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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛИПЕНЬ-СЕРПЕНЬ 2014 WWW.UNWLA.ORG 13 Speech by the Newly Reelected President Marianna Zajac at the XXX UNWLA Convention Banquet May 24, 2014 My warmest and most sincere greetings to all of you, our dear guests! It is a great honor for me to stand here before you as reelected President of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America. I would like to thank our members for this honor and for their trust in me as a leader of our organization. I have been so very proud to represent the UNWLA at regional meetings, various community events, conferences, conven- tions, at the US government bodies in Washington, D.C., at the United Nations as well as in Ukraine. Everywhere this position takes me, it is very clear just how much the UNWLA is respected, how wide- spread the effects of its work are, and how many people’s lives our organization touches. We are at the doorstep of the UNWLA’s 90th anniversary and it is my proud obligation to thank the real heroes of this coming anniversary, those who 89 years ago built a strong foundation for the future of our organization; those women who worked so hard for the common good. Let us remember with great respect those who departed from this world but left behind an enduring legacy as good citizens; let us also remember those who worked with diligence but whose names today have been forgotten—only their faces have remained on old, faded photographs. We owe these well-known and unknown women of good will a great debt of gratitude! The backdrop to this Convention are the troubling events in Ukraine highlighted by tomorrow’s elections—either the elections will be fully democratic and Ukraine remains unified, whole and inde- pendent, or it becomes a failed state in secession turmoil and a possible vassal of Moscow. But the back- drop’s landscape began back in November of 2013—and since then Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora worldwide have experienced some memorable heights, such as the spirit of the Maidan or the toppling of the government, making the valleys seem so much deeper, among them the killing of the young Ukraini- ans by the Berkut and snipers in Kyiv or the violence now seen in Eastern Ukraine. These events have awakened the diaspora for we are all emotionally invested in Ukraine’s future. Our spiritual leaders have invoked the right of every man to live in freedom and dignity, our community organizations have raised funds and been politically active to raise awareness, our credit unions have been instrumental in helping to allow these community organizations to be active in the forefront. We have accomplished this togeth- er, and I thank the representatives of our churches, of our organizations and credit unions—we should be proud of our accomplishments! But we cannot let our guard down now either. Back in December of 2013, the UNWLA very quietly began raising funds to help the demonstra- tors on the Maidan; the response of our branches and Regional Councils was swift—immediate. With the help of private individual partners in Ukraine, not wishing to put any organization in Ukraine in danger, UNWLA aid was delivered without any fanfare and very carefully. And, as was made public at yesterday’s luncheon, medications, food, clothing, and shelter were purchased on the spot and delivered immediate- ly. The UNWLA did not drop its funds into a communal box, wanting to ensure the most efficient use of its supporters’ and donors’ funds. Yes, this was a difficult, but very effective way to work. The first trans- fer was made back in December, and the UNWLA has been very active since then. There have been letter- writing campaigns, protests, petitions, trips to the White House—to meet the Vice President and/or members of the President’s Security Council, visits to attend the United Nations Security Council emer- gency meetings with the Ukrainian Prime Minister, etc. Since its very inception, the UNWLA has been a staunch supporter of human rights, and especially those in Ukraine. On one of my trips to Washington, as I walked from George Washington University to the White House, suddenly I felt like I was walking in the footsteps of our Ukrainian women from New York who in 1925 traveled to Washington, D.C., to be the voice of the women of Ukraine at the International Council of Women Congress. I traveled there to Washington, as had many other previous UNWLA Presidents since those first days in 1925, to be the voice of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters! The democratic process works in the United States—our politicians do listen. It is largely due to the tenacity of the US Ukrainian diaspora and the endurance of the Ukrainian organizations in Washington, D.C., such as U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and UCCA, as well as the pressure put on local poli- ticians and Congress by all of us, that this administration even considered sanctions. During the first
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