Chapter 16: “We will win”

Mariia who arrived, aged thirteen, from Ukraine in 2022.

Mariia and her mother fled bombs in Ukraine, after the invasion of Russia in February 2022, leaving Mariia's father behind in Kyiv. They arrived in Britain through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme sponsored by the vicar of St Mary's Horsham and her family. Several Ukrainians, who meet in St Mary's church for English lessons, have settled in this Sussex town. Mariia misses her father, her dog Cleopatra and her fellow dance students. The war has interrupted her ambition of becoming a professional dancer, but the vicar's children and her new school friends have helped allay some of her sadness. Her mother clings onto the reassurance of a Ukrainian woman soldier that "We (Ukraine) will win."