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Parading past the Mennonite Centre |
Friday dawned bright and beautiful. Mid-morning the parade began and followed the
route down our street, past the Mennonite Centre to the park that once was the
garden of the grand Willms estate. We
followed the procession not wanting to miss any of the proceedings. Earlier that day a young man visited the
Centre.
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Sergei & Dema before the celebration |
Sergei is 19 years old and has
spent his life in the orphanage in Prischib, just out of town. He has no
memories of his mother. He was told that
she was destitute had six children and didn’t want him. This young man has an exceptionally fine singing
voice and dreams of a musical career. He
was chosen to sing the National Anthem at the ceremony.
A number of dignitaries
addressed the crowd, among them the Chief Prosecutor of Ukraine, our local
mayor, a veteran and also Dema.
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Molochansk band with donated instruments |
We
didn’t catch all the symbolic elements but watched as floral tributes were
placed on the monument. The band played on instruments we have donated through
the years.
Children danced and sang with appropriate choreography. These events
always involve a cultural demonstra-tion. After the ceremony Dema
invited the dignitaries to stop at the Centre for tea and they agreed to
come. We helped the staff to set up a
small buffet table in our meeting room.
Our dining room wasn’t available because Friday is also the day our
Seniors come for lunch. We’re always
amazed at how quickly our staff can pull something together. Everything was ready when the gentlemen
arrived.
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Artyum Pshonka greeting our seniors |
They noticed a group of Seniors
still finishing their tea and instead of turning left when they entered the
building, they joined the Seniors. They
were welcomed with delight, everyone talking and laughing at once.Their refreshments were
completely ignored and after some quick picture taking they made their way to
the door. Artyum Pshonka, the chief
prosecutor was presented with Ukrainian copy of Rudy Friesen’s book, Building on the Past. Their time had run out and it was on to
the next part of the day’s agenda. It’s to be remembered that this is election
year. In the greater scheme of things it
was much to their advantage to score points with the Seniors than to have
lunch.
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Some of the Seniors with the Molochansk mayor and chief prosecutor |
All was not lost
however. September 21 also marked eleven
years since the Mennonite Centre opened its doors. We joined the staff in a nice lunch together,
reminiscing how times have changed. In
1944 the Germans were expelled. Now we
are welcomed back.
If you wish to contribute to the work of the Mennonite Centre in Ukraine make your Canadian cheques to "Friends of the Mennonite Centre in Ukraine" or "FOMCU." Cheques from American donors should be made out to "MFC-FOMCU". All cheques should be mailed to George Dyck, Treasurer, 3675 North Service Rd, Beamsville, Ontario, Canada - L0R 1B1. Check our website at http://www.mennonitecentre.ca/ for information on credit card donations.
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