A look at the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Ukrainian School in Tbilisi (01/22/06)

A look at the Mykhailo Hrushevsky Ukrainian School in Tbilisi

by Yuriy Diakunchak

TORONTO - Late last fall tens of thousands of Ukrainians braved the wintry weather to gather in the streets and squares of Ukraine to demand a say in their country's affairs. The whole world took notice. The diaspora especially did everything that it could to morally and financially support the demonstrators.

But this year, and every year for the past seven years, a much smaller group of Ukrainians is preparing to face the cold. These Ukrainians are not only smaller in numbers (there are approximately 90 of them), they are also much younger.

The young students of the Mykhailo Hrushevsky First Ukrainian School in Tbilisi, Georgia, go to a Georgian public school system that offers a Ukrainian curriculum with classes in Ukrainian language, history and culture. The same program is also offered on Saturdays for students that attend other public schools in the capital city of Tbilisi. The premises also serve as a Ukrainian community center on weekends. The government in Georgia has been very supportive of the efforts of the small Ukrainian community in Tbilisi, as has Ukraine's government, but one thing always in short supply is basic operating funds, which up until now have been scraped together by a small group of donors in Canada and the United States.

"We want to thank everyone who has generously responded to our call for support for the school in these difficult times," wrote Hanna Matveyeva, the school's director, in a letter to those who have donated in the past year. Another winter looms, though, and Ms. Matveyeva worries about what will happen to her young charges if money is not forthcoming.

Diaspora support

Several years ago, Walter Kudryk, the honorary consul of Georgia for Canada, and a prominent member of the Ukrainian community in Toronto, began a campaign to raise funds for the school. The M. Hrushevsky Development Fund sends several thousand dollars every year to help the school survive the winter and deliver on its mission.

The school's three biggest needs are funds for oil to heat the school, fuel for its school bus and money to provide lunches for children who come from needy families. On many winter days students have to shiver in class wearing their winter coats because the administration could not afford to pay its heating bills. And often the school bus is unable to pick up students from far-flung suburbs due to a lack of gasoline.

Though fuel is expensive for this small non-profit organization, generous donations from the North American diaspora go a long way in Tbilisi. Just last year the foundation gave close to $4,000 to the school for these basic needs. Without these donations the children would suffer.

Ukraine provides some assistance to the school in the form of books, teaching material, computers and other equipment such as generators, but not financially because Ukraine's law does not allow financial support to diaspora organizations. So while the school has the equipment it needs to power and heat the school, without the necessary funds this equipment would sit idle.

Small but thriving community

According to the most recent estimates, the Ukrainian community in Georgia numbers some 35,000 residents or less than one percent of the total population of this small country nestled in the Caucasus. Just over 16,000 of them live in Tbilisi. Among the 18 or so concentrated communities of Ukrainians in Georgia are Sukhumi (4,000), Batumi (4,000), Kutaisi (2,000) and Poti (1,700). Many of these people, including about 46 percent of those living in Tbilisi, consider Ukrainian to be their mother tongue and want to bring their children up with a love and understanding of their roots and history.

The Ukrainian program school in Tbilisi was named in honor of the great Ukrainian historian and president of the Ukrainian National Republic, who studied at the Tbilisi Classical Gymnasium from 1880 to 1886. It is temporarily housed in only three rooms of a regular public school building with space provided by the Georgian authorities. The school's opening in 1999 was facilitated by the presidents of Georgia and Ukraine at the time, Eduard Shevardnadze and Leonid Kuchma, respectively.

The school's goals are very straightforward - the rebirth of Ukrainian consciousness through language, history, culture, the arts, and folk customs and traditions among young diaspora Ukrainians in Georgia.

Recently, with the personal involvement of the newly elected president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, who studied in Kyiv and speaks Ukrainian, the school was able to secure permission to move to a four-story building in central Tbilisi. This will give the staff and students more room and, in time, better conditions. But the costs to bring the building up to acceptable conditions will be substantial.

So far $100,000 has been pledged by the Georgian Ministry of Culture and several charitable foundations in Ukraine and Georgia. Several hundred thousand more will be needed before the project is completed. The administrators of the school are hoping for some additional funds to come from Ukrainians in North America. Once the building is made habitable it will also serve as the community/cultural center for the Ukrainian diaspora in Georgia.

To donate please make checks payable to the Hrushevsky First Ukrainian School Development Fund and mail to: Consulate of Georgia, 55 Ormskirk Ave., Suite 100, Toronto, ON M6S 4V6.

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