Every time
we leave Ukraine, I silently ask myself - do you think you will be back here
again? I know that we want to come back because Mary and I have fallen in love
with the people. Consequently, I am
always pleasantly surprised when health and circumstances have allowed us to
return. Yes, Mary and I are back for our
eighth term as North American Directors at the Mennonite Centre in
Ukraine.
Our overseas
flight went well for us but there were 2 medical emergencies on board which
distracted the staff considerably. What
was memorable aboard the Brussels Air flight was that they liberally plied us
with drinks and coffee and then went and locked the washroom doors for over an
hour because of some slight turbulence. We
landed in Kyiv on time, were met by Denys, the husband of our manager, who took
us to our hotel for a long rest. The next morning Oksana, our manager, and
Denys joined us for breakfast at a restaurant.
While we were eating, Oksana was approached by a tall elderly man with a
large backpack. He explained that he had
just arrived in Kyiv from the war zone in the east and had not eaten for a
while. Could she get him some food? Oksana has a toughness about her that lets
her say no quite quickly. There was
something about his demeanour that made her look at me, and I nodded yes. As Oksana was getting the food at the
counter, another patron approached her and gave her some money to contribute
toward the cost of the meal. It was our
first cost-shared project and reminded us that Ukraine is still at war.
We started
our trip in Kyiv because we had arranged a meeting at the Canadian
Embassy. Ben and Lil Stobbe are just
completing their term in Ukraine and joined us for the meeting. Events in Ukraine are changing fast and we
wanted to be current on where the government is going with its reforms. In July, Ukraine held parliamentary elections
and for the first time in its history, the winning party got a majority of the
seats. The current government is their
first ever that is not a coalition.
Since the July election, they have used their majority to pass over 200
new laws. The problem is that they have
no idea of the costs of these new laws or have done no analysis to understand
what implications these laws will have on the country. The Canadian Embassy is taking a wait and see
attitude. We will also wait and see but
we know that reforms are coming in many areas where we are involved such as education,
health care, and local government.
We took the
train from Kyiv to Zaporozhe with Oksana. I always enjoy seeing the Ukrainian
countryside. At one point I saw a
beautiful white swan on a small stream.
We were in the part of Ukraine that suffered terrible starvation during
the Holodomor. All birds including the
swans would have been hunted to provide food.
Many species of birds are just starting to recover from those terrible
times.
The
Mennonite Centre was invited to participate in the 30th anniversary
of the work of Otto and Florence Driedger.
Please read Ben Stobbe’s blog at: http://benstobbe.blogspot.com/ for a
description of their work. I was asked
to make a short presentation on Mennonite history and the Mennonite connection
to Ukraine. A young lady was my
translator and I sensed that she was struggling to find the right words. I wonder what was lost or added in her
translation. Subsequent speakers talked
about their work in researching the Mennonite history of their own area. It was great to see their enthusiasm for the
subject. It was both fascinating and
difficult for me to reconcile my understanding of my history with the facts as
they perceived them. One of them even tried
to pronounce the word “Plattdeutsch” (low German). This was translated as “down German”.
I met Max
Shatzky at this event. This is a young
man who has been very active in uncovering Mennonite tombstones in the
Chortitza area that had been used as the foundation for a building during
Soviet times. He was happy to receive
some books on Mennonite history that I had been asked to bring to him.
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| Max and Alvin |
On Friday we
drove to Waldheim. We met the current
mayor. She is very warm lady who made us
feel at home in her office. We were
offered some tea and were glad to accept the offer. When the tea arrived, it had miraculously
turned into some very strong coffee. Ben
was delighted and I was somewhat dismayed.
Flexibility in adapting to changing circumstances is the norm in
Ukraine. We discussed issues of
operating a local government that is experiencing a declining population. For example, they see the need to transport
children to larger schools, but the local roads are so poor that this is
impossible.
As we were
leaving her office, she gave us each a gift prepared by the local
children. She then turned to me and
said, “You have a very lovely wife”. She
was struck by Mary’s warm and welcoming smile.
I am generally recognized as a foreigner, but the locals see Mary as
being one of them. They are drawn to her. We have each been able to find a way of being
accepted.
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| Oksana, Mary, Mayor of Waldheim, and Office staff |
Mary and I
feel that we are back home.
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