No keel, no balloons and no confetti in the house of Tetyana Sysun from Eindhoven. She has other things on her mind than carnival. The war in her native Ukraine dominates her days. She sits in front of the television all day, following the news from Ukrainian channels. “It’s very sad.”
The 57-year-old Tetyana has been living in the Netherlands since 2005. She comes from Dnipro, the third largest city in Ukraine with over a million inhabitants. Her aunt and nieces still live there. “I call them every morning and evening. It’s going really bad.”
She continues: “I sleep here in a nice warm bed, but they sleep with clothes on. When the siren goes off, they have to go straight to the basement or the subway to spend the night there. I can’t sleep because of that myself. .”
Tetyana’s house is a house full of worries and sorrows. But that house is in a frenzied partying Lampegat. Is that painful, even frustrating? This is not how the Ukrainian thinks about it: “I understand very well. We have all fought COVID-19 for two years and had to sit inside, so I understand that people want to let it go for a while.”
According to Tetyana, people from Brabant are not indifferent about the war. “At work, a lot of people have asked how I am doing and how they can help.” That compassion moves Tetyana, who works in healthcare. “I cried a lot the first day at work.”
Fortunately for Tetyana, her 81-year-old mother is with her in Eindhoven. She happened to be gone for a few months, but can’t possibly go back now.
When Tetyana asks her how she feels in Ukrainian, the old woman bursts into tears. Through her tears she says she is happy that she is now in the Netherlands. Here she feels safe. “I’m an only child, so that’s why it’s great that she’s here and that I have the chance to take care of her,” says Tetyana
Meanwhile, on Ukrainian television, material goods are being pledged to Ukraine from all over the world. On Sunday afternoon, a plane full of weapons and ammunition departed from the Netherlands from Eindhoven Air Base.
And that gives hope. “The whole world is on our side and we are a strong people. Putin is wrong!” Russian troops have not yet reached Dnipro, the town of Tetyana. The front is 200 kilometers away. “But when the Russians come, everyone there is ready to fight.