Hillary Rodham Clinton honored with CCRF achievement award (04/25/99)

Hillary Rodham Clinton honored with CCRF achievement award

by Irene Jarosewich

NEW YORK - America's First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton was honored with the Children of Chornobyl's Relief Fund Lifetime Humanitarian Achievement Award on April 19 at The Ukrainian Institute of America for her commitment to improving the health of women and children in Ukraine, as well as around the world.

Referring to a poem by American poet Maya Angelou, titled "A Phenomenal Woman," CCRF's Executive Director Nadia Matkiwsky, introduced the first lady as "a woman who stands on her own achievements, a woman of vision and compassion and intellectual strength - indeed a phenomenal woman." Noting that "a nation without healthy children is a nation without a future," Mrs. Matkiwsky thanked Mrs. Clinton for reaching out to help the stricken children of Ukraine.

Joining Mrs. Matkiwsky to present the award to Mrs. Clinton was Tanya Vena, financial director for the foundation. The first lady was given a 14-inch bronze sculpture of the Berehynia (protectress). The abstract sculpture of a mother holding a child with outstretched arms was designed and cast by an artist in Ukraine.

In his message of thanks to the foundation's supporters, CCRF President Dr. Zenon Matkiwsky stated that "there is no gift more precious, yet more difficult to bestow than hope," and that the evening was dedicated to all those who have "given the gift of hope to so many infants, children and parents in Ukraine" - most notably the first lady.

Mrs. Clinton, who has lent considerable support to procure funds and contributions for hospitals and programs focused on healing the consequences of Chornobyl, has visited Ukraine several times and in 1996, during the 10th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, hosted an event at the White House to commemorate the tragedy.

CCRF Director of Development Alex Kuzma also noted the hope instilled by Mrs. Clinton during her visits to Ukraine:

"According to doctors in Ukraine, the neonatal respirators and the equipment that the first lady helped provide through her initiative to Kyiv Maternity Hospital No. 2, which was delivered during her visit to Ukraine in May 1995, literally gave new life to medical programs in Ukraine. Furthermore, her direct contact with patients during her visits with the children and the mothers in the hospitals during both her 1995 visit, as well as during her trip in November 1997 had a dramatic effect on the patients and on hospital personnel. Never before had a public figure of international stature taken the time to sit down next to these sick children and their mothers and speak with them directly, with compassion and sincerity.

"In a medical system that functions in a hierarchical method, Mrs. Clinton's direct and simple approach, her willingness to listen to the mothers and her compassion for the sick children had a profound impact. Her visits virtually shifted the paradigm of treatment and set a new model for doctor/patient relations in the hospitals she visited."

Mrs. Clinton, who had agreed many months ago to be in New York for the awards ceremony specifically to coincide with the 13th anniversary of the Chornobyl tragedy, noted that the "CCRF exemplifies the characteristic of Americans - the commitment to help ... the willingness to use our blessings to help others is a reflection of us as Americans and our values." She praised the dedication and commitment of the foundation's staff and volunteers, and the incredible work that has gone into leveraging a large amount of aid on a relatively small budget. The CCRF serves as an inspiration, noted the first lady, for its Ukrainian partners, who, seeing the commitment of the CCRF, gather new resolve to find creative solutions to difficult problems before them.

Earlier in the evening, guest speakers at the event included film star Alec Baldwin and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.).

Mr. Baldwin, a dedicated anti-nuclear activist, stated that the explosion at Chornobyl proved that the dangerous consequences of nuclear energy are not the stuff of myth. He somberly cited ever-worsening statistics: rates of thyroid cancer are more than 80 times higher than pre-Chornobyl [in Ukraine and Belarus]; thousands of children now wear the "Chornobyl necklace" - a scar around the base of the neck that indicates surgery to remove damaged thyroid gland; 35,000 clean-up workers, out of approximately 500,000, have died in the past 12 years - most of them men who were between the age of 18 and their mid-30s when they were sent to Chornobyl.

A 30-kilometer "dead zone" has been created around the reactor. More than 160,000 people were permanently resettled. More than 5 million people continue to live in an area that was beneath a heavy cloud of contamination. Radioactive isotopes will continue to contaminate arable soil and drinking water for centuries.

As predicted by specialists in 1986, most of the long-term consequences of nuclear contamination are only now beginning to appear. New studies show high rates of abnormal births to women who were adolescents at the time of the Chornobyl accident, as well as increased rates of miscarriage and hormonal abnormalities. Infant mortality in Ukraine keeps rising and is now three times the European average at 21 per 1,000, with higher rates reported in the areas of contamination.

Hollywood producer Fred Caruso, noted for such films as "The Godfather"and "Casualties of War" was master of ceremonies. He recalled for the audience the first meeting 10 years ago in 1989 between Dr. and Mrs. Matkiwsky and Volodymyr Yavorivsky, head of Rukh's Chornobyl fund. Mr. Yavorivsky had come to the U.S. to seek aid for children suffering from the consequences of Chornobyl's nuclear fallout. Near the end of his visit, not having met with much success, Mr. Yavorivsky was introduced to the Matkiwskys. Immediately the family organized a shipment of medicines and medical supplies, which inadvertently became the beginning of the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund.

The foundation has since sent 1,200 tons of aid - valued at more the $40 million - delivered via 22 airlifts and eight sea shipments. Two airlifts are planned for the 13th anniversary - departing April 25 for Kyiv and May 4 for Lviv.

Sen. Lautenberg, a staunch supporter of the CCRF since he was first introduced to the organization in 1996, praised the efforts of Mrs. Matkiwsky and the foundation's volunteers, as well as the efforts of Mrs. Clinton, to secure decent health care for children in need. Sen. Lautenberg continues to fight to obtain permanent resident status for Vova Malofienko, a 14-year-old Ukrainian boy who arrived in the United States for leukemia treatment in 1990.

Among the approximately 275 guests were Ukraine's representative to the U.N., Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, and his wife, Iryna; Ukraine's Consul General in New York, Yuriy Bohaeivsky with his wife, Olya; Ukrainian World Congress President Askold Lozynskyj; Dr. Lina Buteiko, wife of Ukraine's ambassador to the United States; National Council Chair Roma Dyhdalo of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council; Myron Holubiak, president of Roche Laboratories; members of the board of directors of the CCRF, chaired by Orest Dubno; and representatives from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and St. Barnabas Medical System.

Archbishop Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. offered the benediction and the girls choir Prolisok from the New York City branch of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) offered several vocal selections, including a deeply touching final selection, "The Children's Prayer."

Among the principal sponsors of the event honoring Mrs. Clinton's achievements in helping the children of Chornobyl were Roche Laboratories, BBDO Advertising, Goldenbarr, Adia and Orest Fedash, as well as many Ukrainian American credit unions, and dozens of small businesses, corporations and individuals.

A letter to the first lady from Natalka of Lviv

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