Diaspora participation makes election monitoring mission unique (01/09/05)

Diaspora participation makes election monitoring mission unique

by Marta Kolomayets
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - More than 12,500 international observers converged upon Ukraine for the December 26 repeat run-off of the presidential election, setting world records for the size of an official foreign observer mission, whose monitors represented close to 50 countries from the global community.

"This has never happened in history before - ever," remarked Jack McDonald, a former congressman from Michigan, who traveled to Ukraine's eastern oblasts with the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation to ensure that the election was free and fair in that contested region.

But what made this mission unique is the fact that some 2,000 observers were the sons and daughters of Ukraine, members of the diaspora community which, through scores of years, fate had scattered throughout the world. First-, second-, third- and even fourth-generation Ukrainians from the United States, Canada, Australia, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Romania (among other countries), ranging in age from 18 to 80, came to witness history being made in their ancestral homeland, to serve as guardians of democracy at this critical time.

"The delegation from the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America was the largest delegation registered by the Central Election Commission, numbering 2,408 monitors," noted Tamara Gallo-Olexy, the executive director of the UCCA office in New York.

"And about 40 percent of those we had registered had been observers before, so they understood the process and came to Ukraine to make their contribution to democracy in this country," she added.

Perhaps there were more seasoned observers in the delegations representing such organizations as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI) or the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), but there were none as committed to this assignment as members of the Ukrainian diaspora, noted Viktoria Hubska, the director of the UCCA's office in Kyiv.

"They are some of the unsung heroes of this Orange Revolution, joining their Ukrainian brothers and sisters on the maidan [Independence Square] after the December 26 vote," said Ms. Hubska, who has been registering observers with the CEC since early August.

Unlike observers from international organizations, who had their airfare, accommodations, meals and per diem footed by the sponsoring organization, the observers accredited by the UCCA paid their own way and were responsible for making their own arrangements for travel and accommodations in Ukraine. To be sure, the UCCA helped out with logistics as much as possible, including negotiating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for free visas to travelers going to Ukraine who have been accredited by the CEC as observers. But, operating on a shoestring budget made it difficult to offer substantial financial assistance.

"They came on their own initiative and with boundless enthusiasm and idealism, ready to roll up their sleeves and do the best job they could offer Ukraine," said Ms. Gallo-Olexy.

"They took this challenge seriously, attending observer trainings in the United States and/or Canada, and attending briefings in Kyiv, before being deployed to 17 different oblasts," said Michael Sawkiw, the president of the UCCA, based in Washington, during the group's debriefing on December 28.

"And they were very effective as observers, because many knew the language, many bonded with their countrymen, and many showed our Ukrainians that they are important in the world and the world is watching them," said Ms. Hubska, who has worked with the CEC on elections since 1994.

"It was, honestly, the first time in my life that I felt I could make a difference," said Orest Temnycky.

"I was sent to Bilopillia, in Sumy Oblast, just 10 kilometers from the Russian border," explained Mr. Temnycky, 42, a foreign exchange salesperson and consultant who traveled from Clifton, N.J., to offer his assistance to the people of the country where his parents were born. "And I did not know what to expect; I was exhausted and stressed from being away from my family at Christmastime and worried that I could not communicate with the people because I did not understand Russian." (He needn't have worried - everyone spoke Ukrainian there.)

What he found were memories to last a lifetime and friends that will always remember how he helped them fight the struggle that has now set them free.

"This incident basically confirmed everything that the revolution stood for," he said, explaining that an intimidating woman, the head of the polling station committee, was going to have her way at the final count, and it seemed that no one was going to stand in her way. One young man, also a member of the polling station committee, wanted to challenge her, but he needed evidence and a shoulder to lean on to give him confidence that he was not alone.

Mr. Temnycky and his team of observers provided the young man with materials from the CEC regarding ballot counting, and their presence gave him the confidence to confront the woman. In the end, truth won out and she was not able to falsify the vote count. And the international observers in Bilopillia got a thank you from the young man that made everything worthwhile, recounted Mr. Temnycky.

For Mark Iwasykiw, 43, an IT specialist in New York City, this, his first trip to Ukraine, provided him with a broad range of experiences. "I have been met with the world my parents used to tell me about and I was also met with the world I know on a daily basis, by seeing guys that are just like me here," he observed.

"My experience here simply confirms the fact that no matter how badly we have been beaten into the ground, we have now risen from the ashes. And I feel that this will be an amazing shift in the world," he said.

Although most experiences for the UCCA observers were positive, interesting and educational, leading to new contacts and adventures, some observers in eastern Ukraine did not receive such warm welcomes.

"Why, in Zaporizhzhia, eastern Ukraine, we were basically told: 'Yankee go home,'" explained Yaroslav Fedun, a pensioner from New Jersey, adding that the people at about half of the polling stations he visited, told him in no uncertain terms that they could take care of themselves.

"When I heard Mykola Tomenko speak on the maidan (over the Internet) soon after the November 21 run-off, and he asked people to come out and join the crowds, I knew I had to be there, too," explained John Leshchuk, 43, a chip designer for a telecommunications firm in New Jersey. Mr. Leshchuk, who had been an observer at the Ukraine's Consulate General in New York for Rounds 1 and 2, didn't think too long before he purchased a ticket to travel to Ukraine on the eve of the Christmas holidays.

Most of the UCCA observers were mobilized in 10 to 14 days, and many scrambled for tickets, paying outrageous amounts to travel during peak season to Europe, The experience also involved dealing with separation from loved ones during the holidays, taking time off from demanding jobs and venturing into the cold and dark winter nights of rural Ukraine, instead of enjoying the holidays in their family circles.

When Marta Kryvutsky of Silver Spring, Md., requested time off from her boss to go see the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and serve as an election monitor, he basically asked her: "So, what are you still doing here?" and blessed her on her journey.

UNA President Stefan Kaczaraj traveled to Ukraine with the support of his wife and two daughters. "They basically pushed me out of the house, adding that we will have other Christmases together, but this Orange Revolution happens once in a person's lifetime (if that)," he noted.

Although Mr. Kaczaraj traveled alone to Ukraine, many observers with the UCCA came with friends, relatives and co-workers. Husbands and wives, mothers-in-law with sons-in-laws, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, brothers and sisters, made the trek to the ancestral homeland to make a contribution to this fledgling democracy to guarantee transparent and fair elections.

Among the observers there were also quite a few people who feel a special connection to Ukraine, but are not of Ukrainian heritage.

One of them was James Huntwork, 56, a lawyer from Phoenix, Ariz., who has been coming to Ukraine since 1991.

"I have long since lost count as to how many times I have been in Ukraine - probably 16 to 18 times," he recalled. He came to work on election law issues in the late summer of 1991 and came back to observe the independence referendum as part of the very first wave of international election observers in Ukraine.

"I had to come this time, because this election was the second new beginning for Ukraine, and I think that our work is not yet done," he said.

Another person who arrived in Ukraine and simply felt right at home was Texan Brad Bunt, 37, who works on small business development issues with the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation in the Sumy Oblast. This monitoring mission was his 15th trip to Ukraine over the last seven years and, as he likes to point out, "it is also my most important one."

"A few weeks ago, Ukraine finally became noticed by the world. As I saw all the people standing on the maidan, I couldn't think of a better way to spend Christmas, but to come to Ukraine and to support all these people and their struggle for democracy," he said.

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