The holidays are not over yet: Christmas for the Eastern Orthodox Church is next Tuesday, and for the Ukrainian community here in the Valley, it is both a time to celebrate and pray for peace.
Valley Ukrainians are singing songs for Christmas with a prayer for peace. For the ones who have known war for almost three years, these carols mean something a whole lot more.
“One of the verses was all the wishes for the house.. and one of them was for peace and happiness. And when we sing it in Ukrainian, we really, really feel it in our heart,” said Nadia Berg, a Ukrainian immigrant living in the Valley.
The war in Ukraine has been raging since February 2022. The Russian invasion became the biggest and most deadly conflict to impact Europe since World War II.
Thousands of lives have been lost and many more displaced from their homes.
Do you have a concern in your community or a news tip? We want to hear from you!
Connect with us: share@abc15.com
“My step-niece is about my son’s age, and she was hiding from bombs and they were sending videos of the boom-boom, she would call it, and it was devastating,” said Katrina Schaffner, a Ukrainian American.
Schaffner and her family live in Mesa. Her grandparents escaped Nazi Germany during World War II after being kidnapped and enslaved.
Now, Schaffner is hosting children, the sons and daughters of Ukrainian immigrants, to celebrate Orthodox Christmas and caroling amidst a war-torn homeland.
“It’s hard to find these moments to celebrate, but we are trying to come together in ways that help bring us some enthusiasm, some light and remind each other why we’re fighting what we’re fighting for,” said Schaffner.
“It doesn’t matter where we are, where we live, we’re still Ukrainians in our heart,” said Berg.
For these Ukrainians, keeping their culture alive is their way of fighting back. And no matter what the future holds, these songs will remind them to hold on.
