Precious memories: 8 refugees share the things they brought to remind them of home
If you had to leave the country where you were born and raised, what would you bring with you as you begin a new life in a strange place?
Of course, there are necessities to pack. But perhaps there is something that is not essential and yet in a way is just that — something to help you remember your roots and keep a touch of home in your new dwelling place. It could be a physical object — or perhaps something intangible that you carry in your heart and soul.
At this time of unprecedented numbers of refugees — a record 27.1 million in 2021 — we wanted to know what precious possessions did refugees take with them? The photojournalists of The Everyday Projects interviewed and photographed eight refugees from different parts of the globe. Here are their stories — and the stories of their cherished objects.
Note: In the story about the Afghan refugee, the photojournalist herself is the one who fled.
From Ukraine to the U.S.
An opera singer's beloved Ukrainian sheet music
Earlier this year in Khmelnytskyi, western Ukraine, Olha Abakumova, an opera singer, and her husband, Ihor, a tubist, put their then-7-year-old daughter Zlata on a pile of blankets in the bathtub to sleep. If a missile were to strike, the bathroom seemed like the safest place in their ninth-floor apartment.
The Khmelnytskyi Philharmonic Orchestra, where they both worked, initially closed after Russia's invasion. A month later, it reopened and the orchestra kept having concerts, raising money for the war effort.
Olha and Ihor were determined to remain in Ukraine even while many of their neighbors fled. They believed the war would end quickly. But one starry and particularly quiet night in March, they heard an eerie whistling sound. They soon learned that Russia had attacked the nearby city of Lviv, where Olha had made her debut at the Lviv National Opera almost a decade ago. That was when they decided to leave.
Today, Olha and her daughter are living in a leafy suburb of Boston with Olha's sister, Liliia Kachura, and her family. Liliia moved to the U.S. eight years ago and now lives in Sudbury, Mass., with her Ukrainian-born husband, Sasha Verbitsky, and their two young sons.
In late April, President Biden announced the Uniting for Ukraine program, which allows U.S. citizens to sponsor Ukrainians to come to the U.S. When Verbitsky heard about it, he immediately called Olha, encouraging her to apply. Men of military age still have to remain in the country, so Ihor would stay in Ukraine. Within a few weeks, Olha's application was approved. In May, mother and daughter were on a 14-hour bus journey from Khmelnytskyi to Warsaw.
Olha and Zlata carried one small suitcase. In it they put toiletries, clothes and shoes. They also carried a few items with sentimental value: Olha's mother's 50-year-old Vyshyvanka, a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt; Zlata's favorite stuffed animal, a turtle; and — most important for Olha — as much sheet music as Olha could stuff inside.
"I have a
