UFU to enter the record books

MUNICH - According to German sources, the next entry in the "Guinness Book of World Records" will pertain to Ukraine and the Ukrainian Free University. Inspired by a recent shortage of school satchels in Ukraine, an organization of Bavarian altar boys came up with a novel idea for a world record: they started a collection of schoolbags to help Ukrainian children.

The result of the collection was a giant schoolbag snake - the longest event and thus a world record.

The exhibit traveled through several Bavarian cities, including Munich, where during a two-hour ceremony held in front of the city hall, the altar boys built the bag snake which consisted of over 6,000 satchels. The featured speaker of the ceremony was Dr. Leonid Rudnytzky, the rector of the UFU.

In a brief talk Dr. Rudnytzky stressed the real and the symbolic value of the event and thanked the altar boys and their sponsor, the organization Churches for the East, for their action on behalf of Ukrainian schoolchildren.

The event, which attracted considerable media attention, concluded with music and a prayer led by the Rev. Volodymyr Vitovych, a Ukrainian priest stationed in Munich.

Churches for the East and its affiliate international humanitarian association Triumph of Heart are known for their activities in Ukraine, where they help restore old wooden churches by teaching the art of woodwork to children and young adults. They also make regular deliveries of various goods to over 500 Ukrainian charitable organizations.

Using the services of the UFU, their project director, Thoma Bernhard, has frequently worked in the past with such Ukrainian leaders as Mykola Zhulynsky and Dmytro Pavlychko, and representatives of various religious denominations in Ukraine.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 24, 2003, No. 34, Vol. LXXI

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