A6
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Ukrainian sisters take refuge in Redmond
By JOE SIESS
The Bulletin
REDMOND — Ira and
Kristina Sinohach, two sisters
from Chernivtsi, Ukraine, left
their home after the start of
Vladimir Putin’s war, embark-
ing on a journey through mul-
tiple countries before cross-
ing into the United States via
Mexico on foot and safely
arriving in Redmond.
The two sisters are thank-
ful to have made it all the way
to Central Oregon, and said
their parents, who remain in
Ukraine, are also relieved.
After such a long journey, the
sisters can finally catch their
breath while they are hosted by
the family of a new friend they
met in southwestern Ukraine
soon after the war began.
While volunteering for the
We’re Near team, a humani-
tarian organization that assists
refugees, the sisters met
23-year-old Connor Steeves,
who had been in the country
since the beginning of Jan-
uary, teaching at the Borys
Hrinchenko Kyiv University.
After first leaving the coun-
try at the start of the war, he
decided to return to volunteer,
and that is when he met Kris-
tina and Ira.
Not long after meeting, Ira
and Steeves began dating and
are now engaged. But stay-
ing in Ukraine was not safe,
so the three of them decided
to leave in April and travel to
Redmond, where Steeves’ par-
ents live.
Neither of the young
women can imagine returning
to Ukraine anytime soon.
“Only one good thing, all
people all around the world
know now what Ukraine is
and where it is,” Ira said.
The day the Russian inva-
sion began, Ira, 22 was sleep-
ing in her home when her
mother loudly and abruptly
opened the door. “The war has
started!” she told her daughter.
“I started crying, because it
was a super-bad surprise,” Ira
recently recalled. “Honestly,
for me, it was a big, bad sur-
prise. I didn’t know about it,
and I didn’t think about it.”
Her sister, Kristina, 20,
heard about the start of the war
while texting with co-workers.
“It was maybe 6 a.m. and
I wake up, because my phone
has a lot of notifications,”
Kristina said. “Everyone tex-
ted, ‘the war has started.’ At
first I didn’t believe…I was so
calm.”
What shook her into action
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Kristina Sinohach looks over a message about a potential job on
her phone June 9, 2022, while talking about the next day’s plans
with Connor Steeves and her sister, Ira Sinohach. The sisters
left Ukraine after the Russian invasion and made their way to
Redmond.
is when her father called in a
panic and told her to pack a
bag and leave Chernivtsi at
once.
“He was so scared, because
he heard the bombs and he
saw the war planes…he was
so scared. I was not,” Kristina
said.
Heeding her father’s words,
she grabbed documents, elec-
tronic devices and anything
she knew she couldn’t live
without, knowing she may
never return.
Soon afterward, her uncle
picked up her and her sis-
ter and took them to a fam-
ily home in a small village
called Nedaboyivsy, about a
half an hour from the Roma-
nian border.
The sisters knew their fam-
ily home was the safest place
to be, at least then. The village
was far enough from where
most of the war was taking
place and there was no major
infrastructure, airports or mil-
itary bases for the Russians to
target.
“They don’t have reason
to attack our village,” Kristina
said. “It is a more safe place,
and we have a basement in our
house.”
Their journey to Redmond
took them first to Poland. After
a delayed flight in Poland due
to a blizzard, they were able to
fly out 24 hours later, reach-
ing the Netherlands. From
there the group flew across the
Atlantic to Bogota, Colombia.
From South America, they
flew to Mexico City and then
to Tijuana near the border with
California.
Because of the sisters’ visa
status they were not permitted
to fly directly to the U.S., so
the group had to find a differ-
ent flight path, and then cross
into the U.S. at the border with
Mexico. At the time, it was
common for Ukrainians flee-
ing the war to cross into the
United States via Mexico, and
the group figured they would
take their chances before it
was too late.
In late April, the United
States announced Ukrainian
refugees were prohibited from
crossing from Mexico as part
of a new policy to cut down
on the number of Ukrainians
seeking to enter the country
via the informal route on the
southern border, the Associ-
ated Press reported.
After masquerading as
tourists and then making
contact with volunteers sta-
tioned in Mexico to assist ref-
ugees from Ukraine, the sis-
ters crossed into California via
Calexico.
Once in the United States,
they were able to arrange
transportation to Sacramento,
where the two sisters have rel-
atives. After staying with their
relatives for a couple of weeks,
they made their final trip up to
Redmond, where the two sis-
ters are currently being hosted
at Steeves’ family home.
“Our parents are happy we
are in a safe place,” Kristina
said. “They miss us, but they
are glad we are here.”
Kristina said she misses
Ukraine, her family and her
friends, and is not entirely sure
when she and her sister will be
able to return, as the war is
ongoing.
Ira and Kristina said they
want people in Oregon to real-
ize the war is still happening
and is in fact getting worse.
In the meantime, while
they wait for work visas, they
are taking advantage of spring
in Bend and exploring some
of Oregon’s bountiful outdoor
beauty.
Stretching, exercise help partially paralyzed rancher stay positive
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
SENECA — Since a car
accident left him paralyzed
from the waist down nine
years ago, a strict exercise
and physical therapy routine
keeps fifth-generation Seneca
rancher Alec Oliver in a bal-
anced and positive mindset.
Oliver, 33, said he can still
do many of the things he did
before, from managing the
day-to-day goings-on at the
ranch to riding a horse. Still,
there is much he misses out
on.
Reconciling that, he said,
requires a positive outlook.
“It doesn’t do any good
to sit around and dwell on
things,” Oliver said. “Every-
body has struggles, every-
body has different challenges,
THE OLIVER FILE
Name: Alec Oliver
Age: 33
Residence: Seneca
Occupation: Fifth-
generation rancher in
Seneca
Honors: 2021
Agriculturist of the Year
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle, File
Alec Oliver, a fifth-generation rancher, helps out during the
Grant County Fair’s Youth Livestock Auction last year.
and nobody knows what it’s
like to be in somebody else’s
shoes.”
Oliver said part of what
keeps him going is exercise
and stretching.
He said he does a lot of
exercises to keep his balance
and his posture in a square
position.
The exercises include leg
stretches and stretches to his
core. Oliver said stretching
counteracts the adverse effects
of sitting in a chair for 18-plus
hours a day.
“If you think about it, if
you sit in a chair in the same
position for 18 hours a day and
how hard that is on the body,
and how bad it is. So I try to
counter that by doing different
stretches,” Oliver said.
Since he can’t stand on
his own anymore, Oliver has
a standing frame that he tries
to stand in for an hour or more
a day. He said this helps him
work on his balance and stay
stretched out.
Also, Oliver has a station-
ary bike that he pedals with
his hands and tries to ride each
day that he is home.
Another thing that Oliver
does is instead of wheeling
forward in his chair all of the
time, he wheels backward to
keep balance in his shoulders.
He said finding ways to
keep his shoulders strong, in
shape and limber to increase
longevity
is
extremely
important.
Horseback riding
Oliver said riding a horse
is one of the most therapeutic
things he does.
“Horseback riding a really
good therapy,” he said. “The
weight and the motion you feel
on a saddle when a horse walks
is a very similar replication to
actually walking.”
As reported in the Capital
Press last year, Oliver uses a lift
to get on and off his horse, and
he has a modified saddle made
by a saddlemaker in Texas.
What horseback riding
does, he said, is pump blood
up and down his spinal cord to
promote healing.
Many have found Oliver’s
story inspirational, including
the nonprofit agriculture edu-
cation group Oregon Aglink,
which named him the 2021
Agriculturist of the Year.
MT. VERNON
PRESBYTERIAN
Community Church
SUNDAY SERVICE..............9 am
SUNDAY SERVICE ..9 am
541-932-4800
EVERYONE WELCOME
St. Thomas
Episcopal
Church
Join us on Facebook
live Sunday 10am
Like us on Facebook!
Redeemer
Lutheran Church
Come Worship with us at
Grace Chapel (EMC )
154 E. Williams St.
Prairie City, Oregon
541 820-4437
Pastor Robert Perkins
Sunday School (all ages)
9:30-10:30
Sunday Worship
10:45-12:00
John Day Valley
Mennonite
Church
Meeting every Sunday
at Mt. Vernon Grange Hall
Sunday School ................................ 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Morning Worship ............. 10:50 a.m.
Pastor Leland Smucker
Everyone Welcome • 541-932-2861
2 Corinthians 5:17
Every Sunday in the L.C.
Community Center
(Corner of Second & Allen)
Contact Pastor Ed Studtmann at
541-421-3888 • Begins at 4:00pm
JOHN DAY
UNITED
METHODIST
CHURCH
Sunday Worship • 9AM
(541) 575-1326
johndayUMC@gmail.com
126 NW Canton, John Day
Food Pantry Friday 3-4PM
Like us on Facebook!
24/7 Inspirational Christian
Broadcasting
Tune into KSPL 98.1 FM
For more information,
call 541 620-0340
CHURCH OF THE
NAZARENE
Sunday School ............................9:30 am
Sunday Worship Service.......... 10:45 am
Sunday Evening Service ............ 6:00 pm
Children & Teen Activities
SMALL GROUPS CALL FOR MORE INFO
627 SE Hillcrest, John Day
59357 Hwy 26 Mt. Vernon
1 st Sunday Worship/Communion ...................10am
3 rd Sunday Worship/Communion/Potluck .....4:30pm
2 nd , 4 th & 5 th Sunday Worship ..........................10am
Sunday Bible Study .....................................8:45am
Celebration of Worship
For information: 541-575-2348
Midweek Service
FIRST CHRISTIAN
CHURCH
Sunday School ..................... 9:45 am
Sunday Worship ...................... 11 am
Fox Community Church ............. 3 pm
Sunday Evening Bible Talk ......... 6 pm
Saturday Men’s Study ............... 6 pm
Weekdays: Sonshine Christian Schoo l
Full Gospel- Come Grow With Us
Pastor Randy Johnson
521 E. Main • John Day • 541-575-1895
www.johndaynazarene.com
541-575-1202 Church
311 NE Dayton St, John Day
Pastor Al Altnow
Sundays 5:30pm
Youth: 0-6th Grade
Thursdays 6:30pm
Youth: 0-6th Grade
Jr./Sr. High
Youth Connection
Wednesdays at 6:30pm
Overcomer’s Outreach
Mondays at 6pm at
LWCC
A Christ-Centered, 12-Step
Recovery Support Group
Pastor Sharon Miller
541-932-4910
www.livingwordcc.com