Into the Unknown

By Carrie Bohnsack

On April 23, 2022 — just two months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine — Northrop Grumman engineer Leyla and her husband, Ashim, arrived in Pzemysl, Poland, located 10 short miles from the Ukrainian border. The couple had traveled 5,387 miles from their home in Syracuse, Utah, to help Ukrainian refugees.

“I couldn’t just watch it unfold on TV. I felt compelled to do something,” said Leyla, a systems and software engineer on the Sentinel program.

For Leyla, seeing the images of refugees fleeing their homes felt all too familiar. In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, 11-year-old Leyla left her native Azerbaijan for the United States. Her experience as a refugee, along with the fact that she speaks English, Turkish and Russian as well as understands Ukrainian, is part of why she felt both driven and qualified to help.

Arriving in Poland with no time for jet lag, the couple began their journey. 

At the Border

In Pzemysl, Leyla and Ashim spent most of their time at a humanitarian aid center, helping women, children and the elderly make plans to meet loved ones or seek refuge in another country.

“It was my first time doing something like this,” Leyla said. “Being able to step out of my comfort zone and do something felt empowering.”

The couple worked tirelessly from 5 a.m. until 1 a.m. for 12 days. Leyla worked as an interpreter, collaborating with humanitarian groups helping refugees get to their destinations, while Ashim planned logistics for incoming asylum seekers, many of whom had injuries from their journey and were carrying beloved pets.

“I felt a special connection to the Ukrainian kids forced to leave their pets behind,” said Leyla, who remembers how heartbreaking it was to leave her cat, Tom, behind when she was a refugee.

Leyla said the best part of her time in Poland was meeting volunteers from all over the world.

“Everyone was there of their own free will; it felt like we were working in harmony,” said Leyla. “We didn’t know each other the day before, but now we forever know each other from this moment in history.”