Beate Schulte and Klaus Schmitz have been living with the escaped Olexandra Movchan for a month now. They not only share small joys in everyday life, but also big ones: Last week, Movchan’s daughter was allowed to travel to Germany.
After months of separation, mother and daughter are reunited: Ukrainian Olexandra Movchan can finally hug her daughter Olexandra again. She works for the criminal police in her hometown of Kovel and was not allowed to leave the country for months.
“We only saw each other for a few seconds on video,” says mother Olexandra, “because the faces of the soldiers had to remain unrecognized in the background.” The joy of her daughter’s visit in Amelsbüren is all the greater now – also with her hosts Beate Schulte and Klaus Schmitz.
“We communicate using Google translator on our cell phones,” says Beate Schulte. But the language barrier doesn’t stop them from getting to know each other: Beate Schulte has already grown fond of daughter Olexandra. “She is very tidy and helpful. I’m really lucky with my Ukrainians,” says Schulte and laughs.
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Olexandra Movchan has settled in well by now. She has just applied for funding for a German language course and training as a nurse. Schulte and her partner Klaus Schmitz are also getting to know their Olexandra better and better. “She comes out more, is louder and more open,” says Schulte.
“At first I thought that this kind of thing could be exhausting for me – but it doesn’t.” On the contrary: they even do a lot together. For example, Olexandra Movchan often takes her hostess to visit friends she met in the Hiltruper sports hall.
The two have also discovered another thing in common: They are very helpful. “That’s our common coping mechanism,” says Schulte. Movchan is there right away when your Ukrainian friends need a translator or a babysitter for their children.
Movchan is not only happy to offer her help, but is also very grateful: “My daughter gave her clothes, so she wanted to show her gratitude right away,” says Schulze. “She asked: What can I give back?”
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Schulte keeps thinking about her former roommate Yuliia Dymovska. She had moved out in mid-May. “She doesn’t seem to be doing very well,” says Schulte, looking at Dymovska’s photos in WhatsApp status.
“I’ll wait a day or two, then I’ll approach her. In the end I do feel a bit responsible.” Schulte and her partner Schmitz recently paid Dymovska a surprise visit to their new home in Emsdetten: “Yuliia was very happy about that.”
She has now realized that she cannot go back to Ukraine and now hopes that her mother will come and visit her. Dymovska’s father is still not allowed to leave the country as a man due to the national emergency. “The longing for each other is great,” says Schulte.
