NEWS AND VIEWS: Post-World War II relief committee adapts work to Ukraine's new needs (03/21/99)

NEWS AND VIEWS

Post-World War II relief committee adapts work to Ukraine's new needs

by Larissa Kyj

Changes in modern Ukraine require that the Ukrainian diaspora in the West adopt new approaches, new viewpoints and new ways of aiding Ukraine. As much as transitions from one political system to another and from a planned to a market economy were desired, they have also been painful for the inhabitants of Ukraine.

Given such a substantial reinterpretation of the structure of government, it is difficult to choose the appropriate path in aiding Ukraine. That is why many organizations, including the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee (UUARC), are faced with the issue of generating novel ideals and approaches.

At its last annual meeting on November 14, 1998, a careful analysis of the UUARC's performance was conducted and its most important projects were highlighted.

In searching for the optimal plan of action, the UUARC's first step in 1996 was to organize a conference of Ukrainian American aid organizations and committees for the purpose of creating a database on aiding Ukraine. Unfortunately, despite support for such an idea, the project has not been realized because the questionnaire on this subject was not completed by the various organizations.

The creation in March 1997 of the UUARC Information Bureau turned out to be a very important and necessary step in providing services to Ukrainians who have arrived in the United States in recent years. The bureau is managed by Metodij Boretsky and legal services on immigration matters are provided by lawyer Andre Michniak. The bureau assists newcomers in the interpretation of immigration issues and legal extension of residence in the United States, in obtaining employment authorization and Social Security numbers, and related matters.

From October 1993 to November 1996 the UUARC benefited from a federal grant to implement an assistance program for physically handicapped children in 10 boarding schools and orphanages in the Lviv region of Ukraine. Dubbed "Help Yourselves," the program was realized with financial assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UUARC totaling over $425,000. The purpose of the program was to teach the children specific trades that would help them support themselves once they left the boarding schools, enabling them to become contributing members of society. The program has been functioning independently, without funding by the USAID and the UUARC, since the fall of 1996, although a special commission, which includes Dr. Andriy Dyda, UUARC representative in Lviv, conducts periodic supervision to ensure the project's continuing success.

An important factor in establishing the UUARC's position among other aid organizations in the United States was the participation of UUARC representatives in USAID conferences held in March 1997 (Dr. Larissa Kyj), March 1998 (Dr. Andrij Szul) and September 1998 (Dr. Kyj and Christine Kulchyckyj).

In February 1997, at the request of the Consulate General of Ukraine in New York, the UUARC sponsored a visit to the U.S. by Dr. Andrii Serdiuk, Ukraine's minister of health. The purpose of his visit was to sign a contract for the discounted purchase of disinfecting materials for Ukrainian hospitals. Taking advantage of the occasion, Dr. Serdiuk acquainted himself with the functioning of American hospitals and with the nature of firms that provide medical insurance.

In 1997 the UUARC also started a new project, named "Eyeglasses for Orphans." With the generous financial support of people who responded to this initiative, and in cooperation with Ukraine's Ministry of Education, the UUARC covered the cost ($58,000) of making eyeglasses for every needy child examined by a doctor-specialist in 13 regions of Ukraine. Dr. Ivan Kark is responsible for the implementation of this program.

Last year the UUARC shipped eight containers of aid to the following regions of Ukraine: Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk. The UUARC received a grant from the USAID toward covering the shipping expenses. One container was sent to Ukrainians in Romania, with costs covered by the UUARC. The UUARC also financed a shipment of aid to Ukrainians in Kazakstan; among all Ukrainian settlements in the former Soviet Union, these people are the most needy and their living conditions are probably the most desolate. Aid also continues to Ukrainians in Brazil and Argentina.

The UUARC maintains two permanent representative offices in Ukraine to coordinate its activities: one in Kyiv, managed by Vira Prynko, and the other in Lviv, managed by Dr. Dyda. The primary role of these bureaus is to distribute aid arriving in containers to organizations, boarding schools, schools, hospitals and old-age homes.

These bureaus also provide one-time financial assistance to families of deceased miners, families with many children and citizens who have suffered from Soviet government repression. Funds are also allocated for performances of Christmas plays and visits by St. Nicholas at orphanages and schools; and travel expenses are covered for children from the eastern regions of Ukraine to come to western Ukraine during the Christmas and Easter holidays. Since the early 1990s the UUARC also has provided a small monthly stipend to 22 ailing pensioners, including mothers of political dissidents and writers persecuted under the Soviet regime.

At the beginning of November 1998 the UUARC responded immediately with aid to the inhabitants of the Zakarpattia region suffering from the area's greatest flood of the century. Appeals were issued on radio and in newspapers, and funds were collected to cover the work toward restoration and reconstruction of destroyed buildings and to provide material aid to the victims.

The UUARC was created by the "second wave" of Ukrainian immigrants for the purpose of aiding hundreds of thousands of post-World War II Ukrainian refugees in displaced persons camps in Austria, Germany and France, and it resettled over 70,000 of them in the U.S. It has now broadened its spectrum of humanitarian activities by developing new projects and plans, and trying to provide the maximum possible assistance to Ukrainians in Ukraine in order to help them withstand the difficulties their country is experiencing.

Larissa Kyj, Ph.D., is president of the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee. For more information write to the UUARC at 1206 Cottman Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19111.

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