As they celebrated their first Christmas in England, it's hard to comprehend what Alina Muhsin and her family have been through over the past 12 months. Putin's invasion of their home country, Ukraine, saw Alina, her husband Munadil, mother, Halyna, and their two children, Amir and Ariana, forced to leave behind life as they knew it and head for the Polish border.
Following a terrifying journey across central Europe, the Muhsins were finally offered sanctuary in a small town outside Bury, some 1,700 miles from their hometown of Kyiv. And the Manchester Evening News reports that after learning of the family's plight through a colleague at work, Karen Hopwood and Jim Eynon welcomed them into their home in July.
At the time Alina and Munadil spoke next to no English, and their children were timid and scared. Some four months later, the family have moved into their own home in Ainsworth, Bury, and Alina and Munadil rely on Google Translate a lot less. Their children have settled into a new school and have began making friends.
Their gratitude towards the city that has welcomed them is touching, and their optimism in the face of immense hardship is inspirational. But life is still incredibly difficult. Alina's brother, who works as a teacher, and his family remain, in Kyiv, a city which is increasingly under attack and more dangerous as each day passes, the mum-of-two fears.
"Me and my mum cry every day because its difficult for us. Of course we hope we will be reunited with our family once again soon," Alina told the M.E.N. "I speak to my brother every day. Every day is more dangerous than the last. For example this morning there was bomb in Kyiv so we are really nervous."
The family came to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine resettlement scheme, and were sponsored by Karen and Jim - who felt compelled to open their home to the young family. Under the scheme, the Muhsin family have been granted three years leave to remain in the country, with entitlement to work and access benefits and public services.
For Alina and Munadil, their biggest hope for 2023 is for peace in their country, and to one day return to the life they abruptly had to leave behind. They used to own their own clothing business, but since moving to the UK it's been hard to find work.
"We miss Ukraine because there you have your house, your work, your friends, you’re everything there," Munadil says. "When you come to a new country you need to start from scratch and it's really difficult."
"The most difficult thing for me is the language," Alina says. "My main goal for the next year is to become fluent in English. I have exams next week and hope to improve next year."
Without fluent English, the couple say it's been difficult to find a job and say despite the help of Karen and their neighbours to create and hand out CVs, they haven't had many responses.
"My husband has an opportunity to get a licence to be a bus driver but for the position you need to stay in England for half a year minimum," Alina says. "I had a proposition for an administration job but it's full time and my English lessons are every day from Monday to Thursday so I am looking to find a part-time job for now."
When they fled Ukraine, the couple's children, Amir, eight, and Ariana, seven, had to leave behind their family, their dog, and all of their friends. After a time of fear and uncertainty, they now finally appear to have settled and are thriving at school.
"The children are happy," Munadil says. "For first couple of weeks they don’t understand but now they are speaking better English than me and my wife."
Amir and Ariana are able to benefit from integration programmes set up by the Government to help families fleeing war-torn countries, and have been able to improve their English and seek emotional support.
As for the family's feelings towards Karen and Jim - they could not feel more indebted. Karen helped them will all the paperwork to get them into their own rented home, and still regularly helps them with their shopping and job applications. The two families planned to come together on Christmas Eve at Karen and Jim's home in Radcliffe. A friendship forged in tragedy has now turned into so much more.
"Karen is an angel," says Alina as she beams with praise. "She and Jim set the example for people. they are so kind it's hard to explain. They are just brilliant. We just want to say thank you to all the English people we have met. We feel so welcome. They have opened their door to us.
"For example our neighbours we moved only a month ago and our neighbours support us and help us find work. They help improve our language. Not only neighbours all the people we meet. Maybe we are just lucky I don’t know."
For stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
Find recommendations for eating out, attractions and events near you here on our sister website 2Chill
Find recommendations for dog owners and more doggy stories on our sister site Teamdogs
