Ukrainian Americans send aid to Krasnodon
by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau
KRASNODON, Ukraine - Svetlana Horbachevska sat in the front row of the Krasnodon union hall, along with the other miners' widows and mothers who had gathered to await the delegation bringing then donations of U.S. dollars. Her 5-month-old daughter, Khristina, slept peacefully aside her in a baby carriage, oblivious to the hum of conversation around her.
This was not Ms. Horbachevska's first visit here. Several times previously she had gathered in the union hall with the same women to receive the humanitarian aid that had regularly arrived since the tragedy at the Barakova Mine that claimed their husbands, fathers and sons on March 11.
The first time was the most difficult, explained the 20-year-old with the ruddy complexion and several gold teeth. It had only been a couple of weeks since her husband, Aleksei, and 79 fellow miners had perished in the Barakova Mine after a methane blast about a kilometer below the surface ripped through the colliery, instantly killing most of the miners. Then the emotional state of the women was much more fragile. Some were still in shock. Others remained in mourning, their loud wails or silent sniffling filling the hall.
At the time Ms. Horbachevska was eight months pregnant with Khristina and gradually preparing for the birth of what would be her first child. The Horbachevskyi's economic situation was precarious - Aleksei had not received any money since he began working in the mines about the time they tied the knot - but the couple had their bees, which provided honey that could be sold in the marketplace. His parents pitched in with food and money whenever they could.
On the day of the tragedy Svetlana had become worried when Aleksei did not come home that evening at his usual time. But she did not have the energy to go to the mine to find out why the miners were still working. His parents went instead. The next day they went to the morgue together to identify the body.
Today Ms. Horbachevska looks much better than she did seven months ago - all the women do, according to Vira Prynko, representative in Ukraine of the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, headquartered in Philadelphia. When Ms. Prynko first arrived in Krasnodon only a couple of weeks after the tragedy, she was shaken by what she saw.
"I cried on the train all the way back [to Kyiv]. Emotionally I had not prepared myself to listen to the individual stories, it was very difficult," explained Ms. Prynko.
The UUARC was the first group to give support to the families of the deceased miners when it sent humanitarian aid just days after the tragedy. At that time Ms. Prynko delivered $16,700 for the injured and the families of the survivors.
On September 29 Ms. Prynko returned, just as she had told many of the bereaved she would, carrying an additional $27,205 from the UUARC and two other Ukrainian American organizations, the Ukrainian National Association and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. This time the UUARC donation was $13,050, while the UNA and the UCCA contributed $9,405 and $4,750, respectively, all of it gathered through individual fund-raising efforts by the three organizations. (The UCCA had also sent a cargo container of clothing for the miner's families, which arrived in Ukraine in August.)
It was another in a lengthy string of humanitarian aid donations that the seven surviving miners and the 80 families of the deceased have received over the last six months, including gifts from international organizations and the countries of Bulgaria, Britain, China, Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan, Poland and the United States, as well as the Ukrainian government. The assistance has ranged from cash gifts to new apartments and garages.
The Ukrainian government was the first to commit to supporting the miners' families. Initially it gave financial support in amounts ranging from 27,000 hrv to 150,000 hrv, including 5,000 hrv to each parent and 15,000 hrv to each child up to the age of 23, in addition to a guarantees of a tuition-free college educations. The local government pitched in with new apartments or offers to remodel existing ones.
The aid has done much to help the families of the deceased rebuild their lives and move beyond the tragedy. Volodymyr Bilous, mayor of this dreary, blue-collar town located near the Russian border about an hour's drive from Luhansk, even conceded that the families live better today than they did before that sad day. He underscored, however, that nothing makes up for the sudden and tragic way the miners died and the uncertain future with which the families are burdened.
The influx of money has not left the town of Krasnodon without problems. Existing animosity and friction within and between families has been amplified; there are complaints that the money has not been distributed equitably among family members. Widows and families of miners who died prior to or after the Barakova disaster have felt slighted by the relatively insignificant level of financial support they have received relative to what the Barakova families have gotten.
Inside the trade union hall, at the door of which stands one of the last public statues in Ukraine of Stalin, Ms. Prynko told the nearly 100 people gathered that the three organizations she represented did not expect that the money she would disburse would solve all their problems, but hoped that it would help.
"Time heals, but not all wounds," said Ms. Prynko. "We are here today to put a salve on a most unhealable one."
While Ms. Prynko, along with militia officers of the Luhansk Oblast Ministry of Internal Affairs, which had escorted the delegation and the money from Kyiv, distributed the cash donations in individual amounts ranging from $205 to $480 to representatives of the 87 families that were eligible, Mayor Bilous and Anatolii Koval, first vice-chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Humanitarian Aid Committee, listened to their problems and grievances.
Many had specific issues they wanted addressed, such as when their apartments would finally be remodeled, which was the question Ms. Horbachevska wanted answered.
Others, such as Liudmyla Blyskavka who lost her 22 year-old son, Maksym Korbatov, in the tragedy, simply wanted to unburden themselves and share their loss and loneliness, "They took my son. He was an only child," said Ms. Blyskavka, tears streaming down her face.
Another mother wanted to know why she could not receive compensation for her married son who had perished, as his widow does.
"The mothers cry for their sons like their wives do," explained distraught, 63-year-old Olha Vysotska. "There is not a day that I don't cry. Why do they separate the mothers from their sons?"
For the most part, however, the family members expressed gratitude for the government attention and the humanitarian aid they have been receiving. On this day thank-yous went to the three Ukrainian American organizations in particular. More than half of the 80 families took time to address personal letters to the UUARC, the UNA and the UCCA, in which they expressed gratitude to their "brothers and sisters" in the diaspora for not forgetting them in the months since their ordeal, and for the material and moral support.
"It has been six months since the accident at the Barakova mine, but you haven't forgotten the families of the deceased," wrote Liubov Cherkasova, whose husband perished in the explosion. "At this moment I cannot find the proper words of thanks for the charity offered by each and every one of those who took part.
Halyna Makhinya, wrote: "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing the grief over the death of my son and for the sympathy and material support. For me, at this time, this is a great help. I bow deeply before you and sincerely thank you."
Oleksandra Horokhova, another mother, said: "May the Lord grant you peace, fortune and all the best."
A group of five women came up to a reporter covering the event to verbally express their appreciation verbally. "We would like to thank all those who gave donations, as well as to your newspaper and to the three organizations. You have given us hope and have proven to us that we indeed have brothers and sisters in America."
While the wives, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters have accepted their losses and have begun to rebuild their lives, there is no question that they will have difficulty filling the gaping hole in their lives left by the blast at the Barakova Mine.
As Ms. Horbachevska explained, the money and humanitarian aid will not change one tragic detail: "It doesn't replace what I had. Alexei is gone forever."
However, she had Khristina now, and was going to make sure the daughter Aleksei would never see would benefit from the aid she was receiving as a result of his death.
"Right after this we are going to take some of the money and buy Khristina winter clothes," said Ms. Horbachevska.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 29, 2000, No. 44, Vol. LXVIII
| Home Page |