ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 | VOL. 78 NO. 35
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From Kyiv, with hope Dave Luenberg sports@ahnfsj.ca
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For most of us, war is something very distant, but for one Ukrainian family it’s hit close to home, very close. Meet Olga and daughters, Mariia, 20, and Iryna, 12. Raised in Kyiv, the two girls really only knew one life. That all changed suddenly in late February. A single mother, Olga had been visiting family in Austria when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Their home destroyed; their lives altered in an instant. Late last week Friday, the trio walked through the arrivals door at the North Peace Regional Airport, smiling as they began a new chapter. Waiting for them, new friend Scot Harse, who, with others in the community, will help the family get settled into their new home. “I felt it was time to give back and help out a little bit,” said Harse when asked what motivated him to reach out in this way. “I went online and found a nice family who were going to go to Calgary. I suggested they
DAVE LUENEBERG PHOTO
Mariia, Iryna, and mom, Olga, arrive in Fort St. John just before midnight Aug. 26, to begin a new life in Canada.
pick a northern community in Saskatchewan, Alberta, or B.C. They did their research and here we are.” Harse was also behind a social media campaign to find an above-ground swimming pool for Iryna who will need to be quarantined for her first two weeks in Canada. As the family sets up in
northern B.C., Olga is hoping to bring a normal life back to her daughters – a new direction, particularly for her youngest. She’s already making progress, applying for a teaching position with School District 60, excited about the possibility. Her oldest daughter, meantime, is looking at returning to either university or college and
continuing her computer technology training. Mariia was in her third year of university in Kyiv when the war broke out. And, for Iryna, who becomes a teenager in short order, it’s the chance to grow, make new friends, and just be a kid. Welcome to Canada and welcome to Fort St. John! We’re glad you’re here!
New immigrants ‘excited for the days to come’ Matt Preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca
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Around 100 Canadian newcomers met at Calvary Baptist Church Sunday afternoon for a potluck welcome party to Fort St. John. Among them, Bogs and Chona San Juan, who celebrated their first full week in their new home city just before midnight on Monday. With friends already in Fort St. John, and hearing their positive reviews, the couple began exploring options to join them here in the city last year. They applied with all their documents in April, were approved in June, and on a flight to Canada this month. They arrived Aug. 22 from their hometown of Davao, Philippines, connecting to Fort St. John via flights from Korea and Vancouver. “We had a very long August 22,” laughed Bogs during an interview following Sunday’s party. With a background in healthcare IT, Bogs will begin business management and IT studies at Northern Lights Col-
MATT PREPROST PHOTO
Bogs and Chona San Juan arrived in Fort St. John from the Philippines on Aug. 22 in search of a better life.
lege starting Sept. 6. His wife, Chona, with an open work permit and a CPA, CMA, and MBA on her resume, looks forward to put her account-
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ing skills to good use for local businesses. “It was quite fast,” Chona said of their experience. “We we wanted to come here be-
cause we wanted a small a city, we didn’t want to go to the big ones like Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary.” Continued on A14
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CHOICE 2022
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