Patching together life and hope

by Navjyoti Dalal

In this new column, Home Is Where The Hearth Is, we shine the spotlight on the immigrant experience. And as a cultural exchange get them to share food recipes they hold dear. We meet Ganna Koval, a landscape architect and garden designer from Ukraine, who came to Ireland in the thick of the Russia-Ukraine war. She has found warmth and support from Ireland, but the wounds in her heart still ooze from time to timeAs a child, Ganna Koval spent her formative years with her grandparents in Odessa, Ukraine. The house was big, and featured an even bigger garden.

"I grew up with the trees and plants they planted. Two of them towered over others, one was a Quercus planted by my granny, and the other was a Cedrus planted by my grandfather. It was the most beautiful time of my life," says Koval, who always uses the botanical names of plants, a habit she picked up from her uncle, one of Ukraine's foremost modern garden and designers.

He was also the one who took her under his wing and introduced her to the world of horticulture and garden design, one that she inhabited and thrived in, until the Russia-Ukraine war began.

Not without her children

A mother of two, Koval moved to Ireland, in March 2022. In the two and a half years she has been in Athlone she is piecing together every shred of normalcy for her children. This patchwork quilt, is what she hopes, would shield her children from the mental and emotional after-effects of the war. Koval is on a mission to keep things as normal as possible for her children. "I cook three times a day for my family, healthy home-cooked food is a very important part of our lives," she says. Apart from nourishing them with food she takes her girl Ganna Jr (8) and boy Platon (6) to art classes, storytelling sessions, cultural events from Ukraine and other nationalities that inhabit Athlone, blackberry picking in September along the Old Rail Trail, nature walks during other times of the year, funfairs, Christmas markets and more. "I want them to grow up like regular children, without war shadowing their minds," says Koval.

As for herself, she is struggling to keep afloat her own spirits. "Every now and then we get news of bombings and deaths. It's a very heavy baggage of grief," says Koval. The PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) shows up in everyday life. There are days which engulf her in darkness, days when she feels numb, and guilt creeps up with something as normal as buying a cup of coffee. "I don't feel okay with having coffee at a cafe while people are suffering back in my country. It is a very uncomfortable feeling," says Koval.

The ebbs and flow

What is also disconcerting is witnessing your identity change from a well-respected professional to a survivor of war. She comes from a family of high achievers -- her parents are doctors, her uncle is a celebrated landscape designer in Ukraine, while her grandmother was a principal in a school and her husband is a senior software engineer. Until tensions began brewing between Russia and Ukraine, Koval was prospering and enjoyed a high social standing and esteem. Much like her uncle, she too is a well-known name in modern garden designing in Ukraine, having designed a public park -- Greek Park (Odessa) and more than 200 gardens to her credit.

She misses designing flower beds and planting aesthetic canopied avenues. In Athlone, she is trying her best to find meaningful engagement and work. She taught art classes to children at the Family Resource Centre, she volunteers to beautify gardens of some Athlone residents. Having already studied horticulture, she enrolled in a horticulture course by LWETB just to be able to work in a polytunnel and find her tribe of plant lovers.

It takes a village

Koval's is not an isolated case of coping with being a survivor. This is the story of thousands of Ukrainians who have sought shelter in Ireland. And though wounded, her heart is filled with gratitude and love for Athlone. She has a big thank-you list, and insists on naming them for there aren't enough positives that we talk about. "I am grateful to Ailish McManus, the principal of St. Mary's School for her kindnes, understanding and wonderful attitude towards Ukrainian children. Another exceptional place is the LWETB which is tremendously supporting the Ukrainians with learning English to assimilate in the Irish landscape," she says.

Koval also mentions the hospitality extended by Ross O'Callaghan, of Sheraton Fitness, for making health and wellbeing affordable to Ukrainians. She adds: "Mayor Frankie Keena has also been very supportive and helpful to our community. And an organisation that I am indebted to for life is New Horizon. They helped us in the most natural way possible. Not only did they organise child-friendly, family and women-centric activities, they also ensured we received emotional and psychological support to deal with our feelings. The Irish are a great people with the biggest hearts possible. In sheltering us they have saved lives and we will never forget this."

To reciprocate the love she and her family has received, Koval shares the heartiest of all Ukrainian recipes.

Recipe: Borscht

A crimson coloured bowl of warmth is what describes the Ukrainian Borscht the best. It uses seasonal veggies and meat stock to yield a soup that can bring a dead-man alive. Perfect for the Irish winters.

Ingredients

Beef 300gm chopped

Beets 3 medium shredded

White Cabbage half head shredded

Potatoes 3 cubed

Carrots 3 shredded

Sweet pepper 1 cut in strips

Root Parsley 2 pieces chopped

Tomato paste 2tbsp

Onions 2 bulbs chopped

Garlic 3 cloves chopped

Butter 2tbsp Sugar 1tbsp

Bay leaf 1

Sour Cream 150 gm

Vinegar 1tbsp

Borscht is a hearty soup with the richness of meat and goodness of vegetables.

Parsley and Dill for garnish Ground black pepper Salt to taste

Method

In a pot of boiling water (3litres), add the beef with some salt and pepper and let it simmer. Add in the potatoes and cabbage, cook for 15 minutes. Now add the beets, carrots and root parsley and let it cook. In a sauce pan saute the onions in butter, add tomato paste, vinegar and sugar. Cook for five minutes then transfer to the pot of broth. Crush garlic and add in to the broth. Cook for 10-15 minutes and turn off the flame. Serve with parsley and dill, topped with some sour cream.