For many Ukrainians living in Ottawa, a beige, two-storey building on Carling Avenue near Dow’s Lake feels like a home away from home.
Even for an uninitiated first-time visitor to Café Ukraine, it takes less than two minutes to get dragged into a game of chess, before getting gently dismantled by a burly, bearded Ukrainian man, down to the very last pawn.
Meanwhile, other people are bringing out musical instruments, enjoying some traditional Ukrainian food and drink, and playing board and card games. The room is buzzing with conversation and laughter – which is exactly what organizers wanted.
“The entire point of the café was to create a place specifically for Ukrainian newcomers where they could just be,” said Adriana Romas, a lead organizer of Café Ukraine and member of the Ukrainian diaspora.
“We had to figure out a way to pull these new Ukrainians into the community because there was a huge risk they would be spread out around Ottawa in strange homes, with strange people, with a strange language, and then what?”
Pulling Ukrainians in Ottawa together as the holiday season arrives is noteworthy this year given that Ukraine has officially moved its Christmas holiday from Jan. 7 to Dec. 25, in an act of defiance against continued Russian aggression in Ukrainian territory, and as a departure from the Russian Orthodox Church. However, for the time being, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ottawa will continue to have its Christmas Day celebrations on Jan. 7.
For many Ukrainians in Ottawa, this Christmas season is less about the day it is celebrated on and more about being together and celebrating Ukrainian traditions. The effects of the ongoing war have led to uprooted lives, separated families and lost loved ones. Having a sense of togetherness away from home, made possible through venues such as Café Ukraine, Maidan Market and the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, is vital for Ukrainian newcomers fleeing war to feel a sense of belonging this holiday season.
“Broken souls and broken destinies need support. They need to feel at home,” said Father Taras Kinash, the parish priest at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, in Ottawa’s west end.
For nearly two years now, Ukraine has been engaged in a bloody and brutal war with Russia, forcing millions from their homes and leaving 17.6 million people in Ukraine in need of humanitarian assistance in 2023, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
“We have a war, we’re not thinking about a holiday.”
Mykyta Zakharchenko, Ukrainian youth who moved to Ottawa because of the war
During this period of intense uncertainty and anxiety, many Ukrainians have turned to the church for support, Kinash said. The parish has been active since the war began, running a variety of events, programs and fundraisers to provide a welcoming environment for Ukrainian newcomers into the Ottawa-Ukrainian community, according to Kinash.
Deciding on which day to celebrate Christmas next year is not easy for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, whose decision the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Ottawa would follow. For Ukrainians who migrated to Canada long ago, “the tradition of celebrating Christmas on Jan. 7 was one way they could preserve their unique culture and identity in a land so far from home,” Kinash said.
For Mykyta Zakharchenko – a 17-year-old who came to Canada by himself because of the war over a year ago, hardly knowing any English at all – this holiday season will bring “new feelings.”
“We should build something new, in a way that respects and remembers our old traditions,” said Mykyta, as he sipped a coffee Tuesday night at Café Ukraine.
However, he said there are more important things on his mind. “We have a war, we’re not thinking about a holiday.”
Mykyta says he had established a good life for himself in Cherkasy, south of Kyiv. He started a cryptocurrency company, joined a Ukrainian national rowing team and attended high school with his family and friends close by.
That all changed one morning in late February 2022 when he woke to a phone call from his best friend.
“The war has started,” his friend said. Mykyta said he knew at that moment things wouldn’t be the same.
Within the span of four days, it was determined he would move to Canada and live with a host family, while his mother and little brother would move to Germany. His grandmother remained in Cherkasy. Despite being separated, his family is constantly at the forefront of his mind.
For Mykyta and many other Ukrainian newcomers who have been separated from their families, this holiday season will be a “painful” one, he said.
“Christmas is a family holiday. It is when you should be with your family,” Mykyta said.
Fortunately, diaspora organizations have stepped up big time to support Ukrainian newcomers. Places like Café Ukraine and Maidan Market sprung up as local initiatives in Ottawa after the latest war began and have played a big part in helping provide a sense of community for Ukrainian newcomers.
“To me, especially around the Christmas holidays, Café Ukraine feels like home,” Mykyta said.
The Ottawa community has also shown its full support. During the initial phase of newcomers fleeing the war, Maidan Market – an information and learning centre for Ukrainian newcomers located in the West Gate Shopping Centre – had over 400 volunteers assisting over 2,000 Ukrainians in need of help, according to Svitlana Maksiuta, a lead organizer.
Newcomers Olha Stoicheva and Venera Khakimova, who were waiting around after finishing their English lesson at the community hub on Thursday morning, said Maidan Market has been a place for them to feel comfortable and to connect with other Ukrainians.
“Maidan Market, for everybody, is a country within a country, an island where we keep safe and feel warmth and friendliness,” Khakimova said.
Over the upcoming Christmas holidays, both Café Ukraine and Maidan Market will be bringing Ukrainians together. Mykyta, Stoicheva and Khakimova all said they plan to celebrate Christmas twice, on both Dec. 25 and Jan. 7.
“The day Ukrainians celebrate Christmas is not as important as the celebration of tradition itself.”
Father Taras Kinash
Kinash and his parish have been working hard to make Ukrainian newcomers feel welcome this holiday season. On Saturday, Nov 18. the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ottawa will be hosting the 2023 Ukrainian Christmas Market.
“The day Ukrainians celebrate Christmas,” Kinash said, “is not as important as the celebration of tradition itself.”
