Women from across the United States gather to celebrate 70 years of the UNWLA

by Roman Woronowycz

TREVOSE, Pa. - For four days beginning May 24 more than 300 Ukrainian women, and men too, gathered in Trevose, Pa., on the outskirts of Philadelphia, to review the work of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America and set a course for the next three years.

This year's triennial convention, the 24th gathering of Ukrainian women from across the United States, was special because it marked 70 years of the organization's work and was given a serious underpinning because it occurred in the year of the 10th anniversary of the Chornobyl explosion.

Held at the Radisson Hotel of Bucks County, the convention included presentations and panel discussions on current events, organizational matters and plenary sessions. Women's deft touches were found in the museum store/exhibit and the pictography on 70 years of UNWLA work.

The conventioneers found time for revelry and socializing at a Friday night cocktail party, a splendidly put-together Saturday Hawaiian luau and a Sunday evening banquet.

Also in that time the 118 official delegates elected an executive board for the next three years and laid out future plans.

70 years of community work

The UNWLA was created in 1925 in New York "to unite women of Ukrainian descent, or belonging to the Ukrainian community who live in the United States, in order to preserve Ukrainian ethnic identity and cultural heritage. Functioning in a democratic country, the UNWLA is guided in its activities by the principles of Christian ethics, religious tolerance, political non-partisanship and the support of human rights within the framework of a nonprofit charitable, education and cultural organization," as is stated in the UNWLA's 24th Convention Souvenir Book.

That statement of purpose has been transformed in practice into myriad projects, including aid to orphans, widows, the elderly, new immigrants to the U.S., and medical and scholarship aid to various countries.

Today the UNWLA helps Chornobyl victims through financial aid and gifts-in-kind, such as the donation of a high-tech magnetic resonance imaging unit that, in conjunction with the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, it helped finance and transport to Ukraine in 1994 on a huge Army-owned C-5 transport plane. The mobile MRI, received from the General Electric Corp. for the Kyiv Emergency Hospital and Trauma Center, is invaluable in detecting various cancers and illnesses associated with the fallout from the Chornobyl catastrophe.

The organization has also purchased medical equipment for a pediatric hospital in Lviv and for the Dzherelo Children's Health Center in Truskavets, in western Ukraine.

In addition, the organization offers scholarships to Ukrainians around the world. The UNWLA Scholarship/Student Sponsorship Program was established in 1967, although it had disbursed monies to students as far back as 1932. In the last 28 years, the program has assisted thousands of pupils and students in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Poland, the U.S. and Yugoslavia, and lately has expanded into Romania, Croatia and Ukraine. It has spent more than $2 million on such stipends. Merely in the last triennial period, ending December 1995, 1,816 scholarships were awarded in the amount of $443,143.22.

Among the UNWLA's other notable achievements over the course of 70 years are the founding of The Ukrainian Museum in 1976, in which 51 percent of the shares are still owned by the UNWLA; the publication of Our Life magazine, a monthly bilingual magazine begun in 1944; the creation of the Lesia and Petro Kovaliv Fund and the Eva Stashkiw Memorial Fund; and the establishment of the St. John's Day Care Center in Newark, N.J.

The conferees, obviously, had much to discuss, to ruminate over and to plan for the future as they gathered during the Memorial Day weekend, which began with a pre-convention program on Friday night, followed by a wine and cheese reception.

Three successful, young Ukrainian Americans were highlighted as featured speakers, Melanne Verveer, currently deputy assistant to President Bill Clinton and deputy chief of staff to Hillary Rodham Clinton; Taras Bazyluk, speech writer in the State Department's Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; and Marta Zielyk, who in 1995 became the first permanent Ukrainian interpreter in the State Department. The program was moderated by UNWLA Vice-President for External Affairs Iryna Kurowycky.

Ms. Verveer spoke on "Women and the New Democracy." She talked about the U.N. Conference on Women and the companion forum for non-governmental women's organizations, both held in and near Beijing last year, where some members of the UNWLA were present, to "bring new dignity and respect to women and girls all over the world, and in doing so, bring new strength and stability to families as well."

She mentioned that in Ukraine 70-80 percent of women are still unemployed, although they represent the majority of college graduates.

She explained that the key to pushing forward the still secondary status of women is by "investing in women." As an example, she cited Ela Bhatt, whom Ms. Verveer and the first lady met during their travel to India, a woman who founded a bank that gives small loans, as minute as a dollar, to women to invest in dairy cows, plows, etc. It is run by women for women. Today that women's bank has assets of $43 million.

Microcrediting, the term Ms. Verveer used for the joining of poor women to open financial doors to become responsible borrowers, is a key to the empowerment of women, she explained. She quoted Mrs. Clinton at the Beijing conference at a session on microcrediting: "Give a woman a seed and she will plant it, she will water it and nurture it and then reap it, share its fruits, and finally she will replant it." Ms. Verveer also was given a medal by the UNWLA in honor of being named "Member of the Year."

Mr. Bazyluk spoke of his work with the White House. He touched on arms control and Ukraine's nuclear disarming and on Chornobyl. He explained that Ukraine, by acting on its promise to denuclearize, "helped cement her standing as a country that can follow through on even the most difficult and courageous decisions."

Turning to Chornobyl, he emphasized that the reception hosted by Mrs. Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore in the White House was more than an opportunity for political speeches. "My own hunch is that the White House event - augmented by the first lady's release of her May 1 syndicated column, 'We Must Not Forget the Children of Chornobyl' to more than 100 papers abroad - ultimately will leverage between a million and a billion dollars of additional help to deal with Chornobyl's aftermath." In another portion of his speech Mr. Bazyluk listed what he feels it takes to achieve a position in the policy-making echelons of American government.

Also speaking was Ms. Zielyk, who traveled as an interpreter with President Clinton to Kyiv last year and who has been at nearly all high-level meetings between Ukrainian and American officials since she took her position in April 1995.

She explained that an interpreter's job is described as listening, remembering, editing. Ms. Zielyk, in her speech, offered a few additional skills: "Speak, take notes, be a walking, talking thesaurus, a dictionary, an encyclopedia."

She described the hectic lifestyle she endures, the uneven hours and the chronic jet lag associated with frequent trips overseas, which interpreters refer to as "exercises in sleep deprivation." She also explained the problems unique to interpreting a language that was not in official use for 70 years and for which there are no dictionaries for the specialized technical language and terminology used in the new high-technology world.

Ms. Zielyk spoke of the difficulties in interpreting not only language but also many times having to "interpret" history, traditions, cultural habits, mannerisms. She publicly admitted that she cringes when an individual for whom she is interpreting proposes a joke. "I groan inwardly, just praying that the joke will be translatable, that this particular attempt at humor will transcend cultures. Most of the time it doesn't," she explained.

Conventioneering

Saturday marked the official opening of the convention and began with the presentation of banners of the nine regional committees and a prayer recitation led by UNWLA Correspondence Secretary Barbara Bachynsky. President Anna Krawczuk then officially opened the 24th convention.

The day was crowded with reports from the credentials committee, the election of convention officers, auditing and financial reports and other organizational matters.

During lunch Marta Bohachevska-Chomiak, a UNWLA vice-president, spoke of 70 years of UNWLA activity. Mary V. Beck, one of the oldest and earliest UNWLA members who began her activity with the organization in 1932, and is well-known as the first female mayor of Detroit, also said a few words. Many were visibly moved by her remarks on what it is to be a Ukrainian American female, and the responsibilities involved. The crowd answered with two standing ovations.

That afternoon, seminars about social welfare, education, the scholarship program and Our Life magazine were presented.

Most contentious was the panel on Our Life. English-language Editor Tamara Stadnychenko found herself defending decisions to run two specific pieces, one a poem about a child lamenting her dislike of "Saturday school," titled "Luba Doesn't Have a Mouse." The other is a tongue and cheek analysis of typical Ukrainian organization general elections and is called "Robert's Rules of Order Need Not Apply."

One person at the session was adamant that poems such as "Luba Doesn't..." have no place in the organization's newspaper and put misplaced ideas in children's minds. Ms. Stadnychenko defended the publication of both pieces by asserting that what is printed does not necessarily reflect editorial opinion. She said that the pieces had caught her eye and she found them interesting, so she printed them. She also said that criticism or compliments are best handled by writing letters to the editor. However, in the room it seemed that, generally, most supported Ms. Stadnychenko.

Other panels were on social welfare, education and scholarships.

Sunday's session began with a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster. Lidia Czernyk, social welfare chair, who conducted the ceremony, read proclamations by U.S. President Bill Clinton and Ukraine's U.S. Ambassador Yuri Shcherbak. A tree of life with ten candles, one each for the nine regional councils and one for the independent branches, was lit, and the regional heads were asked to come to the front of the room where they held candles lit by President Krawczuk.

More panels followed, including one on the status of the renovation of The Ukrainian Museum building being planned for New York. Architect George Sawicki and the UNWLA's Museum chair, Luba Firchuk, spoke of the plans. Mr. Sawicki unveiled the proposed architectural rendering of the building.

Other seminars were held on organizations, finances and ecology.

The Sunday lunch featured Marta Jarosewich, who spoke on ecological problems in Ukraine during her slide presentation. Ms. Jarosewich was elected to the executive as head of the ecology chair, a new position, later that afternoon.

The convention got down to nuts and bolts with the election of new officers after lunch. The slate in place for the last three years won re-election with no opposition, with Ms. Krawczuk retaining her presidency.

At the evening convention banquet, the executive board was presented to the 310 delegates and guests on hand after Maria Kondrat, head of the convention committee, made some opening remarks.

The lengthy affair (it ran five hours) featured the dispensing of honorary scrolls, the bestowing of awards, greetings from President Clinton and Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma, Ambassador Shcherbak, U.N. Ambassador Anatoliy Zlenko, New York Consul General Viktor Khryzhanivsky, an address by President Krawczuk, some words by World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations President Oksana Sokolyk, a few thoughts by at least one ex-president and, of course, thank-yous and, finally, entertainment.

Vice-President Bohachevska-Chomiak presented the Lesia and Petro Kovaliv Award to Maria Savchyn Pyskir for modern literature, specifically for her work "1,000 Roads," which chronicles the struggles of the UPA through her eyes as the wife of a high-ranking officer.

At one point some controversy swirled around the award winner because of Ms. Pyskir's alleged association with the KGB after the war, before she moved to the U.S. Rumor had it that some people would walk out of the hall during the presentation. However, during the plenary session earlier that day, the protesting group publicly stated that it had withdrawn its protest "in the name of convention unity and goodwill."

A second Kovaliv Award, for Ukrainian studies, presented in absentia to Tamara Hundakova.

The keynote address was delivered by People's Deputy Olena Krandakova, who is also chairwoman of the Committee on Women and Children in the Kuchma administration. Citing various statistics, Ms. Krandakova said women and children fare worse than many in today's difficult "transitional" stage of economic development in Ukraine.

She said that some inroads are being made, however. Specifically, she noted that women's rights are protected in Ukraine, first, through the U.N. Convention on Women that Ukraine signed and, which, she said, Ukraine adheres to. Also, she said the draft constitution guarantees civil rights, including those of women.

However, she pointed out that legal equality is only the first step to de facto equality, albeit a key one.

She cited figures that show the number of women in government positions is on the rise, although stereotypical viewpoints discouraging women from taking part in political life still exist. Today women make up 61 percent of Ukraine's college graduates, she noted.

On the downside, she said the health of the country is declining. In 1994 deaths exceeded births by 242,210; last year that figure approached 300,000. The decline of women's health is shown to directly affect the birthrate, she explained.

As for children, she said today in Ukraine 14,000 children are without a mother or a father, another statistic that is on the rise.

Ms. Krandakova ended her speech on the upbeat, proclaiming that "on the eve of the new millennium, the Ukrainian woman is finally awakening."

On Monday the conventioneers gathered to approve the draft of the resolutions. Iryna Rusnak, who chaired the plenums and elections throughout the four-day affair, kept the by-now-tired women together as she moved the convention to its close.

Among the resolutions that passed were a decision to join the information superhighway by putting together a home page on the Internet; to expand the Ukrainian Museum's archives and to increase its membership; to have districts and regional councils check local school districts and review texts to ensure they adequately reflect the historic changes that have taken place in the former Soviet Union in the last half decade; to develop a plan to provide more scholarship aid for students in Ukraine; to continue to help orphans in Ukraine and in other countries of the world; and to support the indigent elderly of the UNWLA.

Partying

Beyond all the hard work, the many panels and the solemn moments, the ladies found time for distraction and entertainment.

First there was the Friday night cocktail party. Then, during the banquet a vocal duo from Lviv, Luba and Mykola, entertained the crowd with several Ukrainian pop songs including the well-know "Dva Kolory." They were the light moment in an otherwise solemnly ceremonial banquet.

But the Saturday night luau, including hula dancers and Hawaiian drums, had to be the piece de resistance. The women and men donned leis, gathered around the hotel's pool, and listened and watched authentic Hawaiian dancers and musicians while enjoying Hawaiian treats followed by a Hawaiian-style dinner.

Everyone immersed themselves in the moment - people swaying to the South Pacific beats and clapping their hands. One of the conventioneers even appeared poolside in her bathing suit. Another individual wore a dress stylized to resemble a grass skirt.

There is something about a convention that brings out the unusual in people; this one did, too.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 16, 1996, No. 24, Vol. LXIV

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