parole pathway that requires a U.S. citizen to sponsor them. Because the war is still ongoing they have applied for a second two-year asylum protection.
They were sponsored by a group of 10 Americans who live in the Exeter Mill complex where she resides now. They helped with the apartment, and furnishings and even provided a used car to get the family started in America. Hers is one of 350 Ukrainian families sponsored under this program in New Hampshire.
Her message to the people of New Hampshire is this:
“We are very thankful for everything, not only for people who are here currently in the United States but also for the whole support that the United States is providing to Ukraine. Maybe sometimes we’re not perfect. Yeah, and some people think that we are rude, but I think it’s our strong accent, the way we communicate, and, I mean, our relationship with our kids, and maybe we’re more strict.
“But we’re trying to do our best, and if you see any refugee, no matter from which country they came here, they probably have a reason, not for themselves. They’re not looking for ‘the better life.’ Most of the families are hard-working, they came here for their kids.”
