Ukraine crisis hits close to home

CHARITY DINNER RSVP: Olga 0459388064, Belinda 0438622721.

SOUTH GIPPSLAND locals are encouraged to enjoy traditional Ukrainian cuisine at a special dinner in Leongatha on Saturday May 14, helping people displaced by the current conflict in Ukraine.
The meal is being provided by Olga Rysko who moved to Australia from Ukraine 17 years ago and whose mother, sister and other relatives still live there.
Christian, Olga, who works as a personal carer at Leongatha’s Woorayl Lodge, has connections with people at Ukrainian churches who are providing support to displaced people.
That assistance is being given to all in need, not only Christians, Olga explained.
It includes shelter, food, shower facilities, use of washing machines and entertainment for children.
Importantly, displaced people are given the opportunity to settle somewhere while they attempt to overcome traumatic experiences, and have time to work out what they are going to do next and where they will go.
“This is a safe place for people who have been displaced,” Olga said.
That haven is about 80 kilometres from Kyiv.
Olga noted fighting has subsided around Kyiv for now, but she knows of refugee centres that were using cars to obtain vital supplies from there but had their cars destroyed by gunfire.
Various churches combined to purchase a new car from Germany to help transport supplies and people.
The churches are reaching out to elderly people in Ukraine who lack family support, providing them with valuable human contact and assistance.
Churches have also been helping take people to safety, bringing them to the border with the west.
“I know those (church) people personally and where the money is going, so this dinner is to support those people who help the refugees who have been displaced,” Olga said.
Olga reflected on a video she has seen from her homeland showing a minibus load of traumatised children and elderly people.
“Can you imagine having a whole minibus being driven for 80 kilometres with traumatised children?” Olga asked.
Her almost 84-year-old mother, who lives north of Kyiv, has heard bombing in the distance, and even shooting under her window.
Olga’s sister was forced to spend a few weeks in a bomb shelter, with brief returns to her unit between air raids.
While the dinner will raise valuable funds to help Ukrainians in need, through donations from attendees, Olga will also take the opportunity to speak about the situation in Ukraine.
“I want to bring awareness to people in my town,” Olga said, noting those in Australia see only a little of what is going on when they watch the news.
She said Australia’s remoteness from Ukraine leads some people to think little of the conflict, reasoning “It’s somewhere in Europe.”
However, Olga explained the conflict’s impact reaches Australia through increased petrol prices and impacts on the stock market.
Ukraine is also a major food supplier to Europe of wheat, corn, and other crops, with prices already being driven up by supply problems caused by the conflict.
Asia and Africa are also significant importers of Ukrainian wheat, other grains and sunflower products.
Olga said the colour yellow in the nation’s flag represents the vast wheat fields of Ukraine.
With many Ukrainian farmers now unable to plant crops due to the presence of bombs and mines in their fields, future supplies are likely to be severely restricted.
Olga will base her three-course meal on the food she enjoyed in her Ukrainian household, starting with a traditional Ukrainian Borscht soup and buns and moving onto two mystery courses.