Fr. Dr. J. Buciora for New Pathway, Toronto.
The events in Kyiv, Ukraine between December 2013 and March 2014 permanently entered the books of Ukrainian history as one of the most tragic in the modern era. Regardless of the advancement of human civilisation in technology, medicine, and integration of cultures, the horrifying images of people being shot by snipers on the Maidan in Kyiv, portray the horrifying side of human life.
One of the images, ingrained in people’s minds, is the a face of a child waiting for her father to return from Kyiv, having gone to defend what lies deep in the soul of every Ukrainian: to live in a free Ukraine. We can only imagine the trauma inflicted upon those small children watching the bodies of their fathers carried in caskets through the crowds gathered on the Maidan. One thought will stay with them for certain: the knowledge that they became fatherless at a time when they needed them the most. In addition, this tragedy would have great impact on the economic situation of the families affected by this tragedy as the political uncertainty in Ukraine would prevent the government to take appropriate care of them. Seeing those images on TV and throughout the internet, we were internally moved to tears and grief.
On the last Sunday of February in 2014, after the Divine Liturgy and after praying for the victims of the tragedy that occurred on the Maidan, members of the All Saints of Ukraine in Oakville participated in a discussion during “Coffee Hour with Otets”. There were strong comments shared with pain, tears, and words of frustration. But one of the voices from among the present brought to our attention the children of the Heavenly Hundred “Nebesna Sotnya”.
There was a unanimous agreement to immediately assist one of the families whose father was killed on the Maidan. The suggestion was given to help the Opanasiuk family in Rivne, whose father and husband Valeriy was shot in the chest by a sniper on the Maidan on February 20, 2014. A lone bullet from a sniper impacted the lives of four children between the ages of 2 to 12 years. Viktoria, the widow of Valeriy Opanasiuk, found herself in an extremely difficult situation, living in a collapsing one bedroom shack with her four children and her grandfather. As a result, close to $1500.00 was collected on this particular Sunday and sent to the family.
The suggestion was made to adopt this family until their financial situation stabilized. After agreeing to adopt this family, it was decided to continue to provide financial assistance to the Opanasiuk family. In addition to sending them monetary assistance on a quarterly basis, the members of the Chapel also collected clothing and Christmas gifts to be sent. Two parcels including clothing, toys, and other gifts were sent to Rivne for Christmas.
In the following months, the name of an additional family from Rivne was passed on to the Chapel. Not only was this father killed on the Maidan by a sniper, but the mother died 2 months later. Little Ashen Adamanchuk was left to be taken care of by her 23 year old sister. Tragedy struck once again as Ashen’s uncle died of a heart attack leaving Ashen, her sister and her one year old cousin to care for themselves. Upon hearing this news, it was decided that this family would also be provided financial assistance.
The appeal and response of the members of our small Chapel of All Saints of Ukraine in Oakville and the mother Church, St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Toronto, reached new heights and new possibilities. Having adopted two families and hearing of the results of the financial sustenance provided to the children’s families, there has been the outpouring of generosity and charity from our members.
In June of 2016, the Chapel financially sponsored five children of the Nebesna Sotnya to a Summer Camp in the Carpathian Mountain for two weeks. The response of the organizers of the camp and pictures sent to us were heartwarming! We felt blessed to see the children’s smiling faces in the panoramic photos of the Carpathian Mountains. It might be possible to think that at least in those moments they freed themselves from the anguish of their missing fathers…
After receiving the news from Ukraine about the very successful participation of the children at camp in the Carpathian Mountains and upon additional research regarding the financial status of the families of those children, it was decided to add these families to our growing list. We are blessed to know that what started as helping one family has grown to the adoption of six additional families from the region of Kyiv, Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, and Poltava, with a total of seventeen children. A recommendation was made by the committee to develop a process of continual financial support to these families.
We are very grateful to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF), especially Mr. Victor Hetmanczuk, who have assisted us in the distribution and management of these funds. To date, all the families are receiving monthly support which equals the average monthly salary in Ukraine. It is our intention to support all six families for the next couple of years until such time as the Government of Ukraine or other entities can support these families. It is estimated that the total financial support for the “Children of the Nebesna Sotnya”, will amount to over $40,000.00 over a three year period.
In the last couple of weeks, we were informed of another family with five children who lost their father and husband as a result of his imprisonment in Donbas. On Sunday, October 23, 2016, in addition to the previous financial support provided to the families, our members contributed over $1,000.00 specifically to this family in need. Considering the financial enormity of the project itself, we are looking forward for the possibility to adopt this family with five small children. With the addition of this last family, we are now supporting seven mothers with over twenty children.
All Saints of Ukraine Chapel in Oakville exists only because of the vision of the members of St. Volodymyr Cathedral in Toronto. It is a mission Chapel and considering the number of members attending services, our chapel attendance and our project is growing and has reached a new dimension of outreach. The response has been incredibly generous and supportive!
The project of “Nebesna Sotnya” is one of many projects at our Chapel. We are also in our last and final stage of beautifying our chapel with an iconostas. There is never any hesitation on the part of our members where there is a need for help. One of the fundamental elements of this kind of outpouring of support is based on the personal experiences of our families who are thankful for God’s blessings in their own personal lives. The call to help the children of “Nebesna Sotnya” has also reached our Sunday School children who have made their own donations.
May the blessings of our loving and heavenly Father allow us to continue our projects, especially the one that not only impacts the children in Ukraine, but also deeply affects our own families in a very personal way.
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