REFLECTIONS OF ELECTION OBSERVERS: The train experience to Zaporizhia (01/30/05)

REFLECTIONS OF ELECTION OBSERVERS

The train experience to Zaporizhia

by Andrij Hluchowecky

As train No. 72 lurched slowly from the central train station in Kyiv en route to the city of Zaporizhia in Ukraine's southeast, the mood was jubilant and festive. The Orange Revolution celebrations on Kyiv's main street, the Khreshchatyk, and in the tent city may have had something to do with the overall atmosphere. Many of our 17-member Canada Corps delegation had witnessed the daily evening celebrations - from the orange scarves, toques, balloons and flags to the singing and dancing by tens of thousands of Ukrainians in and around Maidan Nezalezhnosty, or Independence Square.

Or perhaps it was the pent-up nervous anticipation of the upcoming Ukrainian presidential election on December 26 that had the Canadians in such a giddy mood. Rumors had been circulating the night before that "citizens' groups" and "Kozak" regiments in traditional dress would be working some polling stations to keep order and to "protect the Constitution, at all costs." We were, of course, heading to Zaporizhia, where the historic headquarters of the Zaporizhian Ukrainian Kozaks was located on Khortytsia Island before it was destroyed by the Russian armies in 1775.

In the end, the jubilant mood may have been due to the reality of the special day - it was, after all, Christmas Eve. The 10-hour overnight journey from Kyiv to Zaporizhia would see many of the Canadians celebrate their first Christmas away from their homes in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton, away from their husbands and wives, their children and friends in a faraway, unfamiliar country in the midst of a battle for democracy and freedom. This was certainly a big sacrifice on the part of these Canadians and the close to 500 others who comprised the Canadian observer delegation headed by former Canadian Prime Minister John Turner.

The train excursion on Christmas Eve was celebrated without the traditional Christmas turkey and trimmings or meat pies or, for that matter, the traditional 12 meatless dishes of Ukrainian Christmas, comprised of borscht with vushka, holubtsi, varenyky, fish and kutia. It was celebrated with cheese, crackers and smoked salmon, with Kyivskyi torte, chocolates and with bottles and bottles of Ukrainian red champagne. This must have been a sight to those Ukrainians travelling with us to Zaporizhia - an image of Canadians that they will never forget.

The train experience from Kyiv to Zaporizhia is just that - an experience. The sleeping quarters are cramped - a small compartment for four individuals with little room to move in. If you are given the honor of sleeping in the top bunk bed, not only do you feel the sudden stops and starts of the train better, but also you are given the luxury of your own sauna as the scientific concept of heat rising in a small-enclosed space becomes more understandable. This becomes an even hotter experience if you are situated close to the train hostess compartment of the train hostess who tends to keep her premises well heated and ready to serve hot chai (tea) to all on board.

Nonetheless, with every wanting experience there is a silver lining.

In my compartment was a young mother, Lydia, and her 7-year old son, Vadym, travelling to visit family in Zaporizhia. Her sole purpose for this trip was to cast her vote in the Ukrainian election. Though she works for a pharmaceutical firm in Boryspil near Kyiv, she considered it her duty and privilege to participate in a democratic process and undertook the 10-hour train trip to vote for Ukraine's next president. Her husband, who works in Luhansk, was making the same trip to Zaporizhia for the same purpose. The orange ribbon on her handbag revealed her sympathy and choice - a strong statement of the type of conviction of a Ukrainian population unwilling to stand for the corruption and fraud that was crippling their country.

As we arrived in Zaporizhzhia and the Canadian observers gathered to begin their exhausting and tireless work as international observers, Lydia's parting words were short and simple: "Freedom cannot be stopped." And perhaps it cannot be.

Andrij Hluchowecky was Canada Corps team leader for Zaporizhia. A resident of Gloucester, Ontario, he is chief of international business and policy development, International Division, Earth Sciences Sector, Natural Resources Canada.

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