Portraits of Resilience: Afina

Our Portraits of Resilience bring together powerful portraits and personal stories from women who’ve walked through our doors at Bramber Bakehouse. As you explore these stories, we invite you to stand with us as we step into the next decade of hope and healing.

I chose to be photographed with a white rose, as roses are the queen of flowers to me. The white rose symbolises purity and tenderness, yet its thorns remind us that sometimes women must be strong to protect themselves.

I am a citizen of Ukraine, yet I carry a distinct sense of identity and belonging to the historic Azov Greek community of Mariupol. I feel this especially strongly because both of my parents are Azov Greeks. I speak four and a half languages: Ukrainian, modern Greek, English, Russian and a special North Azov Greek dialect called Rumean, which my mother spoke, and still speaks today. In Ukraine, I worked as a project manager for charities and political parties, organising election and advocacy campaigns and I was involved in local politics. Before that, I taught modern Greek and worked as a translator.

Mariupol was once a busy, multicultural port city. During the Russian invasion and the siege in March 2022, I spent two weeks trapped in the city without any connection to the outside world: no news, no internet, no mobile service, no electricity, water, gas or heating. The temperature outside was minus ten degrees and we had no way to cook food at home. When the snow fell, we collected and melted it to have drinking water. When our food supplies ran out, all that remained was flour and jam. My mother baked flatbread over an open fire and we ate them with jam. My mother, my cat and I finally managed to escape from the city.

When I escaped the war, I was unable to take care of myself. All my thoughts were about what I had left behind and the people still in Ukraine. Even now, my family remains in occupied territory. My brother, his wife and my two nieces stayed there and for a long time we did not know whether they were alive, as we had no way of contacting them. Everything that had shaped my life: my memories, my books, my family photographs, my home, I had to leave behind. I arrived here with just one suitcase and had to rebuild my life from nothing. When I began the baking course with Bramber Bakehouse, I was not in good health, my mental state was poor, and I was suffering from depression.

I have now been building my new life in the UK for three years. I live in Brighton, which feels like the right place for me. On weekends, I enjoy exploring Brighton, Sussex and London. I love going to theatres, exploring museums and galleries and spending time at antiques markets, as well as strolling through the famous streets of London.

I have always loved baking, especially making cakes. Since childhood, I have enjoyed creating them and in the UK I continued this tradition. I baked Ukrainian cakes for my host family, which are often more complicated than the ones usually made in Britain.

I was referred to Bramber Bakehouse by Trust for Developing Communities, an organisation supporting migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Brighton and Hove. They knew about my passion for baking, so the course was a perfect match. I was really excited to learn in a professional kitchen and the Bramber kitchen was a beautiful and welcoming space.

Sometimes, I found it hard to follow everything on the course because I was still learning English. It was also difficult to share my experiences, as I did not always have enough words to express myself. But Bramber Bakehouse was a very safe and supportive community for me. Everything was carefully organised, with real thought for how we felt. Nobody pushed me, if I did not want to speak, I did not have to. I felt understood. Step by step, I began to open up to other people.

I realised that I needed to pause and give myself time to do the things that brought me joy. I had been feeling rushed and under constant pressure to get a job, earn money and become independent. But I learned that I also needed to take care of myself.

It turned out that baking helped me much more than just attending sessions with a psychologist. Through baking, I was able to make new friends and learn new skills. From the course I took away many memorable things, the recipes, the wellbeing techniques and even the baking equipment.

When I finished the course, it felt like something was missing. It had become a ritual for me, starting each week with baking and being surrounded by kind and supportive people. We still share our news in our WhatsApp group chat and when I meet someone from Bramber Bakehouse on the street, I always enjoy stopping for a chat. Having gone through the programme together, we share a special understanding.

I do not just want to stay close to the Ukrainian community, I also want to be open to building connections and making new friends here. At the same time, I took a sewing course to develop my skills and now I run a small home-based clothing alterations business. But honestly, my dream is baking. I could sew during the week and bake on the weekends. I love baking, but I cannot eat everything I make myself, that is why I want to share it with others. I have the idea of taking part in a makers’ market with my baking.

Attending the course was like laying a foundation stone in my life, it has influenced everything I have done since. Now I take every opportunity to support and improve my mental health. It gave me the feeling, “No, I’m not alone. I’m not alone.”

Thank you to Sarah Weal (photographer), Katherine Maxwell-Jones from iMix (storyteller) and Julia Smith (floristry artist) for your careful care and support enabling us to share these stories with the world.