Oksana has been a friend of Sveta’s for over 24 years. They met at a church where Oksana was a worship leader.
Two years after their marriage, Mark and Sveta moved to her home city of Mykolaiv. They wanted to expand their massage therapy program to include Mykolaiv. The method of operation was to find women who had a heart for children, and were interested in learning to be a massage therapist. It was possible to do this without going through medical college for three years.
Mark and Sveta (MUCH) offered to pay to train individuals to become massage therapists through the local hospital massage therapy training program. In return, the therapists would offer their services to MUCH clients at a reduced rate. Mark and Sveta promoted this idea through a local church pastor.
When the pastor announced the program and the opportunity, Oksana’s love of children called to her, and she immediately said yes. She was working as a merchandise manager, which provide food for her family, but this was not gratifying work.
She completed the three months of massage training and started seeing clients. She lived in a one-room flat with two of her three children. Her husband, a welder, worked in Finland. Even though space was tight, she was not deterred. She set up a massage table and gave massages while her children did their homework in the kitchen.
Being the driven woman she is, Oksana had enough regular clients within a year that she could rent a small room from an exercise business called Fit Curves. The nine certificates on the wall testify to her passion for continually learning and mastering new skills to help improve her clients’ health.
Oksana had just completed her driving instructions and received her driver’s license when the war broke out. Fearing for her family’s safety, she loaded the children and the family dog into the car, packed the car with what she thought she would need, and made the three-day trip to Finland.
Even though her husband was established in the Finnish culture, Oksana experienced overwhelming culture shock as she tried to emmerse herself and her children into life in Finland. She did not speak the language; she had to find school opportunities for the children, and start over as a massage therapist. But as you might imagine, the strong woman that she is, everything was back on track within two and a half years. She received her license to practice massage therapy in Finland, and her family is adjusting well. As you can see in the picture, she now has thirteen certificates on her wall.
MUCH is proud to have given Oksana the chance to start a gratifying career that is a blessing to those she helps.
