Maryniuk and Kovaluk scholarships awarded to students in Ukraine (11/24/02)

Maryniuk and Kovaluk scholarships awarded to students in Ukraine

by Miriam Bates

WASHINGTON - The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation has distributed its first scholarship awards, totaling $2,100, to students in Ukraine for the 2002-2003 school year.

The foundation's Maryniuk and Kovaluk Scholarship Funds support higher education in Ukraine, and the first scholarships were recently provided to 13 talented Ukrainian students.

The funds are made possible through the assistance of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF), a non-profit organization based in Washington that facilitates democratic development and encourages free market reform in Ukraine.

Maryniuk Scholarship Fund

Andrew and Luba Maryniuk, along with sons Jerry and George, established the Maryniuk Scholarship Fund in December 2001 to help deserving students from Zheldets, Lviv Oblast, continue post-secondary school studies.

The Maryniuk Scholarship Fund awarded its first scholarships at a ceremony at USUF's Lviv office. Students Oleksandra Marko, Halyna Mazurkevych, Bohdana Pajtra and Nelya Storozhuk each received $300. Attendees also included Petro Mavko, USUF's representative in Lviv, Oksana Vynnytska, honorary consul of Canada, Hanna Pajtra, the director of the secondary school in Zheldets, and parents of the awardees.

Ms. Vynnytska spoke about the value of supporting talented young people in the pursuit of their education and the impact this kind of assistance can have in creating a better life for the next generation in Ukraine. She also read a congratulatory letter from the Maryniuk family to the students and their parents, expressing the deep hope that one day the students would become "leaders of Ukraine, and professionally competent women, who understand their role in developing an independent Ukraine in all areas of knowledge."

Mrs. Pajtra spoke about Iryna and Andrew Maryniuk, calling them patriots of their "little homeland" of Zheldets, who understand the real needs and care deeply about the fate of the villagers. In addition to the Maryniuk Scholarship Fund, it should be noted that the Maryniuks have been steadily helping foster greater interest in education in Zheldets in other ways. They have supported the high school by donating and financing reconditioned computers through the Kobzar Society of Pennsylvania and have purchased subscriptions to Svoboda for the students of the school.

Mrs. Pajtra also underscored the fund's positive influence on other students, even those in neighboring villages, in encouraging them toward greater academic achievement.

Upon receiving their awards, the students made it clear that they understood the responsibility they felt it placed on them. Nelya Storozhuk and Ms. Pajtra are both students at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv in economics and philosophy, respectively. Lesya Marko is studying at the Law College at National University of Lviv and Halya Mazurkevych attends the Pedagogical College in Brody.

Students and parents expressed their gratitude for the opportunity they had been offered to pursue higher studies - something often beyond the means of village children. More than anything, they underscored that the scholarships offered them hope.

Kovaluk Scholarship Fund

The Kovaluk Scholarship Fund was established in December 2000 by the family of Melania Denys Kovaluk to encourage students from the village of Zabolotits, Lviv Oblast, to continue their education on the university level.

The first Kovaluk scholarships were awarded to nine students at a ceremony at the high school in Zabolotivts with members of the students' families and the Kovaluk family looking on.

The nine award recipients are Oleh Shalvira, Andrij Petrylak, Svitlana Opoka, Natalia Shynkar, Jaroslav Baran, Olha Vintoniv, Iryna Denys, Lesia Popovych and Natalia Vajda. Each received $100 (528 hrv). Also present were, Iryna Demchuk, representing the Canada Ukraine Foundation, and Vitalij Lesiuk of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, both from the Lviv offices of their respective organizations.

Each of the students who received the cash award is enrolled in an institute of higher education in Ukraine. These include the Lviv Polytechnic National University, the Agricultural Technical Institute in Berezhany, the Drohobych State Pedagogical University, the Ternopil Academy of National Economy, the Lviv Academy of Commerce, the Kherson State Pedagogical University, the Ukrainian State Institute of Forestry in Lviv and the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.

The Kovaluk Scholarship Fund is jointly administered by USUF and the Canada Ukraine Foundation of Winnepeg.

Additional donations to the Kovaluk Scholarship Fund and the Maryniuk Scholarship Fund are welcome. Please indicate the appropriate fund when sending a check to the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, 733 15th St. NW - Suite 1026, Washington, DC 20005.

Questions to the foundation can be directed to: telephone, (202) 347-4264; fax, (202) 347-4267, e-mail: [email protected]; homepage, www.usukraine.org.

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