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UKRAINIAN WOMAN OUR ENGLISH COLUMN The Problems of the Mother Emigrant Next June the World Move ment of Mothers (MMM) will hold in Paris an important con ference on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. The Secretariat of the organization has lately cir culated a questionnaire with re gard to the life of mothers and their role in terms of physiology, psychology, sociology and philo sophy. The questionnaire mailed to heterogeneous organizations the world over, has brought many documentary replies to the ques tions asked. The questionnaire has also re ferred to the specific problems of the mother emigrant. The World Federation of Ukrainian W om en’s Organizations (WFUVVO) has sent the circular to its mem ber organizations, and has receiv ed replies from various parts of the world. Tine Ukrainian emig rants are scattered throughout the Free World, but the answers have none the less similar feat ures. This proves that the circum stances in which the emigrants are obliged to live, evince similar impressions upon the mother hood. For this reason they are very interesting and important. The Ukrainian mother emig rant who has at the present time small children, has reached m at urity and formation during mi gration. Her childhood and ado lescence have often been passing under abnormal exigencies, dread ing bombs and repatriation to So viet terrorism. Hence she was not able to detect normal surround ings and to enjoy the still atmos phere of family fireside. Her ju venile years have been marked by insecurity. True, the boys and girls in their teens may be fond of such atmosphere, still there are likewise some shortcomings in their molding. Thus the Ukrainian mother faced very exacting difficulties while setting up her new home and creating her family. It is no easy task to gain a basis for ma terial subsistence in a new coun try. The new climate added to new requirements in upbringing the children. This difficulty has still been augmented by the lack of knowledge of the language and of conditions in a new coun try. However, the appeal of the fa mily fireside, of her own children is so indomitable a force that it has won. The husband and wife went jointly to work. She has learned as much as she could the speech of an alien land and has ad justed to new situation. Today there are thousands up on thousands of new Ukrainian families that are progressing in a most edifying way. As the an swers to the questionnaire will attest to, their material basis is satisfactory. The}* delight in the atmosphere of political freedom that is surrounding them in the Free World. The futurity of a Ukrainian family possesses all signification of security, which is indispensible for its develop ment. But burdensome problems are not lacking either. The Ukrain ian mother realizes that she still is impelled to be gainfully em ployed. The great number of U k rainian women experience this as a heavy burden which pulls them away from family life, from rear ing their children. However, they understand that this situation has to continue because the earnings of their hus'bands, for the most part declassed employees, have been insufficient to properly sup port their families. Husband and wife alike care with devotion for their home. They consider it as a bit of their homeland amid strange environment. And there fore all of them try their best to bring into their homes their own traditional customs and specimens of Ukrainian culture. The upbringing of children is likewise a great problem. All re plies to the questionnaire testify to these difficulties, affirming that the rearing of children in new circumstances is much hard er for the mothers than, it used to be in their native land. Neither fathers nor mothers may give themselves up to caring for their children as much as they may wish. The children are apt to break loose from the control of their fathers, and when the mo ther returns home, she is too tired and too busy to pay much atten tion to her children. How, then, ■can she guide the children, who live in a world unknown to her'1 The mother did not master the language of the new country, she lacks knowledge of the traditions of this land and of the mentality of its people. How can she con ceive all the influence that im presses the mind of her child? And thus the mother emigrant is struggling to overcome these influences. She is seeking the ways and means to uphold her authority, to maintain the link and to comprehend the objectives. That is her primary task. Beside all the problems which were re vealed in the answers to ques tionnaire, the Ukrainian mother emigrant has put forward first of all this her mission in her and her children’s new world. L. B. OUR LIFE Edited by Editorial Board 909 N. Franklin St. Philadelphia 23, Pa. Phone MA 7-7945
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