1991: A LOOK BACK: Assistance to Ukraine (12/29/91)

1991: A LOOK BACK

Assistance to Ukraine

1991 witnessed the launching of numerous medical, educational and political projects to aid Ukraine.

In January, Hope, Inc., an organization which provides volunteer health care, agreed to help the Ukrainian Catholic Church reactivate the People's Clinic of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky in Lviv. A working team of physicians, a hospital architect and a biomedical engineer traveled to Lviv at the end of the month to assess the clinic's needs.

On January 8, the Specialized Regional Children's Hospital in Lviv for the treatment of Chornobyl victims was opened and blessed. The 160-bed hospital was adopted by the New Jersey-based Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, which was permitted by the Ukrainian government to refurbish, equip and bring up to Western standards the former hospital for members of the Lviv Oblast Committee of the Communist Party.

In February, Zelenyi Svit (Green World), Greens of the United States of America, the Clamshell Alliance, Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine and the CCRF initiated a "Greens to Greens" vitamin drive to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Chornobyl. The vitamins were shipped to Kiev where they were distributed by Zelenyi Svit.

On February 19, a delegation from Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere), under the auspices of a U.S. government initiative, traveled to Kiev to offer direct medical aid from the United States government. The $5 million commitment was earmarked for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.

On March 20, 110 tons of medical supplies and equipment with an estimated value of $3.5 million arrived in Kiev aboard the Mria, the world's largest aircraft. The flight of the Ukrainian-built Antonov-225, bound for Kiev and Lviv's Specialized Regional Children's Hospital for Chornobyl victims, was sponsored by the CCRF in commemoration of Chernobyl's fifth anniversary.

In June, Drs. Alexander Jakubowycz, a radiation oncologist, and Andrij Holian, an environmental toxicologist, traveled to the Kiev-Zhytomyr region to evaluate environmental and human consequences of Chornobyl. Their findings were to become the basis of the Associates International's "People Helping People" humanitarian assistance project in Ukraine.

In mid-July, the Canadian Friends of Rukh delivered close to 800,000 children's multi-vitamins donated by Apotex Inc., Canada's largest pharmaceutical manufacturer, to the Ukrainian Rehabilitation Hospital outside of Kiev. The estimated $30,000 worth of vitamins were earmarked for children victims of Chornobyl.

In August, the Toronto-based Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund donated a sophisticated blood-scanning machine to a blood bank in Lviv. The $12,000 Multiskan PLUS ELISA Reader is capable of determining the presence of HIV 1, HIV 2, Hepatitis B and C.

In September, MiraMed, a Seattle-based organization comprising physicians, attorneys and University of Washington faculty, announced that they had formed a partnership with MEDECOL, a consortium which included the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and Ecology, the Ukrainian Parliament, the firm MEDECOL, the Ukrainian Peace Council and the Health Institute for Ukraine, for the purpose of establishing reproducible, western-style culture sensitive birthing centers and training programs in Kiev.

On October 24 and 25 two American military planes delivering 150 tons of medical supplies and humanitarian aid arrived in Kiev. The shipment was part of the $5 million U.S. initiative coordinated by Project HOPE.

On October 27, sixteen scientists, doctors and technicians traveled to Poliske, Narodychi and Trostianets to examine the eyes of 1,800 children to determine the effects of Chornobyl radiation. The project was launched by donations from Pittsburgh-area Ukrainian Americans and the Tri-State Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund.

On November 27, 149 tons of medical supplies and equipment departed for Ukraine and Belarus on the Mria. The Thanksgiving airlift was sponsored by the CCRF, whose 77 tons of cargo were distributed to three CCRF hospitals in Kiev, Kharkiv and Lviv.

On December 23, an estimated $12 million worth of medical supplies and equipment departed for Kiev aboard the Mria. The shipment was organized by the Ukrainian Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

Educational assistance to Ukraine was provided by Pastor John Shep, chairman of the Thoughts of Faith Mission, who donated $100,000 for the publication of 500,000 Ukrainian grade school primers and readers, and the Sabre Foundation, which organized four shipments of books to Ukraine totaling 76,000. The first shipment of 15,000 books arrived in Lviv February 13. Two additional shipments of books were sent to Sabre's cooperating foundation in Ukraine, Sabre-Svitlo, in April and July. April's shipment totaled 30,000 books, 10,000 of which were English-language readers and teaching aids for elementary school children. July's shipment totaled 15,000 and included medical and nursing books. Sabre's December 27 shipment totaled 16,000 books, and was accompanied by the Ukrainian National Women's League of America's project coordinator, Lida Bilous.

Two conferences and one convention highlighted this year's programs to assist Ukraine.

On April 4-13,13 Ukrainian parliamentarians traveled to Indiana and Washington to participate in a nine-day "Conference on the American System of Governance for Ukrainian Legislators." The conference was organized by NKM Associates of Washington in conjunction with Indiana University, and was sponsored by the United States Information Agency. The 13 parliamentarians were provided with an overview of how government functions on a state and federal level.

May 27-30, "Conversion '91," a Kiev conference devoted to the transfer of defense enterprises from all-union to state control was sponsored by the Harvard Project on Economic Reform in Ukraine and Spurt, an association of enterprises and cooperatives in Kiev. Fifteen Western scholars, businesspersons and government officials discussed Western conversion experiences with the more than 70 Ukrainian government officials, legislators and general directors of Ukrainian defense enterprises in attendance.

June 1-2, the CCRF held its first national convention, electing 10 officers and a 17-member board of directors. Convention participants, including 14 delegates and 45 guests, accepted in principle a draft of the non-profit organization's by-laws.

Finally, in advance of Ukraine's December 1 referendum on independence, 39 North Americans traveled to Ukraine's eastern oblasts to campaign for independence. The two-month project focused on the dissemination of information in the Donetske, Dnipropetrovske, Luhanske, Mykolayiv and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.