EDITORIAL: Ukrainian spirit in action (06/29/03)

EDITORIAL

Ukrainian spirit in action

Although The Weekly often receives various suggestions and bits of advice from different sources for a variety of reasons, it is much rarer that we become a go-between to provide charity to an individual. It is rarer still that we stumble onto a person with the talents and drive of Ihor Lobok, whose tragic family circumstances far from assured that this potential would be realized.

We found Ihor, quite unexpectedly, after our Kyiv correspondent was invited to attend a press conference on poverty in Ukraine, which was to take place in connection with a street musician's festival. And if you ever have doubted there is such a thing as "the hand of God," or "cosmic fate," then consider this.

That press conference, as sometimes happens in Ukraine, was held earlier than scheduled because the performances finished a bit sooner than had been expected. Our reporter in Kyiv was punctual but missed everything anyhow. The only people left when he arrived were the president of the Union of Humanists, the organization that organized the event, and some of the Kyiv student acitvists who support it. And also Ihor, a frail and shy teenager, who had won one of the prizes and now wearily sat in the concert hall awaiting a ride home.

Our reporter, anxious to get some sort of story, turned to the youngster for an interview. But Ihor replied with a frightened doe-eyed look and muttered that he would rather defer. Only after the teenager had already left did Union of Humanists President Valerii Nechyporenko tell Ihor's tragic story. If our Kyiv correspondent had showed up even a little later Ihor's story might never have became known.

After the story was published, we at The Weekly were amazed by the speed and sincerity of the responses to his situation, with several people offering to buy the talented boy a new violin, including a case and strings, quite an expensive proposition for most, which could easily run to several thousand dollars. In the end, spontaneous financial offers to help Ihor reached $1,140.

What was equally surprising, even shocking some might say, was the inability by some Kyivans who were involved in the project to fully comprehend why complete strangers would donate money in such amounts, so freely and unconditionally. Ihor's violin teacher at first said she could simply neither understand nor trust the motivation behind such expressions of concern and aid, and even suggested that there might be unknown strings attached. To be quite truthful, she quickly came around and eventually could only express tearful amazement at a type of charity rarely seen in Ukraine.

We are very pleased that our community remains concerned about our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, and continues to express its support in tangible ways. This is especially pleasing, given the many allegations of financial improprieties and fraud that have emerged from there in the past several years. We must remain engaged in Ukraine, while remembering that we can help change people's lives even with small works of charity. (Eight of the 12 people who helped Ihor donated less than $100.)

Ihor now has a future. He has his new violin. He will have some new clothes. Two of the donors have even pledged to follow his development and help him enter Kyiv's prestigious Rheingold Gliere Ukrainian State Music Academy in 2004.

It took only a few people - strangers to one another but like-minded in their resolve - to help create a new world of possibilities for a boy who until then had much more desire than hope. Hillary Clinton may say that it takes a village and George Bush may label it a million points of light, but we know this is simply the Ukrainian spirit in action, with a good deal of input from the Man above!

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