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OUR LIFE ______________ ________ Monthly, published by Ukrainian National Women’s L eagu e_o f_A m erlca^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ VOL. XXXIX ____________ MAY 1982____________________ EDITED BY A. H. Sawyckyj Viewpoint______________________________________________ THE UKRAINIAN MOTHER, UNWLA AND by Anisa Handzia Sawyckyj May is the month in which we pay homage to Mothers — those heroines who perform herculean tasks which often go unnoticed and unappreciated. Bearing children, nurturing them physically and psycholo gically, instilling in them values and aspirations — all this requires time, energy and often self-denial. However, the Ukrainian mother, aside from all the basic tasks of motherhood, has taken on additional obligations: to transmit Ukrainian values and traditions to her children, and to create an environment in which their Ukrainianism will flourish. This is not easy. It involves instilling in children a sense of confi dence in being ’’different” from their friends; in teaching them how to stand up and be proud of their Ukrainian heritage and their unshortened, East European last names. It involves justifying the many Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays that are devoted to Ukrainian youth organizations, Saturday school, dance or theater groups, and Ukrainian church services. How many countless hours are spent in driving children to various Ukrainian activities each weekend in an effort to tie that child more closely to his or her Ukrainian heritage and peers! And we won’t even mention the innumerable hours spent at home helping a child memorize Ukrainian poems, preparing costumes for a performance... Every generation of Ukrainian women in America has had its own unique set of problems to deal with. The earliest Ukrainian immigrants were faced with an environment that was hostile to newcomers, with their different customs and lifestyles. The pressure to assimilate was enormous. Subsequently, the political refugees of the post-World War II era, torn from their roots and buffeted by the winds of war, arrived in a foreign land which was to become their new home, fiercely intent on instilling in their children a knowledge and love of the Ukrainian culture and language they had left behind, these newly arrived families spent much time and effort recreating a world they had known in Ukraine while at the same time working hard to sustain their families economically. THE WOMEN’S CONFERENCE While entire families were involved in this effort at self-preservation, it was, as always, the women who had the most daily contact with their children through the Ukrainian language, books, traditions, songs and religious practices. Through these vital links, they functioned as transmitters of the Ukrainian culture from their own generation to the next. Throughout the decades, for the earlier as well as the later immigrations, the Ukrainian mother has not stood alone in her efforts to preserve Ukrainianism in her family. Many community institutions have helped her, of which one of the most important has been UNWLA. Well-known for its excellent Ukrainian nursery schools and as a resource and information center for school and home Ukrainian teaching aids, UNWLA was an island in a non-Ukrainian sea for women who needed to share with other women the problems of raising a Ukrainian family in difficult economic and cultural circumstances. UNWLA’s support for woman in her role as mother continues to this day. In fact, woman’s role as mother is one of the underlying themes of the upcoming Ukrai nian Women’s Conference inititated by UNWLA, which will take place in October 2-3, 1982 at Soyuzivka. A survey has shown that Ukrainian women today are most concerned about Ukrainian identity and the preservation of Ukrainian traditions, language and insti tutions. They want to share their experiences and to devise solutions to the problems of acculturation. In Conference workshops on the topics of Ukrainian Identity and Traditions, Ukrainian Schools and Youth Organizations, Intermarriage and others, women will touch upon the elements that relate to their nurturing role as Ukrainian mothers. The Ukrainian Women’s Conference will address ’’the whole woman,” — her personal, family and career life. But one can be sure that the problems of today’s Ukrainian mother will be uppermost in the minds of many women at the Conference on October 2-3, 1982. UNWLA is proud to add the sponsorship of this event to its list of the many services it has rendered to Ukrainian mothers over the years. Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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