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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЧЕРВЕНЬ 2011 17 children had been transplanted even this far west and medical needs were on the horizon. Within two years, four blood analysis machines and replacement parts for these were purchased and delivered, followed by the joint purchase of an MRI in partn ership with CCRDF. This was followed by the purchase of a tomograph for use by a Kyiv hospital — but with the explicit understanding that Chornobyl victims would receive priority for treatment. And so the list continued as needs arose. Through the commitmen t and generosity of our membership and communities nationwide, individual hospitals and their patients have been supported and touched by the UNWLA. One of the most generous donations we have received was from UNWLA Honorary Member Mary Beck. In her memory and following her generous spirit, we are presently focusing our efforts on equipment upgrading — a much needed and highly used pediatric burn unit in Lviv. This unit serves over 300 children per year. The project is being executed in partnership with a not ed Harvard physician who has been helping Ukrainian children since 2005 and who has gained the support of the International Rotary for this joint project. Most poignant, however, are the individual letters and requests the UNWLA regularly receives — for ins tance, from a grandmother left alone and now taking care of her daughter’s two children. Her daughter passed away of cancer and, perhaps it was due to being exposed to the radiation of Chornobyl. The grandmother cannot survive on her pension and lives in a village without simple amenities — according to our present Social Welfare Committee chair, Iryna Rudyk , who visited the family — the children are beautiful, their eyes reflect innocence, deep sadness. The UNWLA naturally and sincerely helps this family. Ther e are many such repeated scenarios that I can paint for you with our UNWLA brush. A point in time has been reached, however, as everyone working with the effects of Chornobyl is well aware, when it is difficult to distinguish whether illnesses or ailments in Ukraine are due to radiation exposure or other environmental factors or are perhaps even self - induced by poor daily habits or addictions. Therefore, the humanitarian aid process has become much more complicated , no longer black and white. Nonetheless, the innocent mother’s uncertainty about her child’s health or perhaps the child’s about her mother’s looms in the background and remains a reality for thousands. The UNWLA remains committed to the statement it helped author at the 1986 ICW Conference — “exp ressing its concern and solidarity for the victims of Chornobyl.” Unfortunately, whether there is agreement or not about the initial number of victims or the severity of future medical issues, the fact remains that on April 26, 1986, a new era began — the er a of Chornobyl. The UNWLA, as an organization of Ukrainian American women with strong ties to Ukraine, many of them mothers and grandmothers, remains committed to making a difference in the lives of those affected by Chornobyl — to the best of our abilities . We feel this is our duty. I would like to quote an excerpt from “To Prypiat” from the collection of Chornobyl peoms authored by Liubov S y rota, a Ukrainian poet and writer who is also a former inhabitant of the city of Prypiat, an eyewitness and victim o f the Chornobyl: We can neither expiate nor rectify the mistakes and misery of that April. The bowed shoulders of a conscience awakened must bear the burden of torment for life. It's impossible, believe me, to overpower or overhaul our pain for the lost home. Pain will endure in the beating hearts stamped by the memory of fear. The second day of the conference was entitled “Nuclear Energy — From Cradle to Grave” and offered presentations from several academics and professionals in the nuclear energy field . On the 25th anniversary of this tragedy, it was clear that there is still a lack of a consensus on the actual effects of the accident and how the future of nuclear energy as a source of fuel should be approached throughout the world. The UNWLA’s intersec tion with Chornobyl and its effects, however, continues. Marianna Zajac, President
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