Alberta UCC holds Youth Conference (01/15/06)

Alberta UCC holds Youth Conference

CANMORE, Alberta - The Alberta Provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress convened its youth conference on November 11-13, 2005, here at the Chateau Canmore. UCC-APC President Dave Broda welcomed participants at the opening reception and a presentation was shown about UCC-APC activities.

The program content was filled with many interesting sessions and exhibits, among them the following.

Andriy Nurek (Calgary) and Bohdan Szewchuk (Edmonton) of the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada; Amanda Shuya of the Ukrainian Orthodox Youth, St. John's Institute; Patty Faulder of the Ukrainian Catholic Youth, Edmonton Eparchy; and Andrij Nykyforuk of the Ukrainian Students' Society made presentations about their organizations activities.

Participants expressed interest and stressed the importance of cooperation to be more effective in reaching mutual goals.

On Friday evening, participants enjoyed a rare opportunity to view three interesting short films by Ukrainian Albertans.

The award-winning film "A Requiem for January," written by Sasha Simcisin, filmed by Gord Yaremchuk and directed by Ivan Zubritsky, focuses on one man's reflection of "the old country," and was filmed in Alberta at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village.

"Holod," written by Joanna Krupicz, on the subject of Ukraine's genodical Famine of 1932-1933 was both produced and shot in Alberta.

"Remembering Community - Local Culture and Diversity on the Prairies," a documentary on community life and identity on the Canadian prairies to 1939 was produced by Dr. Andriy Nahachewsky, Nadya Foty and Mariya Lesiv through the Ukrainian Folklore Center.

There was a short question and answer period with the producers.

A presentation of political participation and how to get involved featured a neat rap introduction. The demographics on voting were interesting: only 22 percent of eligible voters in the age category of 18-20 actually vote. In the age category of people over 58, 80 percent of the eligible voters vote.

Paul Grod, UCC vice-president, highlighted the importance of volunteering within the Ukrainian community and ways everyone can get involved. The focus of his presentation was that youths should not consider themselves the leaders of the future, but the leaders of today.

His presentation ended with an interesting group discussion regarding whether Ukrainian youth organizations should all be organized under one umbrella organization or if they should be organized separately as they currently are. The debate centered around the concern that there is a lack of cohesion among Ukrainian youths.

Presentations were given by two observers of Ukraine's Orange Revolution. Andrij Nykyforuk was sent to Ukraine on behalf of the UCC-APC and Rhonda Zuk was sent on behalf of CANADEM. Their experiences varied in terms of the extent of election training and their encounters with fraud and suspicious occurences.

A poll was taken and the majority of conference attendees said they would be interested in being observers for the upcoming 2006 parliamentary elections in Ukraine.

Mr. Grod, head of mission for the 2004 Election Observers in Ukraine Project, told the participants about the UCC's involvement and plans for the 2006 vote.

Canada World Youth introduced some programs that the organization offered and explained the benefits of participating in an exchange program. Different lengths of exchanges exist and participants can request to be assigned to a particular continent. It was interesting to learn that not very many people request European countries. Therefore, lots of opportunities exist to do an exchange program in Ukraine.

Tamara Tatuch gave information regarding the growth of the tourism industry within Ukraine. This can be seen as real progress for Ukraine, as it has not typically been seen as a vacation venue. People generally traveled there only to visit family, and now more people are seeking out Ukraine as a tourist destination.

Romana Poritska presented information regarding financial planning - the different aspects and priorities. Her advice was very practical, "Start now and know where you are going. Stick to your plan."

Andrij Hladyshevsky gave a very emotional presentation that touched everyone's hearts. He spoke of the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko. Listening to the anecdotes and experiences of the organization, the conference ended on a very positive note, full of encouragement and with a strong sense of pride in the Ukrainian culture and heritage.

| Home Page |