Jordan VanDriel, Viktoriya Kalchenko and Connor Moen are all members of the Ukrainian Students’ Association.

The University of Saskatchewan Ukrainian Students’ Association was working overtime during the holidays to provide support for families affected by the conflict in Crimea.

The group organized pierogi sales and collected toys and warm clothes to send to crisis areas in Ukraine.

“Recently we screened a movie called Babylon 13 about the Ukrainian protests,” said the club’s vice-president external affairs Viktoriya Kalchenko.

The film, produced in Kyiv, was presented in cooperation with the Prairie Centre for Ukrainian Heritage, a division of St. Thomas More College.

The mandate of the group is to uphold and promote Ukrainian and Ukrainian-Canadian culture, traditions and studies and to promote the Ukrainian language. The club also encourages and assists awareness about issues relevant to the Ukrainian-Canadian community.

This winter, the group went “caroling, which is a Ukrainian tradition, and made an ice cross in front of STM as part of Ukrainian Christmas,” said Kalchenko.

The organization also celebrated the Ukrainian new year “malanka” and participated in their own version of Movember called “vusopad.” The term loosely translates to “fall moustache.”

“Our next big project is a Ukrainian day at Louis’ Pub on Feb. 12 as part of Culture Days to raise money,” Kalchenko said. “The Ukrainian economy is very poor.”

Money raised during this event will benefit orphanages in Ukraine.

The group’s membership is mainly Ukrainian and Ukrainian-Canadian students, but it is open to students, faculty and staff regardless of ethnicity.

“One of our members doesn’t have Ukrainian descent, he just joined because he’s interested in Ukrainian politics,” said Kalchenko.

The club maintains partnerships with several national and local Ukrainian-Canadian organizations including the Ukrainian-Canadian Students’ Union, Ukrainian-Canadian Congress and PCUH.

These groups “collaborate with us a lot and sponsor a lot of our events,” Kalchenko said. “They give us valuable feedback. Bohdan Kordan, Natalia Khanenko-Friesen and Nadya Foty-Oneschuk are our representatives in terms of professors.”

The club has had an established presence on campus since 2011. Kalchenko, a fifth-year student of international studies and economics, got involved with the group in March of 2014 when they organized a rally for the Ukrainian soldiers.

“We’re trying to raise awareness about the events [in Ukraine] and what’s happening,” said Kalchenko. “As part of our partnership with PCUH we’re attending a lot of lectures given by political studies professor Bohdan Kordan and trying to educate our members.”

The club meets every Thursday at 4 p.m. in the campus clubs room in Upper Place Riel.

“We all strongly support Ukraine,” Kalchenko said. “We don’t think that Putin’s actions are legal, in terms of international law. Personally, I have family in Ukraine and I’m worried about them. My uncle has three children and I’m always afraid of him getting shot.

“We don’t support Russia’s actions. We respect Russian people and Russian culture but in terms of politics, we do not support what they’re doing.”

Students wanting more information on the U of S Ukrainian Students’ Association can visit the club’s Facebook page or email the group’s organizers at studentyuofs@gmail.com.

—

Photo: Katherine Federoff/Photo Editor