in Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, Southgate, West Grey
September 30, 2025
Two years ago, the Sun Times reported on the efforts of a Grey County group to bring two young men to Canada from Poland. The twenty-year-olds were twins, Russian refugees and Putin critics who had been forced to flee their home country in fear of imprisonment and worse. Since then, and partially due to the publications of stories in the Sun Times, this group has expanded to include people from the Owen Sound area, in addition to the original group members from the Hanover area. The two young men who the group has worked with over the past two years are now entering their first year at a University in Poland, having successfully mastered the English language, navigated the entrance requirements and tests of the Polish higher education system, and been accepted at the Łódź Polytechnic University in Łódź, Poland. Their first day of classes is this October 1st.
This is a major testament to their own efforts to improve their lives. They have moved from refugee camps with no path to a future, to university dorms and a curriculum in computer science at a respected institute of higher education. It is also a testament to the creative and stubborn continuing support and work of the Grey County group. The group worked hard initially with the boys first as a Group of Five to make applications for immigration to Canada, and, when those efforts ran into a dead end, pivoted and set up an Ontario not-for-profit corporation, the Bluewater Refugee Education Project, Inc (BREP), and then gained CRA registered status as a charitable organization. This allowed the group to develop the charitable contributions and resources to help these displaced persons, and in the future others like them, gain the skills and local knowledge necessary to enter into institutions of higher education and begin to change their lives.
War in Ukraine and the rise of authoritarian regimes in Russia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe has caused millions to flee their home countries, some in search of safety and some fleeing persecution and imprisonment for their democratic and anti-authoritarian beliefs. Many of these displaced persons and refugees have little or no support in their new countries, and are struggling to find a way to survive and move their lives forward. This is true especially for young people that have been cut off from their families and normal support structures and find themselves in a foreign culture amid societies that are themselves struggling to support the influx of refugees, and are often unable to supply the help needed to move the refugees lives forward. The Bluewater Refugee Education Project (BREP) has grown out of working with such desperate and deserving refugees and displaced persons and supports young people to find a way to pursue their education, gain a degree, become independent and productive members of society, and build a life. Some of these students will ultimately stay and work in the country they have fled to, others will return home to rebuild their country, others, like the Korenkov brothers, may seek to immigrate to Canada and become highly skilled members of the Canadian workforce. BREP supports all these options. Their goal is to find and contact deserving displaced persons and refugees and support them socially, psychologically, and financially as they work to improve their lives.
Anyone interested in learning more about the progress of the Korenkov twins and/or contributing to the continuing work of the Bluewater Refugee Education Project so the group can support other refugees and displaced persons in similar need can go to our website at BREP.ca or send an email to info@brep.ca.
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