“I know how to be a refugee. Now I want to help people”: Vlada’s Journey from War-Torn Ukraine to New Hampshire

“In One Moment”

In 2022, in her native country of Ukraine, Vlada Khalizieva had started her “dream job,” working as a Social Media Manager, after recently completing a master’s degree in linguistics the previous year. 

“It was a job that I was so loving,” Vlada says, “but everything finished in one moment. In the days that the war started, I lost my job.”

Vlada and her family had been living a quiet and peaceful life in what turned out to be the wrong place at the wrong time.

“I lived in Kharkiv, which is on the border of Belarus and Russia,” she explains, “and it was the most attacked city from the first day the war started. We were the first people who heard, like, this sharp noise outside, and at first thought it was just something like fireworks—but it was starting at four in the morning, so yeah, it was something else, and it was really scary.” 

“After Three Days…We Were Alone” 

Kharkiv was the first major target of Russia’s sudden and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. It was bombed relentlessly, forcing its residents to make terrible calculations.

“Maybe three days after the war started, we were alone,” Vlada says, “like without any public transportation, without any groceries, supermarkets—everything was closed. Maybe 30% of people left, and moved to other cities, or they started to cross the border. Some just stayed there. We were among those who stayed—who didn’t believe the war could happen. Everyone thought that the war would finish in three days, that everyone just could communicate together and find a way to solve the problem.” 

Vlada lived on the eighth floor of a nine-story building whose residents included many children. As destruction surrounded them, they scrambled to figure out how to remain safe, often huddling in the basement. The closer the bombing got to them, the more isolated they became.

“We didn’t have our car or any transportation to move or to leave. We lost Internet connections. We lost any connection with the world around us. We didn’t know what was happening and we couldn’t call anyone to say that we were still alive” 

Still, Vlada and her family clung to hope that the bombing would soon pass and recovery would begin. 

“Each day you were thinking like, OK, that building was crushed, but you will survive, and your building will survive even after everything, and maybe someone will come in to help you. Someone will provide transportation to evacuate you, or whatever else. But our part of the city was blocked, and all that we saw were a lot of tanks crossing around our apartment and the like.” 

“I Don’t Really Understand How We Survived” 

After the second attack, Vlada and her family had no choice but to leave. 

“We just took our two cats and, like two bags, and started to run out from the building.” 

Vlada’s grandfather lived about twenty minutes away. They couldn’t contact him and had no idea what they’d find when they reached his home. Fortunately, it proved to be a safe place. The next day, a friend of Vlada’s father was able to pick them up there and drive them out of Kharkiv and into the countryside where they stayed for about three months, recovering and planning their next moves.  

Vlada’s father found a new job in Kharkiv and he and her mother decided to rent a new apartment there. Vlada’s godmother found a sponsoring family in the U.S. through the Uniting for Ukraine program, and she and Vlada set out together for Nashua, New Hampshire.

“When I just crossed the border to Poland, I started to breathe, because I was in a safe place, even though not yet in the United States, I felt, OK now I’m safe. I don’t need to be afraid all the time that something will happen. And when I reached the United States, I felt that way even more.” 

In the first few days, Vlada remembers taking great comfort in eating simple foods that had stopped being available in Ukraine—fresh fruits and vegetables—and ice cream.  

Her sponsors helped her begin to navigate living in the U.S. They introduced her to the city, U.S. culture, and other Ukrainians in the area.

“I really appreciated their help. They opened the door to the safe life without bomb attacks every day.”

To help her secure benefits and work authorization, and learn how to find a job in the U.S., the family connected Vlada to the International Institute of New England which has offices in nearby Manchester. There, she met her Case Manager, Sarah Niazai, now a close friend.

But within two weeks of getting adjusted, the unthinkable happened. Vlada called her mother in Kharkiv, who explained that there had been a break between bomb attacks, but they had started up again.  

“She started to cry and she was so scared. She said, ‘I can’t find Dad. I think he’s been killed.’” 

“I Want to Help People” 

Still reeling from this news, Vlada threw herself into her job search. She found part-time work at a T.J. Maxx clothing store, as a Teaching Aid for English for Speakers of other Languages classes at an adult learning center, and as Front Desk Manager at a dental office. She accepted them all at once and worked 56 hours/week. Vlada was emotionally and physically exhausted, but this was what she needed to do to get by. 

Once she found her footing, she shifted to more work that would allow her to help fellow immigrants, spending a year coordinating and providing language interpretation. She still kept her eye on job postings, and something was sparked in her when she saw an opening at the International Institute of New England. She remembered the help she had received there when she needed it most.

“It was like, OK, I really need this position! I want to help people. I know how to be a refugee, which is great experience! This is a job to provide a lot of support for people whose experience I can understand.” 

“I Know Something About That” 

Now an IINE Case Manager with clients of her own, Vlada says that, while it has its own challenges, it feels rewarding to use her incredibly difficult experience to help fellow refugees and immigrants.  

“There are a lot of clients coming in with trauma and I can be like, yeah, I know something about that.” It may be different— I have many clients who are Afghan women who dealt with the Taliban, and yeah, I haven’t had that experience—but I can try to help them. I can try to support them, just by telling them that right now they’re in a safe place and they can get back everything they lost in their country.” 

Vlada herself feels like she’s in a good place now.

“I’m taking things day-by-day. In my past I was the kind of person that planned a lot for the future. Then everything crashed in a moment. I still love Ukraine. I want to return one day and to get another life there. But right now, I so appreciate the United States, who helped us a lot. I appreciate the people I work with, who are really nice. I love them all, and they’re good friends. And yeah, they support you when you need it.” 

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Refugees and immigrants make long, difficult journeys to escape violence and rebuild their lives in the U.S. You can give them the help they need to start fresh today.