The war in Ukraine came to life in a personal way for students, faculty and others on campus when four mayors from the country visited Stanislaus State on Thursday, April 27.
Participating in the Congressional Office of International Learning (COIL) program and hosted by Modesto Sister Cities, which has had a relationship with Khmelnitskyi, Ukraine since 1987, the four, an additional English-speaking facilitator from Kiev and a Ukraine native now living in Sacramento serving as an interpreter, told of everyday life in a country that has seen thousands killed, residents fleeing and entire cities and villages reduced to rubble by Russian missiles and bombs.
The visit to campus by the mayors, Serhii Yarmak of Huliaypole, Serhii Karpuk of Shatsk, Bohdan Kvachuk of Zarichne and Roman Voluiko of Haivoron, was arranged by Stan State graduate and Alumni Council President Adrian Harrell, president of the board of Modesto Sister Cities.
“I make an effort to bring (foreign visitors) to the campus, and I’m happy the campus is receptive to having them,” Harrell said.
Her desire stems from her own experience as a student at Stan State. What she heard from a guest speaker who’d protested in China’s Tiananmen Square and was arrested still resonates with her, and she wants to give other students similar experiences.
Agriculture Studies major Randall Barron, a transfer student from Palmdale, was among those who took advantage of the afternoon public program with the mayors.
“Growing up I always had an interest in Eastern European Culture, predominately Russian culture,” Barron said. “I was in sixth grade when the conflict began (with Russia’s 2014 seizing of Crimea). I began to follow it, which is random for a sixth grader. I continued to follow it through the Ukraine conflict, have read and heard about Ukraine and about Ukraine history. I was particularly interested in where the southern mayor (Yarmak) is from, because I've read lots about the Ukrainian insurrectionist Nestor Makhno, who was a Ukrainian anarchist in the Ukraine Civil War (in the early 1900s) and tried to make Ukraine an independent nation. He was from his town (Huliaypole). I continue to follow the conflict.
“It’s one thing to read accounts, but it’s another to listen to the voices of those who experienced and saw it.”
Yarmak’s town of Huliaypole, hometown of Makhno, came under attack of Russian forces early. Its population has been reduced from more than 20,000 to 3,000 residents. Others were killed or evacuated.
Kvachuk’s community is located less than two miles from the border of Belarus, a Russian ally that allowed Russian forces to attack Ukraine from its territory. His citizens are working to fortify the border and support the Ukrainian army with food and other resources.
Kvachuk, with six children, could have fled the country. Any man with three children was offered the opportunity to leave with his family. Kvachuk stayed.
“He could have left. Twice,” his fellow mayors teased.
Yet the invasion by Russia profoundly affected Kvachuk as it has other Ukrainians. Across the country, they are united as they’ve never been before, driven to win this war. Pensioners donate their meager money. Children sell their toys. All have suffered losses. In some areas, including Kvacuk’s, there’s been no power or running water for months and residents withstood a harsh winter. Still, they stay and fight or work to support the army.
Voluiko’s town also borders Belarus, and he said it offered the Ukrainian army a place to stay in the beginning days of the operation. He said he worked seven days a week to help coordinate the efforts and spent three days convincing his wife to take their children to a safer location. She finally left, and he’s anxious to see his family again.
But those sacrifices are what keep this fight going. Ordinary citizens one day became soldiers the next. They will continue, the Ukrainian visitors said, until they achieve total victory.
The purpose of the group’s visit was to help them learn about sustainable energy from federal, state and local government officials and agencies, and how to incorporate that into their infrastructure when they rebuild their country. Their visit to Stan State provided a teaching opportunity, as well.
“It's of extreme value to bridge gaps between communities, cities and countries,” said Dean of the College of Business Administration Terence Pitre, who helped arrange the group’s visits to business classes. “This enhances the student experience and understanding of their role in shaping the future of their immediate society and the world.”
He hoped students hearing of the hardship of war and its impact on civilians would help them understand the intersection of business-related topics (i.e., cybersecurity) on post-war recovery efforts.
The delegation dreams of doing that work, which will begin when it claims complete victory – including peace it sees as being protected by admission into NATO and the European Union. It also means, they said, charging leaders of this aggression as criminals and bringing them to justice.
The recovery will be a challenge. Landmines and unexploded ordnance fill the country’s landscape. Victorious Ukraine, they say, will look different, with buildings not simply rebuilt but replaced by something new. Additionally, the physical and mental toll of this war, now in its second year, will last for generations.
Still, the group spoke of life going on as normal in the capital, Kiev, with people eating in restaurants and going to movie theatres. All the while, air raids signal incoming threats across the country and Ukrainians sacrifice and do what they can to win the war.
Stan State students learned of that dichotomy in a way quite unique and more personal than any television newscast, magazine or newspaper article.
