Youngsters from Ukraine bring "Dity Ditiam" project to the U.S. (08/15/99)

Youngsters from Ukraine bring "Dity Ditiam" project to the U.S.

by Bohdanna Wolanska

ELLENVILLE/GLEN SPEY, N.Y. - We wait in the hot summer evening, 3-year-old Teodor and I. Finally the van rolls in, its many windows full of small, eager faces and large suitcases. Peering through the darkness, the lad riding my hip asks:

- "To nashi dity?" ["Are those our children?" "Nash," best translates as "one of us."]

- "Tak," I smile, surprised at the question, "To nashi!" [Yes, they're ours.]

Out of the tangle of arms and legs in the van tumble 15 people of various sizes and ages: one caretaker, one young driver, and 13 kids age 10 to 11. They are artists, they are winners of children's competitions in Ukraine.

They are also healthy children from Chornobyl, and they come on an errand of mercy: to help save their less fortunate brothers and sisters. They are performing all over the U.S. to help repair the Children's Hospital at Bila Tserkva, where their families were resettled from Chornobyl's Fourth Zone. They call themselves "Dity Ditiam" (by the children, for the children).

The children spend a few days at the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) camp, catching their breath, tending to their instruments and costumes, adjusting their biological clocks, getting acquainted with their Ukrainian American counterparts. But the hospital is not nearly large enough to accommodate the needy, so the concerts must begin.

First, a dress rehearsal for the camp participants. The children weave a story made of poetry and song, remembering the nuclear explosion, recounting the macabre assurances that all was well - little voices, little people dressed in the graceful and colorful traditional garb of their motherland, seeing the horror through a child's eyes. But there is hope, too. After all, the Chornobyl catastrophe forced the country to face down its oppressor, to "arise and break the chains," as Taras Shevchenko, the bard of Ukraine, bade them do.

There is the seasoned conviction of a veteran actor spilling poems from 10-year-old lips. There is the amazing, gutsy verve of folk-style singing from a 13-year-old who sometimes accompanies herself on bandura. There is a poetic, heart-stopping routine by a young gymnast, perching swan-like above the stage on one leg, or one hand. There is the stylish Hutsul duo of dancers with "topirtsi," the traditional axes-cum-walking sticks of the Ukrainian mountain men. There is the sweet nightingale song from a little 10-year-old diva, blond as the sun, with all the other children singing the chorus, and a pert solo folk dance from her older sister, equally blond. There is the masterful. sonorous violin of a 12-year-old virtuoso, going well beyond words, where only music can take you, playing hypnotic compositions written by his older brother, who accompanies on keyboard or guitar (he plays standing, with the guitar slipping ... I present him with my guitar strap after the next number). There are scenes depicting a mother's grief as she clutches her baby, willing to make it well by the strength of her love and dedication, but unable to do so.

We forget the sweltering heat and pesky insects of this extraordinary summer. I am not surprised to find myself wiping tears away, as do other camp counselors and stray adults in the audience. I am not even very surprised that little music-loving Teodor, at first expectantly sitting alongside to watch "nashi dity" perform, in time climbs onto his mother's lap for comfort, later dissolves in tears beyond his comprehension, and eventually has to leave the hall, unable to regain his composure.

But I am surprised to find the teens from the camp sitting spellbound, totally silent for perhaps the first time since camp began. A few sniffles and even the occasional sob escape their efforts at suppression. No matter that many of them have trouble putting together a single grammatically correct sentence in Ukrainian - the heartfelt appeal of "Dity Ditiam" has transcended thousands of miles of separation and decades of "Russification" on one side of the ocean and "Americanization" on the other.

Two days later, a mini-version of the concert is presented at the Verkhovyna Youth Festival, and the road trip has begun in earnest. Violin star Vasyl Popadiuk, the "world's fastest fiddler," is on the program and strikes up a friendship with our shy young violinist, Dmytro Demidov. The two quietly intense virtuosos, present and future, play an impromptu duet backstage between numbers (oh, for a video camera!). Mr. Popadiuk graciously recognizes his future competitor. The other children approach, shyly at first, then surround him for autographs.

The concert resumes, and the audience, melting under the sun of the record heat wave, nevertheless reacts just like the summer camp kids did. We open our hearts to these children, "our" children, and our pockets. We take up a collection for the hospital. We buy them fruit for their long journey to the next city.

These children have retold us the terrible tale that we are to remember forever; they have wrung our hearts with images of young children forced to become adults before their time. But this is not merely another pathetic hardship case bidding for our overtaxed attention and overspent wallets. What they especially have shown us is the formidable depth of their artistic talent, their unquenchable desire to become all they can be, their inexhaustible strength and optimism in the face of seemingly overwhelming obstacles. They are not only a symbol of the hardships Ukraine suffers today, they are also a symbol of what glories her future may bring tomorrow.

The "Dity Ditiam" tour is still in progress. Go, see them, hear them, be amazed and moved. Cry, laugh, remember why you're proud to be a Ukrainian. Give them money for the hospital. Give them food for the road, so they don't have to spend precious capital. Give them pocket money - they are not being paid. This is one touring group that will give you back much more than you give them.

Look for them according to the remaining schedule: August 15 - Chicago; August 22 - Minneapolis; August 27 - Detroit and August 28 - Cleveland. Donations can also be sent to the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, 203 Second Ave., New York, NY 10003, with the note "Chornobyl Children's Hospital" in the memo section of your check.

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