The following letter was written by Lee Cuesta for Infinity Concepts, LLC, an agency located in Export, Pennsylvania. Please also refer to my blog posting titled “$296 is only .4% of $70,000,” dated February 4, 2009 — elsewhere on this website — concerning this appeal letter.
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Dear friends whom I’ve never met,
One day, my mommy didn’t come back home. After that, it didn’t seem like home anymore.
Mommy didn’t come home because we were in a bad car accident. My baby sister, Hanna, and I were in the back seat. My daddy was driving, and Mommy sat in the front, passenger seat.
I was talking with my mommy as we traveled along the highway near our hometown of Kiev, Ukraine. Suddenly, for some reason, the car lost control. We crashed into the end of a steel wall, which tore our car almost in half.
I felt terrible pain in my arm. I climbed free of the wreckage, and I saw my mommy lying on the grass nearby. Someone had placed Hanna on her chest. Hanna and my daddy were not hurt.
Nobody at all came to help us. The police came, filled out their report, and then drove off.
An ambulance sat just across the four-lane road, but they ignored us. Later, my daddy said it was just because we are so poor. In Ukraine, money is a higher priority than human life. These are the realities we have to live with.
Only my arm was severely injured. My mommy lay in the grass all that time, bleeding to death, with baby Hanna lying on her chest.
There were more things I wanted to tell her that day, but she was gone. Our conversation in the car had been forever interrupted.
Our friend from Ezra International, Mr. Barry Wagner, came to visit us right away. He talked with my daddy, Igor, all day for several days. Daddy was so sad and upset, he was crying. He didn’t know what to do.
Before my mommy died, we were planning to make Aliyah for Israel. Now my daddy wondered if it was still God’s will for us to go. With Mr. Wagner’s help, he finally felt certain that it was God’s will. Daddy knows that Mommy would have wanted us to continue our plans – and go to Israel.
Another reason I wanted to go was that our apartment in Kiev, without our mommy, didn’t feel like home anymore. I miss my mommy very much.
So I tried to help my daddy as we packed our suitcases, walked through the airports, and flew on the plane. Of course, my three brothers also helped a lot.
As soon as we arrived in Ashdod, our new neighbors were ready to help us with everything. We could hardly believe the difference between Ukraine and Israel! One neighbor woman came to help Daddy with cooking, cleaning and babysitting. People gave us a lot of presents like furniture, plates and dishes, a TV set, and many other gifts.
From the window in our new apartment, we have a view of the Mediterranean Sea. The weather is warm. My brothers and I were so surprised to see the great variety of different fruits in the marketplace. We ate a lot of the tangerines, oranges, limes, grapefruits – and one day we told Daddy: “You know, Israel is a citrus paradise!”
Sometimes it all seems like a happy dream, but I know it’s real, because our God brought us here.
He even knows my favorite color! It’s pink. One day in Ashdod, I was very excited because Daddy was able to buy me a new pair of pink shoes! I went to show them to my new friends.
When living in Ukraine we never had new things, but always bought used clothing. Thanks to your gifts, Daddy has been able to buy some new things for us – not only clothing, but also supplies for school.
I wish my mommy were here in Israel with us – to enjoy all these blessings with us. I wish I could show her my new, pink shoes. I’m very glad Hannah and my daddy are here – along with my three brothers. I am so thankful for Ezra International.
And I am grateful to all of you who are reading this letter. Your gifts have made this all possible.
Now we know we are truly home. My daddy said, “Now that I’m here, I feel like I’m at home. It is not because in Israel life is better than in Ukraine, but because I feel that my place and my home is here. I thank Ezra very much for the help in my departure.”
Please keep giving your support because there are many more families like mine. So many families, waiting to make Aliyah to Israel. This is our true home. And they need your help, too – just like you helped us.
You have the promise of God’s blessing.
With love,
Victoria
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Copyright © 2007 by Lee Cuesta