March 2019

MARCH 2019

Cover Art: Sofia Larmour

SPRINGING FORWARD A LETTER FROM THE STUDENT EDITOR We are getting closer to the arrival of Spring, and get to enjoy those extra hours of sun, thanks to a nice spring forward.

This issue of Student features a few clubs that went out caroling during the Christmas season. Caroling remains one of the biggest fundraisers for lots of clubs, and it is great to see people are always willing to welcome them into their homes.

We also have a piece written by our former National Coordinator, to our new National Coordinator, Illya Mykytyn. We have included a little bit about Illya on page 12.

As many may know, the next Congress will be in Winnipeg in May. Hannah Picklyk has written a great insight as to why you should make Winnipeg a destination this summer. As she reminds us from the Simpsons, “We were born here, what’s you excuse?” As a proud Winnipeg, I find this both hilarious and relatable.

This month our cover features the work of Sofia Larmour, who is currently a student at the University of Saskatchewan. The cover is actually a larger painting that she did. It perfectly fits the freshness of this issue.

Make sure to read below for more information on Sofia!

As my term is slowly coming to an end, I would love any feedback or suggestions. Whether I can incorporate them into the last two issues, or suggest them for the next editor, feedback is always much appreciated.

A special thanks to UCU, who continues to support Student!

Dayna Konopelny Даня Конопельна Student Editor

About the Cover Artist Sofia Larmour is a fourth year business student majoring in Human Resources at the University of Saskatchewan. She has always found people, culture, and emotions to be a beautiful well of inspiration for her art. She has been painting since she was 15 and has found it to be a great way to express feelings, an exciting extracurricular activity, and a good way to look impressive at paint nights. She also believes that art and business have a very symbiotic relationship and looks to use that same creativity in all areas of her life.

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CONTRIBUTORS Stephanie Nedoshytko

Cassian Soltykevych

Hannah Picklyk

Dayna Konopelny

Maxym Dubczak

Sofia Larmour

Natalie Blysniuk

Connor Moen

Andriy Katyukha

Oliver Childs

The University of Ottawa Ukrainian Students’ Club

INDEX 04

President’s Message

05

On the “Gram

06

Caroling Across Campuses

08

Reflections of a Med Student

09

Internet Access - A Necessity, not a Luxury

10

Dear Future National Coordinator

14

“Winnipeg - We Were Born Here, What’s Your Excuse?”

16

Volunteering Abroad: Help Us Help the Children Winter Camp

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Вітаю!

Welcome to the Student Publication, SUSK’s quarterly student-run magazine designed to showcase UkrainianCanadian students across the country. I hope that everyone had a good sviato, whether you celebrated in December or January!

SUSK and our member organizations have quickly delved into the second semester. Many of you are aware that our former National Coordinator, Connor Moen, moved on from SUSK. We again would like to thank him for his contributions over the years and wish him all the best in the future.

We are now excited to welcome Illya Mykytyn as our new National Coordinator. Illya comes to SUSK and UCC with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto. He has worked for the Canadian Ukrainian Immigrant Aid Society and as a freelancer for Vice Media. With a passion for advocacy, Illya joins us with a wealth of knowledge of the post-secondary student experience. We look forward to working with Illya.

Our USOs have also been holding exciting events to awareness campaigns, despite midterms looming in the background. From the University of Manitoba, University of Ottawa, to McMaster University, students have been participating in the Postcards for Prisoners campaign. With many USOs sending over 70 postcards, we are very excited to be involved in this effort. We encourage more USOs to be involved! SUSK will cover costs of the postcards and postage fees.

Lastly, we are happy to announce that SUSK is partnering with the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium for the upcoming Congress in Winnipeg! A component of this year’s Congress will focus on raising awareness on the Holodomor, as well as how disinformation is used to distort events. Registration will be available soon and we invite all students to come celebrate SUSK’s 65 years with us! Вього найкращого!

Stephanie Nedoshytko Стефанія Недошитко SUSK President

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ON THE ‘GRAM Featuring the Instagram posts from our clubs across the country.

FOLLOW SUSK NATIONAL

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CAROLING ACROSS CAMPUSES NATALIE BLYSNIUK As a member of Western Ukie Students Club for the last three years, I’ve had the pleasure of going caroling with our club multiple times. While sometimes the organization can be stressful, and keeping more than one car of people on track together while we go all over London can be tough, it’s always a fun experience. Every year, we get to explore the Ukrainian community outside

of the Western bubble. We’ve gotten to sit down and chat with interesting people, and simply bring a little extra Ukrainian joy into people's lives. My grandma also lives in London, and it’s a wonderful excuse for me to come and see her. This event always brings a little extra warmth into the bitter winter. We’ve also come away with some hilarious memories, and therefore some tips for those of you who hope to start a kolyada tradition in your USO–you should probably check that the house you’re singing at is the right house before you get through 3 koliadky and a vinchyvanniya.

OLIVER CHILDS Every year, the University of Saskatchewan Ukrainian Students Association goes around town carolling, both to raise money for the group’s activities and to spread the joy of Christmas in musical form. This year I came along for the ride, and it was to be my first encounter with carolling in any form, never mind carolling in another language for a holiday I’ve never celebrated. As the title indicates, I am not a Ukrainian. I don’t have a drop of Ukrainian blood in my veins, and I was actually born in England before immigrating to Canada at a very young age. I picked up Ukrainian classes at the university on a whim after getting tired of German and French, and I haven’t regretted a moment of it. I started with struggling to memorize a new alphabet full of funny-looking characters, and sixteen months later I was being invited into strangers’ homes to sing carols while wearing a borrowed Vyshyvanka.

While I was horribly nervous as I shuffled my way up the icy steps to our first house of the night, my nervousness 6 UKRAINIAN CANADIAN STUDENTS’ UNION

quickly evaporated after we launched into song, and I was delighted by the warm welcome we received and the generous amounts of food and refreshments we were treated to. Here I was experiencing my first Ukrainian Christmas, and the fact that I was not at all Ukrainian hardly seemed to matter.

People would immediately suspect it when I told them my last name, but it was always treated as a delightful curiosity. My worries of feeling out of place were unfounded, and the rest of the week flew by as we continued with our performances. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to make it to all them.

My involvement with USUSA’s annual carolling tour meant that I essentially got to celebrate Christmas twice, and I am grateful that I was able to be a part of it. As an outsider looking in, there were a few things that struck me about Ukrainian Christmas and our Ukrainian community. I saw a holiday immersed in layers of tradition, full of different rituals and aspects that each have their own special meaning. I saw a holiday focused on family, Continued on page 7...

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THE UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA UKRAINIAN STUDENTS’ CLUB The University of Ottawa Ukrainian Students’ Club hosts many events each year to help promote Ukrainian culture, language and traditions in Ottawa. One of our most popular and fun annual events, Koliada (carolling), was held from January 15-18, 2019 to celebrate the Ukrainian holidays. Students from the University of Ottawa, and other schools in the region, came together for three nights to sing, eat and celebrate Ukrainian culture. As a club, we were able to visit more than 15 households across the city, including a visit to the Cym Hall on our last night.

During the event, we sang four Ukrainian songs at each location, including “Dobriy Vechir Tobi,” “Schedriy Vechir,” “Nova Radist Stala” and “Schedryk.”

We practiced as a group beforehand to rehearse the different melodies.

Both regular families, whom we visit annually, and new households were impressed by our dedication.

This year, OUSC was honoured to donate over $1000 of

our earnings to “Help us Help the Children,” a non-profit organization in Toronto that works to deliver material goods and education Ukrainian orphans who are desperately in need. Our club wanted to focus on helping others and giving back to the Ukrainian community, both here and abroad. This organization is important to OUSC as it helps to improve the lives of children, especially orphans and those who are in need of humanitarian aid.

Notably, this Ukrainian charity since they have helped over 250 orphanages for 25 years and counting. Simply by undergoing events such as Koliada, OUSC has been raising awareness about HUHTC in addition to the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine. The University of Ottawa Ukrainian Students’ club is proud to have helped children in Ukraine through our Koliada event in Canada.

OUSC is happy to say that Koliada 2019 went well, and we look forward to next year!

Continued from page 8… University of Saskatchewan

heritage, and faith above all else, one that appeared to encompass “the true meaning of Christmas” that I’ve often heard people lament for when despaired by Christmas consumerism. And I saw a community that was welcoming to everyone and would gladly have anyone join them in celebration. This was my first Ukrainian Christmas, and I am very much looking forward to my second.

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REFLECTIONS OF A MED STUDENT ANDRIY KATYUKHA Intravenous drug user. Type 1 diabetes. Non-compliant with outpatient treatment. This is the summary I received about a patient in the hospital. The circumstances of this patient were not only frustrating for me but deeply saddening and jarring. The patient was a young man, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and also plagued by addiction. At his age, he had suffered two heart attacks, septicemia, and spent a significant time in the ICU fighting for his life. I was told that discharge orders were going to be filed and he would be living with his sister’s friend, a living situation I felt was not appropriate due to the mounting difficulties he would have struggling with addiction and managing his condition.

Upon realizing that I was perplexed by the idea of discharging him, the healthcare team member turned and told me “To be honest people like this will likely just die eventually, there’s not much we can really do”.

This stuck with me for the duration of my shift and as I have continued in my studies. Originally, likely from naivety, I thought to myself how that comment lacked empathy and showed little concern for this patient’s well-being.

As I started to outwardly reflect on this experience I began to understand that while the comment was delivered in an abrupt manner, the person described a rather real problem. They had expended many resources to educate this patient, but he would likely not be able to cope on his own, and continuing to support him as an inpatient would not only over burden the healthcare

system but would prove futile. I thought about how the patient might feel in his current position. He likely felt trapped and scared. Addiction is not something you can escape easily, and dealing with the unfortunate realities some people face further perpetuates the cycle of addiction.

I wonder if he asked himself, “how much longer do I have to live?”. This question inevitably invokes feelings of fear, as we are often worried about our own mortality. I also thought about the perspective of the care team. They had worked hard to give this patient good outcomes, but at the end of the day this patient might not live a full life due to the circumstances life had dealt him. Did they wonder “did we do enough?”. I became more cognizant of the privilege and life experiences that have placed me where I am today. I have a number of support systems that make it possible for me to pursue my goals. Many people may be full of potential, but due to the way they have been treated and the circumstances of their lives, reaching that full potential is not possible.

This experience is striking to me as it was the first time I had been part of a care time dealing with the incredible challenges that people face day in and day out. As a physician, I hope this realization helps me approach issues related to patient care, not only through the lens of a medical doctor but also as a human, using my fortunes and challenges to help me empathize and treat patients with the dignity and compassion that everyone deserves.

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INTERNET ACCESS - A NECESSITY, NOT A LUXURY CASSIAN SOLTYKEVYCH If you’re looking for a place to work for a few hours, the first place you’d think to go is a coffee shop. They have good music, free wifi, and will sell you an excellent cup of hot milk with caffeine, in any of the thousands of combinations you could ask for. In the last few years I have seen a coffee shop pop up on every main street across the country, in addition to the myriad of major coffee chains of Starbucks, Second Cup, and Tim Hortons. Even most libraries I go to, be in Vancouver or Montreal, are packed full of people working away on the free wifi.

the time employees could do their work from their homes, or from a beach in the Dominican?

Also, when I say that Canada needs fast, reliable, and affordable internet, I don’t mean just the big cities. I mean all of Canada: from Terrace, British Columbia to Hall Beach, Nunavut, to Deer Lake, Newfoundland. Many small towns in Canada are losing their populations to bigger cities, due to the lack of jobs, which in turn drives down the cost of housing in these small towns, while drastically increasing the costs in bigger cities. Small cities with reliable, fast, and affordable internet can make it work; just look at Olds, Alberta whose 8,500 residents can enjoy gigabit internet speeds at affordable prices (CBC).

In the same last few years, traffic in cities across Canada, and frankly around the world, has gotten worse, and public transit investment has remained stagnant in most locations as well.

And this is while those coffee shops and libraries are packed full of people working remotely.

The number of people working remotely, even if just occasionally, is increasing every year. Even the severely outdated numbers from 2008 collected by Statistics Canada show that 1.7 million people work from home (Stats Can).

Since 2008, internet use has skyrocketed, with nearly 90% of the Canadian population accessing the internet, and 86% of Canadians having a broadband internet connection at home (CIRA).

Students in small or remote places have to move hundreds, or even thousands of miles away for their education. How many families who farm could use another set of hands during harvest? There’s no reason why the sons and daughters can’t watch lectures and submit assignments in the evening while driving the combine during the day.

Just over a year ago I travelled to Whitehorse in the Yukon, the biggest city in all of Canada’s territories at just over twenty five thousand people. When I dropped off my rental car a few hours before the counter was due to open, I found the same young gentleman who had helped me three days earlier already at work. I asked him why he was at work five hours early, and he replied that the internet at the airport was free, but at home he would hit his monthly data limit in a week or two, and the average cost was absurdly expensive. In Whitehorse, a similar package that costs $65 in Ottawa will cost $240 (NW Tel). And that’s before you hit any overage fees. Do you live in Hall Beach, Nunavut? Enjoy paying $500/month for 55GB of data with speeds that were usable in Edmonton in 2005.

Meanwhile, the number of commuters in Canada increased by 30% in the last 20 years (from 1996-2016), while the number of transit passengers increased by 59.5% and the number of car commuters increased by 28.3% (City News).

Transit and road infrastructure is usually expensive and plagued with delays (see: any big city in Canada). And sometimes the funding for transit or new road infrastructure is hard to come by (see: any small town in Canada).

What Canada needs is fast, reliable, and affordable internet, and a corporate culture that is more open to remote work. Not only are employees happier when they have an opportunity to work away from the office, but companies can save money by leasing less office space and by incorporating hot desks that allow employees to use any desk they want when they come into work. Why pay for space for 100 employees when most of

I understand that it’s expensive to build internet infrastructure everywhere in Canada. But when you factor in time lost with congestion, flights and living costs to study in a distant city, and the financial burden on individuals living in small and remote communities, the return on investment will be better than any new off-ramp could ever provide.

Stats Can: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-402-x/2012000/chap/information/information02-eng.htm CIRA: https://cira.ca/factbook/canada%E2%80%99s-internet-factbook-2018 City News: https://toronto.citynews.ca/2017/11/29/work-at-home-trend-stays-static-as-daily-commutes-get-longer-across-canada/ CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/small-alberta-town-gets-massive-1-000-mbps-broadband-boost-1.1382428 NW Tel: https://www.nwtel.ca/shop/internet/plans-rates/whitehorse

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DEAR FUTURE NATIONAL COORDINATOR CONNOR MOEN From September 2016 to December 2018, I had the rare and exciting opportunity to be the National Coordinator, a new position created for the Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union (SUSK) and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC). This marked my first professional role in the non-profit world and brought me to Canada’s capital. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to strengthen the Ukrainian Canadian youth community while making new contacts in Ottawa, where I aspire to continue building my career.

Starting a new job without predecessors, a long job description, and short-term funding can be a daunting task.

However, with support from SUSK and UCC, generous donors, peers and intuition, we created a new model that will serve the needs of SUSK for years to come as it continues to grow across Canada. As SUSK’s first staff personnel in decades, here are a few things I learned on the job that I would like to pass on to my successors:

convince the overworked student to join a member Ukrainian student club? How can you guarantee a successful turnout at SUSK conferences (‘Congress’) to provide value for its sponsors? How can you earn the trust from SUSK alumni and potential donors who can help further the organization’s mandate? This all boils down to the power of building relationships. While prior experience with the organization can

help provide you with a network and credibility (I had five years’ worth of relationship-building before the job), this does not have to be the end-all. Cultivating your personal brand and reflecting why you believe in SUSK’s mission will mark your ability to connect with Canada’s large and diverse community of Ukrainian youth.

Listen and learn

Relationship-building will determine your success Success in just about any field will depend on your ability to forge authentic relationships with people; I find this to be especially true for the Ukrainian community. How can you

You belong to an organization with over 65 years of expertise and contacts – use them! SUSK has a rich network of people who live in Canada, the United States, Ukraine, and beyond. If want to learn how SUSK mobilized

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itself for protests, organized lobbies on Parliament Hill, or even why it stagnated over certain periods of time, your alumni are the best people to engage. You would be surprised by how many established people were willing to take my calls and provide me and fellow SUSK peers with advice! My personal and professional life have been enriched by the generous and accomplished individuals who answered my calls, and I will always remain grateful to them.

As for technical skills, there is a wealth of information and skills you can build while working for a non-for-profit. My first two recommendations would be to take the Nonprofit Fundamentals course on Lynda.com (tip: it might still be free through your alma mater) as well as the Iowa Principles and Practices for Charitable Nonprofit Excellence. You will soon learn that grant writing, donor stewardship, sponsorship relations, and general fundraising are all distinct but necessary components of building a robust fundraising strategy for SUSK. Finally, don’t be afraid to think outside the box; you can find inspiration and learn best practices by also looking beyond the Ukrainian community. For instance, the Jewish community does a tremendous job in engaging university students, college

fraternities are successful in building a sense of belonging, and other communities in Canada succeed in receiving federal government funding. There are lots of opportunities to grow and innovate SUSK. Use your best judgment and learn from as many people and organizations around you as you can.

Following social media feeds, reading annual reports, going to new events, and joining mailing lists are just a few short and tangible ways to connect with diverse groups.

You will never have enough time: only priorities Now that we’ve entertained new opportunities and ways to make SUSK different, let’s return to the short-term reality of SUSK: you work for a small non-for-profit that is looking to grow with limited resources. This sometimes means that while

you may have good (or even great ideas), some of them may have to go on the back burner while you handle other jobs that simply must get done in a timely fashion (eg meet that grant application deadline, organize Congress, help that student club with a last-minute request, assist that board member who may not be able to complete one task because they were up all night writing a paper). Learning to prioritize is key to effective time management. Understanding SUSK’s mission, and what will best support that mission in the short and long term, will help inform you as you rank your to-do list. Task managers (Trello, Asana, Google Doc) will help you and your team stay focused.

Your organization deserves a staff – let’s make sure we can make it sustainable Repeat after me: you work for a great organization that is absolutely deserving of support! Too often in the non-profit industry do we hear the same adages: there is too much competition to fundraise, we are too small to receive large gifts, or even we are too young to know what we’re doing (believe me, you’ll hear that one). These negative thoughts are the biggest hurdles anyone could face in the world of non-forprofits. SUSK truly stands out in a variety of ways – here’s just a few off the top of my head: 

SUSK is truly a national organization with over 25 active student clubs in the country. You are not limited to only the GTA and/or the Prairies. It is easy to start a university club in just about any corner of the country, and universities are major institutions that are not going anywhere;



SUSK is inclusive and welcomes Ukrainians from all backgrounds: newcomers, dancers, people from scouting organizations (CYM/Plast), people who do not identify as any of those (myself being one of them) as well as nonUkrainians;



SUSK poses as a great model to mobilize other multicultural communities in Canada;



SUSK impacts youth to become leaders of tomorrow through Ukrainian community involvement and professional development;

It requires a great deal of work and commitment to pull off SUSK’s mandate. Your role as the next National Coordinator is to maintain continuity of the organization as it continues to grow and welcome new students into leadership roles. Do not be shy to tell people about SUSK’s ongoing work to build an endowment that will secure the National Coordinator position for generations to come. Remember, SUSK has come a long way since its revival in 2007 and this is just the beginning of what the organization can accomplish!

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“WINNIPEG - WE WERE BORN H HANNAH SUSK Congress 2019 is the perfect excuse! Maybe you think Winnipeg is just the city that your mom’s side of the family is from or the center of Canada that brags about -50 temperatures, but this sprawling city is so much more than that! Here are 6 neat-o reasons to check out The Peg. Get Crafty Visiting Microbreweries When it comes to craft beer, Winnipeg has it happening. Plan a visit to the trendy taprooms of Little Brown Jug, Barn Hammer Brewing, Torque Brewing Co. or Nonsuch Brewing Co. to taste their brews. If you’re big into the beer scene, hop on the Winnipeg Trolley for the Ale Trails tour or book a Winnipeg Tasting Tour to ‘explore Winnipeg… one drink at a time’! In a crunch for time? No problem! Visit The Commons in the Forks Market where you can choose your own flight to satisfy your palette.

Wander and Wonder at the Galleries and Museums Take a relaxing walk through Winnipeg Art Gallery (or as locals call it, ‘the WAG’) by checking out the current exhibit on display or experience the life-size dioramas at the Manitoba Museum. The unique exterior of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights will create curiosity about the interior. Stroll up the ramps and through the galleries to finish in the Garden of Contemplation to reflect on the moving experience.

Eat Your Way Through Winnipeg’s Food Chain Options for food in Winnipeg are far from stale.

Brunch to your heart’s content at Clementine, Miss Brown’s or Stella’s. These spots offer up mouth-watering breakfast options including unique spins on eggs benedict and grilled cinnamon buns. Visit King + Bannatyne for not -your-elementary-school-lunch sandwiches, Chosabi for sushi burritos and Shawarma Khan for the freshest middle eastern cuisine. Dinner with a view? Mon Ami Louis is a restaurant built on a bridge, overlooking the Red River. Even if you feel full, there’s always a little room for dessert. Stop by Chaeben Ice Cream to try a flight of ice cream flavours made from scratch…

They even once had a ‘borsch’ flavoured ice cream!

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HERE, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?” PICKLYK

Go on a Coffee Break Whether you choose to sit at Thom Bargen under the live plant wall (Graham and Kennedy location), take a break from shopping the boutiques on Osborne at Little Sister Coffee, catch a cappuccino and maybe a pop up shop at Fools and Horses, or find a nook to enjoy your cup of joe and see some local coffee roasting at Forth Café, you’ll love any of these places a latte! Looking for a sweet treat? Stop by Oh Doughnuts or Bronuts to pair a specialty doughnut with your cup of caffeine.

Clink and Cheers at a Local Pub Get your night going by eating classic pub food, throwing darts and playing pool at the Kingshead Pub. Once the live music starts, you won’t be able to stay away from the dance floor! If you’re wondering which hip band is rolling through Winnipeg, stop by The Good Will. Don’t forget to bring some coin to play a round or two on the vintage pinball machines.

Dance Your Feet Off at a Social A Manitoba-grown concept and tradition, a social is a fundraising party similar to a zabava! If you’re lucky enough to attend a Manitoba social during your stay, you can expect cheap drinks, good company, lively music, a full dance floor and the classic koubassa-cheese-and-pickles late lunch.

Still don’t believe this Prairie city is all the I’m cracking it up to be? Come check it out for yourself!

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VOLUNTEERI HELP US HELP THE CHI

MAXYM D From January 1st to January 10th the Ukrainian-Canadian organization Help Us Help the Children (HUHTC) had its annual winter camp. This organization started 25 years ago as an effort to help children in Ukrainian orphanages and has grown to an organization that hosts camps attended by almost 500 children every year.

In addition, they have done incredible work offering scholarships to graduates of the orphanages in order to further their education. This year, I attended the winter camp as a volunteer along with a dozen other volunteers from Canada and the United States. I will briefly speak to some of my most impactful experiences at the camp including the gratitude the kids showed and their stories.

generously donated by people in Canada throughout the year.

Kids happily received people’s old coats, t-shirts, hats, gloves, pants, boots and other warm clothing. Some of them would go on to exclusively wear what they received on the first day the whole time.

Starting on the second day, regular activities began with groups alternating between skiing and taking part in workshops designed to help young adults succeed in the real world. At camp, I was a ski instructor and was assigned two groups that would ski with me on every other day. My first group consisted of Виталі (1), Виталі (2) and Свєта while my second group consisted of Владік, Муйсьі (Moses) and Сиргій. During my three days instructing each set of kids I was able see both their gratitude and cheerful outlook along with learning of their sad backstories. Some of the kids had no parents, others were placed in the orphanages because their parents had issues with substance abuse while one of my kids was a recovering methamphetamine addict at the age of 16. Despite these adverse conditions, all of

The camp’s home base was in a Soviet Era ski jump facility in the village of Bukovel. Despite the dated condition of the facility, the orphaned kids were always grateful and appreciative that they had the opportunity to attend the camp. This gratitude would repeat itself throughout the camp. Upon their arrival, we also handed out clothes to the kids. These clothes were all

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ING ABROAD: ILDREN WINTER CAMP

DUBCZAK them were constantly thanking me for helping them learn to ski and never complaining about the winter weather. When speaking to each of the kids I was able to see that in each case, they were simply dealing with unfortunate circumstances and had they been brought up in a typical Canadian household they would have had a much higher chance of becoming successful. The unfairness of this reality left me a lasting impression.

On the last day of camp, the kids looked visibly upset that they had to

leave the camp. Many did not want to go back to their orphanage as they knew that their lives had little hope there. The older kids gave their Instagram usernames to the volunteers so that they could keep in touch with the role models that they had met.

support to help them succeed. For this reason, I plan on going back to the camp and would recommend that other people consider volunteering as well, or looking at the work being done as it is helping slowly change the lives of the most vulnerable children in Ukraine.

It was clear that despite the support we had given the kids in the 10 days, they still needed support so that they had a better chance of escaping the world that they came from. I was reminded by other volunteers that the kids need role models and greater

For more information about Help Us Help the Children, visit their website at http://huhtc.org/ where there is more information about the organization itself along with a way to donate.

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