Yes we are
back at the Mennonite Centre in Molochansk Ukraine. Mary and I arrived here on Monday September
25. Our flights were all on time and thankfully
uneventful.
During the
last leg of our flight from Vienna to Dnepropetrovsk, I found myself intrigued
with a group of my fellow travellers. I
approached them as we were disembarking and commented that they looked like a
bunch of Mennonites from Canada. This
really startled one of the women and she asked, “How did you recognize
us”. I never answered her question but I
thought about it later on. My first clue
was her husband’s cap, which was advertising a certain type of chicken feed in
English. After that I guess it was their
demeanour. The last clue was realizing
that the only people flying into Dnepropetrovsk besides Ukrainians returning
home and European business people, were Mennonites curious about their
ancestral homeland. The couple I spoke
to were from Abbotsford, British Columbia and the group was on a church mission
trip. They knew all about the work of
the Mennonite Centre. They had been
there at the opening in 2001.
Our manager,
Oksana was at the airport to greet us.
She has become a good friend and we always look forward to seeing
her. She updated us on changes since our
last visit. Ukraine has made another
small move in aligning itself with the West.
The traffic laws have changed regarding how to enter traffic
circles. The previous law was that
vehicles entering the circle had right of way with some exceptions. The new law
is that vehicle already in the circle have right of way with no exceptions.
This is consistent with driving rules in the West and will reduce confusion
with drivers coming into Ukraine from Western Europe. Drivers from Russia on the other hand will be
confused as this is not consistent with their driving practise. Ukraine has made another small step in
aligning itself with Western Europe.
We spent
Wednesday morning planning our time at the Mennonite Centre. There were 12 items on our list. These included meetings we wanted to have,
presentations we are committed to make, people we wanted to connect with, and
places we wanted to visit. Our experience
has been that it is best if we attack our “to do” list with a sense of urgency
in the beginning, then there is a better chance of getting it done. Toward the end of our stay, local events
always press in and distract us from our own agenda. We look at this list every day and are happy
with the progress in either initiating the task or completing our part of it.
One of the
items on our “to do” list was to visit Tyma and Vika and see the business that
they have established. Tyma is from the
neighbouring village of Kutuzovka (formerly called Petershagen) where he and
his father had a small farm growing grapes and other crops. Tyma’s first interaction with the Mennonite
Centre was in receiving a scholarship to study agriculture at a university in
Melitopol. After a few years of putting
this agricultural knowledge to use on his farm, Tyma and his partner Vika
(short for Victoria) decided to branch out into the tourism business. With the loss of their traditional vacation
resorts in Crimea, Ukrainians are going to new places along the coast by the
Sea of Azov. Tyma decided to develop
some land he owned along the coast, just south of Melitopol. He built some vacation cabins and came to us last
winter for a loan to build a small store to cater to tourists. He built the store this summer, got it
operational, and made his first loan repayment to us one year early. He and Vika are hard workers. It is great to
see this entrepreneurial spirit in young people. It needs to be supported in Ukraine where too
many people are waiting for somebody else to solve their problems. The Mennonite Centre is committed to using
these loan repayments in a sustainable way to encourage other entrepreneurs.
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| Tyma and Vika in their new Store |
Tyma’s
location on the coast is about 12 km east of the new border with Russia in
Crimea. The Sea of Azov is the
shallowest sea in the world with an average depth of 14 metres (46 feet). It reminds me a bit of Lake Winnipeg, which
is also a shallow lake. Because of the
shallowness, storms can come up suddenly with very violent waves.
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| Mary Walking Along the Coast of the Sea of Azov |
Mary always has
her own outreach ministry. She knew that
one of our staff, whom we refer to as little Tanya, likes to knit. The only affordable source of wool for Tanya
is to buy old clothing and unravel it. Mary
received a large quantity of wool this last year and brought it from Canada for
Tanya. She was thrilled to get this
gift. The next day Tanya came to work
with a gift for Mary. It was a large bag
of grapes from Tanya’s garden. There
were 4 varieties of grapes and they are beautiful to look at and delicious to
eat.
 |
| Beautiful Grapes from Tanya |
If you wish
to know more about the work of the Mennonite Centre, you can check out our web
site at: http://www.mennonitecentre.ca/ or follow our daily activities on
Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Mennonite-Centre-Ukraine-735361069838076/
