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Geelong

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Katerina and Peter Senjov joined the earlier Geelong Ukrainian emigrants who in 1948 arrived from Ukraine via Germany. They, also, had been displaced. However, Mr Arthur Calwell gave them all a new name - New Australians (Calwell M E 2012). No longer were they considered displaced persons. 

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Despite their new name, they always considered themselves Ukrainians wherever they went. They knew their cultural heritage and traditions, within which they found skills, knowledge and experiences that sustained them and enabled them to settle in many lands throughout their migrating waves. Therefore, they became Ukrainian Australians, gravitating to and joining the Ukrainian community. They became active members of the Church; Peter was the second head of the Catholic Church brotherhood in the Ukrainian Geelong Catholic Parish. Katerina, like other wives at the time, supported her husband and actively engaged in various activities.

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In the meantime, Katerina, with her friends and kums (godparents of our mutual children), went out to the agricultural fields of their surrounds to contribute to the Geelong economy. This did not last long, as her sewing skills enabled her to join Pelaco to sew men’s shirts. There were other Ukrainian women at Pelaco and this further enhanced her knowledge of the Ukrainian community.