'The work is incredibly important': How a Winnipeg woman has been helping in Ukraine

Home for the holidays has taken on a whole new meaning for a Winnipeg woman who has spent more than a year in Ukraine rebuilding schools and helping students.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Patricia Maruschak answered the call and headed to Kyiv in October 2022 to help. She works with Finn Church Aid, a Finnish humanitarian organization that provides education support in emergencies.

On her way to Ukraine, she said Russia bombed the centre of Kyiv, killing several people.

"That hadn't happened for a long time since the war started. I think it was quite shocking and it was a little bit of a surprise to myself, my family was a little bit concerned," she told CTV News.

But she noticed something else in Ukraine too – resilience.

"Entering into Ukraine by train, you see that despite the fact that it's a country in the middle of a full-blown war, I mean life does go on, people do continue with their everyday normal lives," she said.

"They persevere despite some difficult and uncertain conditions."

Maruschak heads up Finn Church Aid's office in Ukraine. She and her team work to reopen schools that have been damaged in bombings. Students in Ukraine can't go to school unless it has a functioning bomb shelter, so that is another priority Maruschak tackles.

Her work goes beyond the school's brick-and-mortar, focussing on the staff and students inside.

"They often have to deal with children who have been through some traumatic things, or who have parents who maybe are fighting at the front, or maybe some have even been taken prisoner of war," she said.

"We try to help them with some psychosocial support, coping mechanisms, and skills as well."

It is work that Maruschak has made personal sacrifices to do. While working in Ukraine, she has had to leave her husband and two children behind in Winnipeg.

"It's still a big change, the fact that she's not here, and then also worrying about what's going on over there, especially when you hear about air raids and alarms and that type of thing," her husband Keith Swinton said.

But the family strives to include each other in their everyday lives even though they are on different continents most of the year.

"If you see a deer on the street, you can photograph it and send it to her," Keith said. "Just including her a bit more in the day-to-day."

Still, her family is proud of the work she is doing.

"She's an incredible woman. She's got a unique set of talents and abilities and experience that just led to this. And the work is incredibly important," Keith said.

"It's important for people to remember what's going on there, that every day children are being affected. Children are dying as a result of Russian bombs in an absolutely senseless war that Ukraine didn't start."

Maruschak has been home in Winnipeg with her family for the holidays, but she says it has been a shift.

The sounds of explosions and anti-aircraft gunfire – a part of everyday life in parts of Ukraine – are hard to leave behind.

"I also have an air raid alarm app that is on and will tell me when there's an air raid alarm happening," she said. "I still see the notifications, but to just try and go back to a life where that's not a part of the daily reality."

Maruschak is planning to return to Ukraine to continue her work following a Ukrainian Christmas celebration with her family.