INTERVIEW: President Anna Krawczuk speaks on the UNWLA's activity

by Anisa Handzia Sawyckyj
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

NEW YORK - Anna Krawczuk's second three-year term as president of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America Inc. ends at the UNWLA's 25th triennial convention, which will take place in Chicago on May 28-31.

For six years she has been, ex officio, vice-president of The Ukrainian Museum in New York, vice-president of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations and a member of the Presidium of the Ukrainian World Congress.

Prior to her election in 1993 as UNWLA president, she served as the organization's social welfare chair (1981-1984) and chaired the Scholarship Program (1984-1993). She is a member of UNWLA Branch 86.

She served in the U.S. Army as specialist 3rd class and is a founding member and adjutant of Ukrainian American Veterans Post 30 in Freehold, N.J., and junior vice-commander of the New Jersey State Department of the UAV. She resides with her husband, Bernard, in Holmdel, N.J.

In the interview below Mrs. Krawczuk offers her perspectives on developments in the UNWLA, particularly during the last decade.

Q: How would you describe the activities of UNWLA during your two terms of office as president?

A: Our goals have been to keep our membership strong and involved, to modernize our administration, while meeting the increased humanitarian, educational and cultural needs of the Ukrainian community in the U.S. and abroad. The greatest challenges have been humanitarian. I am happy to say that our membership can respond quickly and generously to a crisis as it did with aid to the victims of the floods in the Zakarpattia region of Ukraine.

Q: What aid did the UNWLA bring to Zakarpattia, and how did you do it?

A: When we first heard about the floods in early November, we contacted Soyuz Ukrainok in Kyiv, as well as the president of the Soyuz Ukrainok chapter in Uzhorod, Dr. Oksana Hanych, who told us that the immediate need was for medicine, household staples and children's clothing. The next day $5,000 was sent for that purpose from the UNWLA's Social Welfare Fund. We advised our branches of the urgent need for shipment of household goods, clothing and other goods, and for fund-raising to aid the victims.

Our branches sprang into action and packed 1,200 parcels. By January two cargo containers were shipped to Soyuz Ukrainok in Uzhhorod for distribution to victims. Fund-raising by the branches has resulted in the collection of $104,715 - most of which was disbursed by the end of April.

Q: What other assistance has the UNWLA given to Ukraine in the years since Ukrainian independence?

A: We have seen a tremendous expansion of several of our ongoing programs to include Ukraine. For example, the UNWLA's Scholarship/Student Sponsorship Program expanded from sporadic efforts in Ukraine in 1989 to a meteoric growth since 1992. In the period of 1996-1998, out of a total of $424,800 in scholarships stipends issued worldwide, $96,964 went to students in Ukraine. In addition, $51,100 was spent to support 124 seminarians from Ukraine studying in Italy.

In responding to Ukraine's post-Chornobyl health crisis, the UNWLA has helped hundreds of affected children by sponsoring their stays at health centers in Ukraine. In 1994, we raised $150,000 for an MRI unit for the trauma hospital in Kyiv in a joint project with the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund.

The UNWLA also funded the publication of books on topics of importance to women in Ukraine: the translation into Ukrainian of Martha Bohachevsky-Chomiak's book "Feminists Despite Themselves: Women in the Civic Life of Ukraine 1884-1939" under the title "Bilym po Bilomu," and a book of documents relating the life of Milena Rudnytska, the Ukrainian women's and political activist.

On the issue of trafficking of Ukrainian women, we have protested to the United Nations through our representative in theWFUWO, the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations, which has the status of a non-governmental organization (NGO) at the U.N.

I should add that on issues relating to Ukraine we have worked closely not only with Soyuz Ukrainok in Ukraine but also with Ukraine's Ministry for Family and Youth, and with Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. and the consul general in New York, as well as its U.N. ambassador.

Q: What is the connection between the UNWLA and Soyuz Ukrainok in Ukraine?

A: There is no legal connection - we are separate entities. Soyuz Ukrainok existed in Ukraine until 1939, when it was banned [by the Soviets] and ceased to function. It was revived in 1991, following Ukraine's declaration of independence.

The UNWLA, on the other hand, was founded in New York in 1925. For seven decades, the UNWLA kept the word "Ukraine" alive in the U.S. and in international women's forums when its "mother organization" was silenced.

Recently we in the UNWLA have been actively supporting women's organizations in Ukraine in their effort to re-establish the National Council of Women, which they finally succeeded in doing in March 1999.

Q: The UNWLA has always been very actively involved in U.S. women's organizations nationally and internationally. Can you describe the extent of that involvement and what has changed in recent years?

A: Now that Ukraine is independent, we are playing the role of supporters of Ukraine's initiatives, rather than initiators of actions on behalf of Ukraine. That is the main difference. But as an organization, the UNWLA is more active than ever in these groups.

Since 1948, the UNWLA has been an associate member of the International General Federation of Women's Clubs. Since 1952, it has been part of the National Council of Women/U.S.A. It was a historic moment for the UNWLA when Irene Kurowyckyj, UNWLA vice-president, was elected president of NCW/U.S.A. in 1993-1995.

Today, UNWLA representation continues to be very strong in the NCW. For example, in June 1997, at the triennial convention of the International Council of Women, three out of the 13 delegates from the NCW/U.S.A. were UNWLA members.

I also want to mention the UNWLA's role in the WFUWO, an umbrella group of 24 Ukrainian women's organization in the diaspora, of which the UNWLA was a co-founder in 1948, and through which we have been able to participate in many worthwhile projects. We also are a member-organization of the World Movement of Mothers, another NGO, and of course we can be heard through the International Council of Women.

Q: In recent years, has there been a change in the visibility of the UNWLA in Washington?

A: Since Ukrainian independence in 1991, our contact with the U.S. government has increased. The UNWLA is now on the list of Ukrainian American organizations invited to the White House or State Department when Ukrainian issues are under consideration. We've also been invited to attend briefings at USAID and HUD.

Q: What are the areas of the UNWLA's programs in the U.S. that define your organization?

A: We never lose sight of the UNWLA's goal to serve our communities and to preserve our Ukrainian ethnic identity in the U.S. - our language, culture, traditions - and to transmit them to future generations. Toward this end, we have put a great emphasis on education, starting with the child's earliest years. Today, UNWLA branches sponsor preschools in 14 cities nationwide. Our newest pre-school was recently started by our branch in Atlanta.

Our members continue to support and raise funds for The Ukrainian Museum [in New York] of which the UNWLA was a founder in 1976 and in which it retains a majority voice on the board. They are also justifiably proud of Our Life magazine, the UNWLA's bilingual monthly publication, which has been published continuously since 1944.

The UNWLA's Scholarship/Student Sponsorship Program is now helping students in 17 countries. For its 30 years of service to educating Ukrainian youth worldwide the UNWLA's Scholarship Program received a unique award, one normally given to individuals: the St. Volodymyr Medal from the seventh World Congress of Ukrainians in December 1998.

In the last several years the UNWLA has also addressed such issues as ecology and the family, in its international contests for children and youth in which hundreds of Ukrainian children worldwide participated. The contests resulted in the publication of two books "The Year of the Family 1994" and "Nature and Us" (1998).

Q: The UNWLA's ranks have remained stable and the organization is thriving. How do you account for the UNWLA's longevity and success for some three-quarters of a century?

A: I think our strength comes from the diversity of our membership, political non-partisanship and religious tolerance. I also think the UNWLA appeals to women's best instincts to educate and nurture the most vulnerable in our communities. It also helps women carry on family cultural traditions.

Our strength also comes from the fact that UNWLA membership is a tradition that is often passed on from mother, and even granddaughter.

I also think the UNWLA survives because it is flexible where it can be. We saw that for some women, especially those who are professionals or young mothers, branch membership was not a viable option, so we invited them to become "members-at-large," whose numbers have gone up from 50 three years ago to 150 today.

Q: Have there been any administrative changes or technological advances at your headquarters in recent years?

A: At the UNWLA headquarters, we have entered the age of the information superhighway. We are now using e-mail ([email protected]) to communicate with our branches, with members and with UNWLA executives traveling abroad. We've created a website: http://www.Tryzub.com/UNWLA/, and we also track our office correspondence on computer.

We avail ourselves of the financial planning services of professional financial planners who counsel us on our investment portfolio. Our endowments and funds from wills are growing, and they need to be carefully managed, as required by IRS law governing non-profit, tax-exempt organizations.

Q: What are your projections for UNWLA programs in the years ahead?

A: I think the member-at-large category will grow. Our ecology chair will take on even greater significance and the modernization of our organization will continue, as our membership becomes more geographically dispersed and requires new modes of communication.

The Ukrainian Museum in New York City is a monumental task that will no doubt preoccupy the UNWLA and the Ukrainian American community in the years ahead. It will be a memorial of the Ukrainian cultural heritage to future generations of Ukrainian Americans in this most international capital of the world.

Another important matter will be a "Soyuzianka Home" [a retirement or assisted-living home for members of the UNWLA]. The UNWLA's social welfare chair has called a feasibility committee to study the question of purchasing or building a "Soyuzianka Home," as specified by the wishes of generous benefactors of the UNWLA. This is a very important and necessary project to be realized in the near future.

Q: Do you have any parting thoughts?

A: It has been an honor and a privilege for me to serve as UNWLA president for the past six years. I want to take this opportunity to thank the UNWLA membership for their support and trust.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 23, 1999, No. 21, Vol. LXVII

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