Carteret parish helps residents of villages in Cherkasy Oblast (01/14/01)

Carteret parish helps residents of villages in Cherkasy Oblast

by Michelle Tucker Chubenko

CARTERET, N.J. - In January of 2000, after a discussion with Elaine Oshust about her husband's visit to Ukraine, the Rev. Taras Chubenko was appalled to hear of the educational conditions facing the children of the village John Oshust was visiting.

The Rev. Chubenko told Mrs. Oshust that when she talked with her husband the next time she was lucky enough to get a telephone connection to Ukraine, she should tell him that St. Demetrius Parish would like to do something to help the children of the village.

What happened next was like a story out of the lives of the saints. Based on a faith commitment what started out as a "simple" project of helping the schoolchildren turned into an all out effort to assist the entire population of the villages involved in Mr. Oshust's visit. Many thoughts were exchanged, and many more doubts were expressed, but after some serious deliberation parishioners decided that St. Demetrius would assist two villages; Pobina and Nahirna. By April, 2000 a sub-committee of St. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox League Senior Chapter had formed and developed a project plan that began immediately.

Pobina and Nahirna are neighboring villages located in the Cherkasy Oblast of central Ukraine about 150 miles south of Kyiv. Pobina (population approximately 1,000) is home primarily for retired collective farm workers. Nahirna (population approximately 1,500) is home to the current workers of the Nahirna collective farm. The children of the villages attend school each day in an effort to obtain an education. The hope for the new generation of Ukrainians lies in education, but by Western standards the village school severely lacked the resources and supplies that enable a faculty to provide an educational experience in tune with the new millennium.

Parishioners decided that their "Project Ukraine" would provide the resources and supplies that would enable the school staff to meet the requirements of contemporary education. In addition, while aiding the school with needed supplies, the Carteret parish's Senior UOL Chapter would lend additional support to the two villages by increasing the size of the shipping container and filling any available space with humanitarian aid for the village.

From March through August, the UOL chapter collected myriad school and household items. These donations, from paper clips to cases of paper to children's toys, were stored in a newly sectioned and secure storeroom in the community center. In the humanitarian effort, bicycles for transportation, sewing machines, and hundreds of pounds of tools and supplies were collected. While collecting the items, each box and its contents were recorded on a master packing manifest, which was later translated into Ukrainian and Russian for customs clearance.

The committee volunteered weeknights and Saturday afternoons throughout the summer to achieve its goal of a full 40-foot container. After divine liturgy on August 13, 2000, Senior UOL Chapter members and parishioners gathered to sort and pack the clothing donations and load the container. When it was all said and done, the tractor-trailer-sized container was packed with over 400 boxes, including 680 manifested items totaling 40,000 pounds.

On August 18 the project coordinator, Mr. Oshust, along with a final blessing by the Rev. Chubenko, bid the container a fond "Dopobachenya," knowing that in September Mr. Oshust would be meeting it again. The ensuing weeks included meetings to discuss the remaining monetary donations and their distribution, customs paperwork, and a plan for the distribution of the donated items.

Mr. Oshust's departure to Ukraine was on September 13, 2000. The container was scheduled to arrive in Pobina on September 23, 2000, but due to delays with customs and agricultural clearances, the arrival was delayed until October 14, 2000. Fortunately, the efforts extended by Mr. Oshust and his cousin Peter in Ukraine were finally able to extricate the container from the authorities. Without their persistence and constant trips to various agencies, the Carteret parish's efforts might have been in vain.

In the early morning hours of October 14, 2000, unbeknownst to the local residents, the huge parcel that would alter the future educational experiences of children and change the lives of many villagers had arrived. It did not take long for word of its arrival to make its way through the two villages. When the residents arrived they could not believe the size of the container; all were mesmerized by its contents.

In a flurry of activity, Mr. Oshust and his crew unloaded the container. The first box to leave the container was the one packed by the Rev. Chubenko that was earmarked for the village church. Besides vestments, candles, incense, self-lighting charcoal and various other items, a small amount of money was also delivered for the church's use.

During the following week Mayor Petro Krasilovsky oversaw a fair and orderly distribution of the humanitarian aid. Using the school gymnasium as a distribution center, the various items were given out according to the needs of each family. All of the collected school supplies were delivered to the school for its use.

Today, maps hang on the school walls, globes and calculators are readily available, children have pencils, sharpeners and paper. The kindergarten once devoid of supplies as simple as toys now has a class of children anxious to get to school and experience the gifts sent by loving people. The physical education department has much-needed equipment. Computers that were once only a dream are now available to the students. American bicycles cruise the streets of Pobina and Nahirna, clothing is being sewn by villagers and fellow Ukrainians' lives have been changed in a positive way, all by the caring of a parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.

This is not the end of the story, however. Mr. Oshust has assembled slides and pictures to show anyone who is interested in the collection, shipping and distribution of the aid to Ukraine. The parishioners of St. Demetrius Cathedral are filled with a pride of accomplishment and are gearing up for the second phase of "Project Ukraine." Readers can help in these efforts, or can start a "Project Ukraine" in their own parishes. For more detailed information about St. Demetrius Parish's work, please visit the website at http://members.home.net/stdemetrius/ProjectUkr.htm.

For further information about how to help aid Ukraine and the parish's new hospital effort, please write to: St. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, Attention John Oshust, UOL Project Ukraine coordinator, 641 Roosevelt Ave., Carteret, NJ 07008.

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