~Contributed: Rebecca Willson
The Butska family has faced its fair share of adversity but the challenges they have overcome have only strengthened their love of learning new things and for each other.
Mother and daughter Inna and Olha Butska, along with father Artem and younger sister Yeva, were visiting friends in the country of Georgia when the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, their home country, broke out.
Both Olha and Inna spoke emotionally, in English and through translation, about feeling lucky to have escaped facing the violence firsthand and what they felt upon seeing the announcement on the news that they had return tickets to Ukraine scheduled for the next day.
The family ultimately decided not to return to Ukraine and took up another offer from friends they knew from home to move to Revelstoke in May 2022, using the Canadian-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel program. The family expressed deep gratitude for the help they’ve received and the support they continue to feel.
“Every new person we meet is really surprised we came here. They say, ‘How did you end up in such an expensive place or such a small town?’, ‘What led to that?,’, and ‘Do you guys ski?’ Olha laughed. “By the way, we don’t ski!”
When they arrived, neither Inna nor Artem spoke any English and Olha’s was sparse, but the family found jobs and attended school easily, another thing they are grateful to the community for. Artem has enjoyed steady work with Downie Timber and Olha’s gap year is now allowing her to help with the newest family venture - Perogies’ Hata Ukrainian Food Truck.
Inna’s experience in Padrino’s Pizzeria’s kitchen, alongside help from their host family and Olha’s job with the local food truck The Wandering Root, lent the knowledge needed for the pierogi food truck idea to become reality. Inna had been known to cook large dinners to share with friends and neighbours, said Olha, although they were initially unsure how the cuisine would be received despite common Canadian-Ukrainian heritage and familiarity.
“We were just cooking for love and fun, but everyone said we should sell this and it would be the most popular place in town,” Olha said.
The dream faced a large setback when a supposed food truck dealer scammed the family out of $15,000 and delivered a trashed vehicle no inspector would approve. However, the family didn’t give up and worked hard to purchase their current space.
“We may have given up before, years before, but now we’ve been through more,” said Olha. “We weren’t expecting that though; Ukraine is a dangerous country but we thought there would be more safety here.”
The paperwork and legal necessities were difficult for immigrants to navigate and hard for non-English speakers, said Olha, but the hard work was worth it for the regular customers and creative freedom the family now enjoys.
With dairy- and gluten-free options and even a vegan menu, the food truck offers traditional and fusion items, like pierogi poutine, for Revelstokians to enjoy.
“We have heard so many compliments and also stories about other Ukrainian immigrants, and everybody is so kind to hear our story.”
Inna and Olha spoke together, mixing English and Ukrainian, to share wisdom from their journey for others facing similar challenges.
“Being basically an alien at first in a foreign country, you work hard and be ready to learn language, culture and behaviour; there are standards for things, everything is new. That’s the truth that works for anyone, hard work pays off.”