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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, СІЧЕНЬ 2015 WWW.UNWLA.ORG 13 During this first month of UNWLA's 90th anniversary year, let us look forward to the great possibilities within our grasp in the future while feeling great pride for the past monumental ac- complishments of our predecessors. The Execu- tive Committee has laid down several plans for the upcoming year—an updated and renewed in- formative brochure to be used as a public rela- tions tool; a DVD about our history as well as current accomplishments to be distributed to our Regional Councils and branches in 2015 and used in planning anniversary events; and an art exhibit of Ukrainian female artists planned for the Ukrainian Museum in NYC (founded by the UN- WLA), whose opening is scheduled to coincide with the annual National Board meeting in the fall of 2015. With your support, these tools and events will be able to showcase our organization’s multi- faceted activity in the United States and beyond. We look forward to an exciting 2015 and invite you to plan local events! My husband and I recently returned from a cruise which, although not visiting Ukraine, provided us with a sampling of current Ukrainian experiences and personal stories. We met and were able to converse at some length with several Ukrainian young adults who were working as crew members, discuss personal and current po- litical issues with them, and briefly touch upon the war so affecting their homeland. What an in- teresting and, in many ways, eye-opening experi- ence this turned out to be! I would like to share some of their comments with you since they give a personal side to the news stories with which we have all been pummeled. Two comments were common to all of these young people. First of all, each person had finished university (business, international busi- ness, hotel management) but could not find work in Ukraine and was “forced” to look for work out- side of Ukraine (cruise line employment contracts are signed for 6 months, entail 12-hour days, no days off, are followed by 2-month leaves, and then the cycle repeats). Secondly, each person believed that there could be no good outcome or resolution to the war in Ukraine with continued fighting and that there needed to be a peaceful solution, alt- hough most were skeptical of this path as well. Katya from Kharkhiv, an engaging young woman of 23, said that life was “normal'ne” in Kharkhiv. She hugged and thanked me repeatedly when I shared with her our UNWLA efforts through the War Victims Fund. (Her innocence shined!) Nastya and Andriy from Odessa gave us two opposing viewpoints. Both are parents and left their children with their spouses out of neces- sity. Nastya emphatically stated that the people of Odessa would defend their city to the end should it be invaded and that they wish to remain citizens of Ukraine. Andriy, on the other hand, comment- ed that the war is a political play only and should not be happening at all since there is NO differ- ence between the Ukrainians and the Russians. He maintained that the roots of these two nation- al groups are the same and that they have lived in harmony thus far and would have continued to do so had this “political” power play not been initiat- ed. Taras from Ternopil, a young man of 25, told us about his father, a veteran of the Afghani- stan war, who had to find work outside of the country in order to finance Taras’s education in Kyiv. The young man expressed to us his utmost respect and love for his father. Taras was eventu- ally told that his degree and he were “useless” in Ukraine and, so, he found this job opportunity online. His brother is also studying/working out- side of Ukraine, which leaves their mother to fend for herself (she is a teacher). His final conclu- sion—there is no future in Ukraine (in terms of career prospects, economically, or with the cur- rent war) and he has to earn money to plan a fu- ture outside of Ukraine! Marina from Crimea generally felt that circumstances were better in Crimea after the Russian takeover because salaries and pensions were increased and improved healthcare was promised. She stated that Ukrainian banks were closed and the deposits were not accessible to the people who remained on the peninsula. She is fi- nancially supporting her parents through this cur- rent job. Marina needs this job! Since all resi- dents of Crimea had to surrender their Ukrainian passports and obtain Russian ones, Marina finds herself in a difficult situation since her work visa was based on her Ukrainian status and re- establishing the visa would be a long and compli- cated process. She cannot reach her parents since Internet access in Crimea has been blocked. This poor girl truly appeared defeated with these life situations! Nadia from Dnipropetrovsk left her two- and-a-half-year-old daughter with her mother in
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