Full Description
This book documents the intimate lives of Ukrainians as they fled their homeland in search of a safe and stable place to stay. The critical memoirs follow the lives of 16 Ukrainian families in a small Spanish town near Madrid and the local families that volunteered to host them during a time of limited state support and an absence of a clear EU plan for the refugees.
Through first-hand testimonies, social media messages and photographs, the book reveals the scarring realities of the Ukrainians' upheaval, displacement and trauma alongside the well-meaning sacrifices made by the host families which quickly mutate into moralistic and meritocratic expectations of their new guests.
In doing so, the book offers a vivid portrayal of how the tensions of war and displacement play out in real life in real time.
Contents
1. The End at the Beginning
2. Escaping the 'Occupiers'
3. 'We Are Not Refugees! We Are Occupiers!'
4. Work, Study and Cultural Integration
5. Strained Relations and Trending 'Solidarity'
6. Pastures New and War Sirens Old
7. In Search of Slava Ukraїni
