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March in Winnipeg. When I was recounting the story of the attempts of Ukrainian women to bring the plight of Ukrainians to the attention of the world through the help of various feminist organizations, it became clear to me that the Ukrainian women’s movement, in itself, has an interna tional dimension. As women in the United States, we are American, yet as Ukrainians we can readily establish a close level of communication with other Ukrainians elsewhere. This is particularly true of Canadian Ukrain ian women with whom we have many similarities and shared interests. My latest study on Ukrainian women brings me before many audiences, some of them young profes sionals and college students. Among the most gratifying aspects of these presentations and trips is the fact that so many young people, especially young women, iden tify with the story of the Ukrainian past and see the organic connection of our present concerns with the past. The spark in their eyes, the realization of a sense of unity and continuity, the discovery of shared lives justifies the long hours of tracking down elusive sour ces, the agony of tracing gentle footsteps, their outlines overrun by tanks and other more visible signs of the past. Hence, I often succumb to an invitation to address an audience a thousand or two thousand miles away. It gives me a chance to meet other Ukrainians who do not happen to share my citizenship, but with whom I share interests and concerns. On March 2, 1985, close to the week that the U.S.A. celebrated Women’s History Week, I addressed the Alpha Omega Women’s Alumnae in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Pre sent at the symposium, which was entitled “Celebrating the Ukrainian Woman,” were also participants from both Winnipeg and Manitoba governmental commissions which dealt with issues of welfare, immigration, and education, especially as it affected women. As luck would have it, the young woman who sat next to me on the plane from Minnesota was a past president of the Alpha Omega society. Now shuttling between caring for a family in Winnipeg and studying for a Ph.D. in Minneapolis, the young woman told me that the society was an outgrowth of the Obnova stu dent society. The Alpha Omega is composed of a wide spectrum of women, all graduates of colleges and uni versities, who feel themselves bound by a Ukrainian heritage. Helen Feniuk, the current president of the Alpha Omega society, is an energetic and highly organized teacher, who is also a painter and a singer. She informed me that the membership fluctuates around one hundred women. As is usual in such organizations, membership lists are never definite. I remembered that in 1920 in Lviv, the Ukrainian Association of University Women numbering less than twenty, could not get off the ground, surrounded by public derision and opposition to such an “elitist” venture. The Alpha Omega in Winnipeg embraced homemakers and career women, young and not so young, those comfortable with the Ukrainian lan guage and those who felt more at ease in speaking Eng lish, fourth generation and first generation Canadians as well as new immigrants. They were all interested in Ukrainian matters, and we spent a productive two days of formal and informal gatherings. What was most interesting also was to hear the argument of a Canadian-Jamaican woman that Ca- nadian-Ukrainian women, as a long settled population, must reach out to the new immigrants, and share their insights, give their help, their expertise, to make this Canadian soil more hospitable. The work of Soiuz Ukrainok, with its grass-roots programs, refected the fusion of women’s concerns with economic develop ment. The Alpha Omega, not overly aware of the Soiuz, was developing a discussion of out-reach concerns and self-discovery which aided its members in a path of his torical self-discovery. “Celebrating the Ukrainian Wo man” placed equal and non-contradictory stress on both Ukrainian and Woman. The program dealt with current issues, ethnic con cerns and did not overlook the living historical past. Martha Bohachevsky-Chomiak 24 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ—КВІТЕНЬ 1985 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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