Ukrainian community meetings form unique bond
March 11, 2024, 10:25 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
In the spirit of the oft-quoted Margaret Mead—never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has - members of the Ukrainian community in Moosomin held the first of many informal gatherings recently.
“It was actually the idea of a few of us to start bringing some people, introducing them to the new community,” explained Roman Chernykh, who hosted the initial meeting at his business, TJ’s Pizza, on March 2.
The idea is simple - held the first Saturday of every month, a speaker will be brought in to present on a specific topic. A question and answer session follows, along with general fellowship. This month’s meeting was with an immigration consultant, who answered questions and provided important information for the approximately 20 people in attendance.
“We learned that it’s a long process, so everybody has to organize themselves and to not leave these things last; to start acting now,” Chernykh summarized.
There’s a social aspect to the meetings, with children just as welcome as the adults, making for a family atmosphere.
“It just seems to be that everybody’s just busy with the things that they have to do,” Chernykh said, stressing the importance of making time to connect with each other.
“The power of gathering together, that communication makes a big difference,” he explained. “Right after the meeting, we saw people had smiles on their faces. There was some positivity in their eyes, and that was amazing.”
Another possible idea for the group is to establish a job bank to connect local employers with those in the Ukrainian community; preferably matching skills already gained.
Spirit of giving back
Unity and continuing with cultural traditions is important in a new home, something Chernykh already sees happening in Moosomin.
“We came from different backgrounds, different regions in Ukraine,” he said. “We came from the place where most of us speak Russian, but we are truly Ukrainians, and we want to learn and we want to speak Ukrainian, we want to support our culture and that’s important. We can all meet together, and just be Ukrainian.”
Communities across the province have noted the same cultural diversity as in Moosomin, a sign of positive growth overall.
“We start living in a different time right now,” Chernykh said. “We will see more and more new faces from different cultures, different countries, we just have to adjust to that and then learn how to live all together. And that’s important. Driving around the small communities, you can see people smiling to you, they’re saying ‘hi’ to you!”
Another key component of these meetings is to return the welcome so warmly received when Ukrainians arrived in Moosomin.
“We want to show to the community that we are a part of the community as well, and we want to do something about that,” Chernykh said, pointing to participation in the upcoming multicultural festival and the idea of general fundraising for projects around Moosomin. An example Chernykh provided was of a recent employee he hired.
“I hired a girl that came from Ukraine last week,” he explained. “It was actually a little bit tough because the business is slow right now and so I said, “let’s lets improvise; do something that people would want,” and she started making perogies and cabbage rolls.”
The delectable morsels will be frozen, and Chernykh has ordered packaging for the items with the intent to sell them. Proceeds from the perogies and cabbage rolls would then also be used to assist community projects.
“We can adjust our business for this purpose, and I believe other businesses can benefit as well,” Chernykh said. “You just need to work a little bit and see where that can lead us. It can open up a different opportunities in the business as well.”
In the meantime, the group is preparing for their April meeting with the promise of warmer weather enticing an even greater turnout. As for the speaker? Well, Chernykh is looking for a banker that can explain some of the essential operations.
“I’m hoping I can bring someone from the bank, just talk about the banking system and about mortgages, credit cards and all the financial situations,” he said.
