3/25/2023 0 Comments Bobby womack across 110th street![]() SIMON: You're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I want to thank you both very much for being with us. SIMON: Svitlana Yavenko, who is now in Atlanta, a refugee - she and her family from Ukraine and her American sponsor, Shane Little. And I really love Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Because our Ukrainian people - they are really brave and strong. SIMON: May I ask - we're just about at the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. and with the help of wonderful American family. That's why I think that we started a new life in the U.S. SIMON: Svitlana, do you see your family ever returning to Ukraine? And we're very, very pleased with the progress that they're making here. And in the meantime, my mother and I have been providing for housing and anything else that they need during their stay. We went to the school the very next day for Kostyk (ph), and he started the following Monday. LITTLE: So when they came over in September, the services that the city of Atlanta provides has been phenomenal. SIMON: Shane Little, what can you do? What do you see it to be your responsibility? And I think that my husband - he is also happy to be here and working and live our new life. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants in Atlanta. YAVENKO: I think great because we are working now. SIMON: And your husband? How are you and your husband doing? I think that he don't want to speak about that. He go to school, and he really love to be here because he - in Ukraine, he was afraid. SIMON: Svitlana, may I ask how your son is doing? He's 9 years old, I'm told. ![]() ![]() And this was a chance maybe to improve history and be a part of something that was going to make a big, meaningful impact to not just a family, but to a nation that is, for all purposes, standing up to fascism. I know before World War II there were lots of opportunities for Americans to bring people over. My mom wanted to have an additional purpose. LITTLE: My mom and I are doing this jointly. SIMON: What led you, Shane Little, to want to do this, to feel so deeply about a war that was going on thousands of miles away that you wanted to make a home for strangers? That's why I think that I can't return because I don't have home in my own home city. My neighborhood in November last year destroyed, and my home too. The Russians - they constantly attack my city with missiles. YAVENKO: Yeah, my city is near the front line and part of my region is under occupation. Tell us what your life was like a year ago when the war began. I gather you're from Zaporizhzhia - pretty famous place around the world because of the nuclear plant there. Thanks so much, both of you, for being with us. And we're delighted to say we're joined now by Svitlana and her American sponsor, Shane Little. Her family arrived in Atlanta last September as part of a program run by Welcome.US, a humanitarian organization that helps Americans sponsor families to come here. Among them is Svitlana Yavenko, along with her husband and their 9-year-old son. Millions of Ukrainians have been driven from their homes and more than 100,000 have sought refuge here in the U.S. It's been almost one year since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
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