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Seventeen girls — the youngest only six years old and the oldest just 17 — may soon have to leave the only real home they’ve ever known.
The home, called Maple Leaf House, is located about an hour north of Lviv, Ukraine, just 60 kilometres from Polish border. It was built with donations to a Saskatoon non-profit charity called NASHI about 15 years ago.
According to vice-president Andrew Allsopp, NASHI — which means “ours” in Ukrainian — raises awareness and fights human trafficking worldwide. In Ukraine, traffickers target girls starting as young as age six, some of whom live in orphanages or come from deplorable home conditions.
“You could go to eastern Ukraine and buy a girl for $100,” he said matter-of-factly.
The home was completed around 2015. The girls living in the home go to school in the community; their medical needs, clothing, tuition — including technical, trade, or university — are all paid for with donations.
Allsopp described the home as being the only safe place they’ve ever known. But when the Russian invasion occurred, that began to take a toll on the children.
“Currently the girls are safe, although at night the lights are all out and they’re in the root cellar with supplies,” Allsopp said. “But the problem we’re having is these girls were previously traumatized. They’ve all been physically (or) sexually abused, (a) groomed for sale kind of thing.
“They’re in a nice home now with their sister, if they have one, with great staff. War is tough on any child. When you’ve got 17 of them who are already hurting … I know some of the older girls who know what’s going on are physically ill from anxiety.”
Allsopp and other Saskatoon volunteers have been on their phones day and night, trying to make arrangements to rent a bus, to get supplies together, and for the girls and staff to leave Maple Leaf House at a moment’s notice if necessary.
“Right now, they’re 60 kilometres from the Polish border. More than half of that is a lineup. So you’re looking at 60 hours in a lineup, to get across that border,” Allsopp said.
“How do you put 17 girls on a bus and have them live in that bus for two days only to get to Poland — and now where do you go?”
He said bringing them to Canada may be an option, but it’s also a very complicated process.
It’s not clear when exactly the home may be closed and the girls, along with Maple Leaf House staff, may head to the border. However a Facebook post on NASHI’s page posted Wednesday indicates they no longer feel safe.
“NASHI has secured all the necessary documentation and have a bus to transport the girls to Poland where we have arranged for a place to stay,” Allsopp said.
“How long they will remain in Poland depends on the situation in Ukraine. If the war in Ukraine continues for a long period of time, it is possible we may bring our girls to Canada — which means we will need approximately $40,000 to pay for flights.”
Allsopp said he had a list of people from Saskatoon willing to help once everyone gets to Poland.
“We don’t yet know what the legal costs would be for immigration costs because we’ve got 17 kids with no passports. Also, the place to get a visa is Kyiv, and we’re not going to go there.
“So what do we do? (Staff) tell us what they need, and we make sure it happens.”
More information on NASHI can be found here.
