New Zealander Jared Mitchell and his wife Katie Eichten have taken in a family of six Ukrainian refugees. Photo / Supplied
New Zealander Jared Mitchell and his wife Katie Eichten have taken in a family of six Ukrainian refugees. Photo / Supplied
Housing Ukrainian refugees was a no-brainer for New Zealander Jared Mitchell, his wife and brother living in Bulgaria.
The Dunedin man and his American wife live about 50km from the capital, Sofia, where Kiwi brother Michael Mitchell lives.
More than 3 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion began on February 24.
Mitchell has cycled the world twice, often being hosted by people around the globe, and their house has always been open to travellers – so they didn't think twice about taking in refugees.
Wife Katie Eichten has been managing and responding to many requests for help coming through email and Facebook groups.
The couple are now housing a family of six.
The couple are working with an emergency centre supporting refugees. Photo / Supplied
This includes 51-year-old mother Natalia, who went through Chernobyl, survived Covid-19 in 2020 after a month in intensive care, and has now fled her family home in Kyiv, where she has lived her whole life.
With her are 26-year-old daughter Anastasia, her three-year-old Kira and four-month-old Kiril, and her sisters Polina, 14, and Christina, 12.
The family slept in a bunker for 10 days straight before deciding to leave.
It was a three-day journey to Bulgaria.
They first took transport with friends to the border and caught bus after bus with no clue where they were going or where they would sleep, until they ended up in Sofia.
A man Mitchell knows contacted him and his wife asking if they could take them in.
"It's the least we could do, I have a couple of extra rooms; I love visitors, if we can keep them safe that's the most important thing to us."
It's the quieter times when they can reflect that are harder for the family, Mitchell said.
"The hardest part is seeing their newsfeeds and their friends posting, [Anastasia] showed a picture of her friend's house that got shelled while she was in it; thankfully, she survived."
New Zealander Jared Mitchell and his wife Katie Eichten have taken in a family of six Ukrainian refugees. Photo / Supplied
Men aged 18 to 60 cannot leave Ukraine, and Anastasia is in frequent contact with her husband who is still in Ukraine.
The family are supporting local organisations - including one set up by 10 women that is operating an emergency support centre and sending supplies back to Ukraine.
Mitchell has set up a Givealittle page to raise funds for refugees and other Bulgarians who have the room but not the funds to house refugees.
