LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (08/14/05)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Yushchenko brings few changes to Ukraine

Dear Editor:

One would be hard-pressed to find any Ukrainian diaspora publication skeptical of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's integrity and his zeal to introduce Western-style reforms in Ukraine. He has become almost an iconic figure, a Ukrainian Prometheus of Truth and Justice, if you will, for the vast majority of Ukrainians in the U.S. and Canada alike.

However, before we put Mr. Yushchenko on a fast track process to political sainthood, we might want to take a closer look at how and what this president does in order to make Ukraine a true Western society. After all, even the Vatican allows for the devil's advocate in the canonization process of Church saints. Should not we allow the same for our own Ukrainian political sages?

Unless you think that being an honest politician is already an oxymoron, I would point out that Mr. Yushchenko so far has not been all that different from his infamous predecessor. Let us compare. Shall we? Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma had "professor" Viktor Yanukovych, and his fake diplomas from Cambridge. Mr. Yushchenko has "professor" Roman Zvarych, who is none other but the minister of justice, with his ever elusive educational credentials.

Mr. Kuchma has a billionaire son-in-law, Vicktor Pinchuk who, according to Forbes magazine, is one of the wealthiest people in Eastern Europe. Mr. Yushchenko too has a son, who at the age of 19, as Ukrayinska Pravda recently reported, has been spotted with a BMW that has a base value from $135,000, and a nice platinum-encrusted cell phone from Vertu that has a "bargain" price tag of $40,000-$45,000. His father has been in power for only a few months, not 10 years, so be kind and give the "poor" kid some more time, if I am right; he might catch up with Mr. Kuchma's son shortly in terms of wealth accumulation.

Mr. Kuchma had criminals in charge of cities and regions. Mr. Yushchenko, too, is in hot pursuit of that "grandiose" legacy; the mayor of Yalta, Alexander Chabanov, is "our man in Crimea." A former criminal convict who did his jail time in the Russian Far East, Mr. Chabanov now has moved to Yalta's mayor's position. Ah, Crimea! That beautiful Southern peninsula is apparently also a very sunny place for some very shady people from the current president's entourage.

Mr. Piskun - the current procurator general was first appointed to this post by Mr. Kuchma. In June of 2003 Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc asked the Verkhovna Rada to investigate him for possible involvement in the transfer of illegal drugs. Then in October of the same year Mr. Piskun was under fire for abuse of authority and taking unscheduled vacations in the Alps, the United Arab Emirates and Crimea. What happended to him after the Orange Revolution? He still enjoys the same privileged position of procurator general under Mr. Yushchenko. Is this a "new team" of "reformists" we all have been promised and waited for? It remains to be seen if the Gongadze case will be solved. Foreign investors are just as suspicious as they were before, and the economic growth forecast has been reduced as well, and this list can go on and on.

Are we having a collective déjà vu? There just seem to be too many strange similarities between the old administration and the new one; too many things reminiscent of the previous irregularities and abuses of power. Draw your own conclusions. Although some say that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it probably is a

Alex Kozhushchenko
Wilmington, Del.

New anthology of historical fiction

Dear Editor:

In the spring of 2006 a new anthology of Ukrainian Canadian historical fiction will be published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside Canada. I am the editor and the stories and poems are written by a variety of writers including Danny Evanishen, Sonja Dunn, Larry Warwaruk, Linda Mikolayenko, myself and several first-time fiction writers.

The anthology will be called "Kobzar's Children: a century of stories by Canadian Ukrainians."

It will be geared toward the young adult market and will be published in the U.S. and Canada. The stories are all based on real events and they span a century, from 1905 to 2005. The publisher wishes to include a number of old photos throughout the book. We have some photos but we're looking for more.

If anyone has photographs that they think might work for the anthology, please let me know as soon as possible at marsha@calla.com. or you can leave a message at (519) 752-5453 and I will call you back.

Please distribute this call for photos far and wide. Anyone who submits a photo that ends up being used in the anthology will get a free copy of the anthology when it comes out.

The royalties for this anthology (i.e. 10 percent of the retail price of each book sold) is being donated to the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Here are the story and poetry themes so you know what sort of photos we're looking for:

1. Ukrainian pioneer photos circa 1905;

2. internment photos, especially close-ups of individuals (also tamed moose);

3. Winnipeg strike (1919);

4. Ukrainian Famine, especially close-ups of individuals, also interior shots of Soviet trains;

5. children in Ukrainian dance outfits, circa 1930s on the prairies, 1930s homestead farms and barns (interior and exterior);

6. Ukrainian immigrants with a suitcase or trunk;

7. Ukrainian individuals with Auschwitz tattoo (especially facial shots);

8. DP camp photos, post-World War II (especially of individuals, both male and female, also American soldiers);

9. rural prairie life circa 1940 to 1950, especially close-ups of individuals;

10. Ukrainian funeral, cemetery, gravesite;

11. Orange Revolution, especially close-ups of teens, night shots;

12. elderly Ukrainian women;

13. Babyn Yar;

14. Ukrainians travelling by Canadian train circa 1930s;

15. violinist, musicians circa 1940s or earlier; and

16. old photos of Ukrainian immigrants in their youth - i.e., photos circa 1890 to 1950.

Marsha Skrypuch
Brantford, Ontario

Husar's comments on Church worrisome

Dear Editor:

I find the statement by Patriarch Lubomyr Husar in his interview with The Ukrainian Weekly on the eve of the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg that "Within the Church there are some fears that such a Patriarchate could separate us from the [Catholic] Church" quite disturbing.

Does this reflect Catholic fanaticism of some Ukrainian Catholics or their feeling of our national inferiority?

Probably both, because the Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Catholic Church is consistent with the traditions of Eastern Churches, as well as with the provisions of the 1596 Union and decisions of the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church.

When shall we learn to respect ourselves?

Z. Lew Melnyk
Cincinnati, Ohio

A possible solution to hunger in Ukraine

Dear Editor:

Impoverished rural Ukrainians could feed themselves and start to rebuild their nation's devastated agriculture if more of us supported Heifer International projects under way there.

These humanitarian projects offer hope to many people left jobless by the collapse of collective agriculture and who lack the means to take up small-scale farming to improve their lives.

Heifer International helps poor families achieve that goal through its signature activity: providing a gift of a pregnant heifer or other animal. The recipient family agrees to pass on one of its heifer's offspring to another needy family. The original gift gets "passed on" again and again, sustaining the project and engendering self-reliance within a community.

Families participating in Heifer projects get more than material aid. They are also learning how to farm again. Over decades of collectivized farming, villagers worked in brigades assigned to one or two tasks, such as weeding crops or milking cows. That narrow job focus kept them from learning the skills and obtaining the overview needed to practice holistic farming.

Today Heifer International field workers are providing recipient families with extensive training in sustainable organic farming techniques. The training includes animal nutrition, basic veterinary procedures, rotational grazing, compost making and more. In time, small-scale Ukrainian farmers will know how to produce a range of foods free of toxic residues. Europe is the prime market for organic foods.

Heifer International maintains 12 ongoing projects in Ukraine, mostly involving dairy cattle. In the Kalush district, for example, artificial insemination technicians are raising the genetic level of local cattle, significantly boosting their milk production. The extra milk and its products will be sold throughout the district after construction of a dairy processing plant.

In the Vinnytsia district young families are receiving pure-bred Ukrainian Black and White heifers to get started in dairying.

In Hutsulschyna, Heifer International is reintroducing Brown Carpathian cattle and Hutsul horses to the region. This will help remedy wrong-headed government policies that created two serious agricultural problems: the near extinction of regional breeds of livestock and massive environmental degradation.

Government officials had replaced tried-and-true traditional cattle with modern breeds ill-suited to the region's harsh weather and rugged terrain. They also replaced Hutsul horses adapted to hillside farming with heavy tractors, causing soil erosion, clogged streams, floods and landslides.

These worthwhile Heifer International projects hold promise for Ukraine's agricultural future and deserve the support of individuals, clubs and church parishes. A list of the Heifer projects in Ukraine and information about where to send donations are available by calling (800) 422-0474.

Russell P. Kaniuka
Farmington Falls, Maine

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