NJ Instructor Fears For Family, Friends In Ukraine

MT. LAUREL TOWNSHIP, NJ — Olga Berry, a Ukrainian immigrant, used to think of herself as a benevolent person.

"I cannot even kill a mosquito unless he is really biting me," she told Patch.

But since Feb. 24, when Russian troops invaded her homeland, Berry has had to balance her goodwill with fear and anger.

"This is horrible and a real humanitarian catastrophe," she said of the conflict that recently entered its second month and has shown no significant signs of slowing down. "We have relatives in Kyiv and Mariupol."

Berry is an adjunct math instructor at Rowan College at Burlington County and has won several New Jersey beauty pageants.

"I'm in touch with them every day on either Telegram or whatever," Berry said of her relatives, waving her smartphone in the air. "There are no more medications, no more clothes."

Berry's relatives in Ukraine have hunkered down in bomb shelters. One of her closest friends is among the millions of refugees who fled and sought sanctuary in another country.

"She told me that [she is] probably going to go to Austria,” adding that her friend needed to find a new home “because the chances of going back to Ukraine are less and less. I asked her why, and she said, 'The house is destroyed,'" Berry said

Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in Europe affected many people in America, including Berry.

Berry's parents — father, Volodymyr Grinchuk, and mother, Faina Grinchuk — still live in Ukraine and did not expect Putin's invasion. They flew to New Jersey from Kyiv in December to see her for Christmas —"and her birthday," her father interjected during the interview with Patch — with the intent of returning home on March 11.

The flight has since been postponed, spurring new fears in Berry. Her parents' visas are only valid until June, she said, adding that most of the paperwork they would need to start the process of establishing U.S. citizenship, such as birth certificates and marriage certificates, was left at home in Ukraine.

"Then what will happen?" Berry asked rhetorically.

She has been able to keep teaching but admitted that many of her other duties, such as those required of titleholders in the New Jersey International Pageants system, have not gotten the attention they used to.

As a result, the glittery silver gown Berry wore as a pageant winner has beern replaced these days by outfits in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag, such as the blue jeans, yellow shirt and similarly colored accessories she wore for her interview with Patch.

One of Berry's accessories, a blue and yellow crocheted sunflower pin, was handmade by a group of students at Rowan College at Burlington County. She appreciated such demonstrations of American support — including hundreds of fundraisers and collection drives since the war's outbreak.

Berry hoped U.S. government leaders would take the steps necessary to house Ukrainians who wish to come to America permanently — just as she did 21 years ago — to make a better life for themselves.

"We need to make sure that they are legally here and that they have good valid visas to do so," Berry said.

Asked how she thinks the war will end, Berry said, "Russia would like Ukraine to give up. But I don't see that happening." She feared the war may lead to "World War III" or the assassination of Putin.

"I never would wish bad things on anybody," Berry said. "But if America can get Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, I can I hope for someone to get Putin."

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