Yurii was 18 when he arrived in Brașov, after spending three years in Iași. His journey had not been an easy one. For some, perhaps, adjusting to a new country seems simple. For him, however, every new beginning meant uncertainty, fear, and a great deal of effort. Yurii came to Romania along with his fellow students from the residential institution where he was staying in Ukraine when the war began. After his mother died, the boy was raised and cared for by his grandmother, who later passed away when he was in seventh grade.
In Iași, he learned his first lessons in patience. The Romanian language was foreign to him, and the words stumbled over one another. When he turned 18, he was told to leave the foster care center, so he began looking for a job. He found only one job listing in Brașov and went there without a prior agreement with the employer. He wasn’t accepted for an interview, so he began looking for other options, during which time he ended up on the street, with no place to live and no financial resources to buy food.
Our team supported Yurii by helping him find a job, housing, and food for a while.
Our colleagues in Brașov helped him with his first interview at a construction company. Yurii remembers his first day clearly: the excitement, the silence, the contract signed almost unbelievably quickly. He couldn’t find the words to express his gratitude, but his determination spoke louder than any speech.
He started at the bottom, learning the trade step by step. He pulled cables, installed pipes, assisted engineers, and carried out any task assigned to him. Not every day was the same. Some were exhausting, others confusing. Sometimes there were still language barriers, misunderstandings, moments when he had to ask for further clarification. But he didn’t let these obstacles stop him. He chose to learn from every situation.
There were also difficult moments, periods when he felt he no longer had the strength to continue. The thought of giving up crossed his mind. But he remembered that he was young and that his future depended on the choices he made now. He understood that asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but of maturity. And he moved forward.
Today, he is still perfecting his language skills, still honing his craft. But he has learned an essential lesson: difficulties do not define a person, but rather the way they overcome them. He believes that for every problem there is a solution and that responsibility for one’s own work is the foundation of any success.
Yurii participated in our project, RIF4UA Scaling-up Integrated Services within Resilience and Innovation Facilities for Ukrainian Refugee Inclusion, funded by the Social Innovation+ Initiative. Our partners are Terre des hommes Hungary and the Brașov County Agency for Sustainable Development.
When we welcome those fleeing war with open arms, we are not just offering help, we are building a more united and inclusive community together.
Co-funded by the European Union. The opinions and views expressed belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union or the European Social Fund Agency. Neither the European Union nor the funding authority can be held responsible for them.
