A sweeping family history, chronicling the journey of a group of
Russian refugees who settled in rural Alberta in 1924, this book pays
tribute to countless people who have found a safe haven in Canada over
the past 100 years.
Every refugee has a story. This
book follows the life of Nikifor Andriev, driven from his homeland in
1924, to settle in Canada as part of a group of 116 privately sponsored
Russian refugees. Their new home, the aptly named Homeglen, Alberta, was
a symbol of promise and prosperity. With a newly Anglicized name,
Nikifor—now Michael—embarked on the Canadian dream, raising a family and
eventually leaving Alberta for a better-paying industrial job in BC.
Like
countless other refugees and immigrants, Nikifor faced the obstacles
and opportunities of life in Canada with a determination to succeed
against all odds. Reinventing himself time and again following numerous
setbacks and tragedies, he watched his family grow and disburse to
pursue their own dreams, with the hope that each succeeding generation
would have an easier life than the one that came before it. Nearly a
century after Nikifor’s arrival in Homeglen, his son and namesake
Michael Andruff, reflects upon his family’s history, the legacy of the
refugee experience, and the parallels of his father’s generation of
refugees with people fleeing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, and, most
recently, Ukraine, today.
As the son of a refugee who has
benefitted from the stability and prosperity of life in Canada, Andruff
shares this story as a call to action. The descendants and friends of
the original group of 116 refugees who settled in Homeglen are asked to
contribute to the Homeglen Legacy Fund, with the goal of raising $30,000
to privately sponsor a refugee family of four prior to June 2024 (the
hundred-year anniversary of the original group’s arrival in Canada).
Andruff is donating his royalties from the sale of this book to the
Homeglen Legacy Fund.
