Every day, a group of elderly women gather at the Mennonite Family Center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, to share some meals, care for personal hygiene needs, visit, sing, and study the Bible.
“We’re here as a family … We eat here, we socialize and talk, and we get support,” said Galina Petrovna, 84, an eight-year-old retiree who attends the day program at the Mennonite Family Center. He spoke Ukrainian and his words have been translated.
The center was established as a charity registered in 2002 by the Mennonite Benevolent Society in Winnipeg, which continues to oversee and fund its programs.
“These are mostly elderly and disabled people who need material and emotional help,” said Sergey Butyrin, the centre’s deputy director.
“We try to create an atmosphere like a global family so that everyone can feel loved and accepted here … to remember humanity and love.”
The Mennonite Family Center in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine, offers programs for the elderly and children with special needs. (Courtesy of Louie Sawatzky)
In addition to the day program, the center offers home care to bed guests, most of whom are widows.
There is also a daycare and education for children with special needs, a respite program and visits for the elderly and a small medical clinic.
“We thank all those who participate because, thanks to your support, we can guarantee a dignified existence and a very decent communication, food and stay of those people who need special attention, especially in these difficult times. What is happening our country, “said Irina Gnidenko, coordinator of the respite center program.
A Ukrainian soldier is on guard while emergency workers inspect a damaged bridge in the Zaporizhzhia region. More than half of the region’s settlements are occupied by Russian forces. (Reuters)
Zaporizhzhia is a city in the southeastern part of Ukraine. Many people fleeing the Mariupol bombing have taken refuge there; more than half of the settlements in the region are currently occupied by Russian forces.
“It’s a pity that now has come a difficult and disturbing time, the war has begun. We often howl sirens, we hear explosions, we close the windows of our houses in the evening so that no light can be seen,” Petrovna said. who was born in Russia and still has family there.
“It’s scary to think how it was possible to create a disaster like this: bombing cities, towns, killing women, children, the elderly, mocking, stealing, destroying in every way possible.”
Lydia Utkina echoes this sentiment. He also attends the day program and is grateful for the help the center has provided, especially over the past two years.
“Life before the war, and now, is hard for us. The pension is small,” he said.
“It cost us when there was a COVID epidemic, and people hardly worked, there was little money, but the family center supported us. They helped us with groceries. When we could come to the center, they gave us food. Breakfast and lunch. “.
Long history of Mennonites in Ukraine
The Mennonites first came to Ukraine in 1788, at the invitation of Catherine the Great, the last and longest Empress of Russia. He offered them free land, religious and educational privileges, and a military exemption.
The Mennonites established very successful farming and manufacturing communities.
Over the years, however, these religious and educational privileges were challenged and repealed, leading to the first migration from Russia to Canada in the 1870s, said Conrad Stoesz, archivist of the United States. Mennonite Heritage Archive in Winnipeg.
Conrad Stoesz, an archivist at the Mennonite Heritage Archives in Winnipeg, shows photos of the alignments in the food banks organized by the Mennonite Central Committee in Ukraine in the 1920s. (Trevor Brine / CBC News)
During the Russian Revolution, the Mennonites supported the white armies and became targets of the Red Armies. During the Soviet years, the Mennonites were marginalized and starved to death. Those who complained were missing.
It led to another major emigration to Canada and other parts of the world.
The Mennonites of North America wanted to help those who were left behind, “that’s why they administered food aid, social canteens, tractors, that sort of thing to the Mennonites, but also to anyone who needed help,” Stoesz said. It has several black and white grainy photos showing people queuing to eat in scenes from a century ago that resonate in Ukraine today.
It was the first work of what would become the Mennonite Central Committee, a relief and peace organization that keep working in Ukraine and around the world.
Volunteers from the Mennonite Central Committee of Canada are filling five shipping containers with emergency supplies (relief cubes, blankets and canned meat). They will travel by land across Europe to Ukraine, where they will be distributed by church members and organizations. (Trevor Brine / CBC News)
Ukraine gained independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, prompting Mennonites from Canada and the United States to return and visit them as a way to discover their roots.
“They talked about the plight of the elderly again and wondered if the Mennonites in Manitoba or North America, in general, could not do anything to help the elderly in Ukraine. And that’s how we started.” said Louie Sawatzky, the acting Winnipegger. as a liaison between the Mennonite Family Center and the Mennonite Benevolent Society.
“We had to suspend some of the programs during COVID and now again during the war. There were strict curfews … but we tried to get back to the programs as soon as we could.”
Every day, Louie Sawatzky of the Mennonite Benevolent Society in Winnipeg consults with staff at the Mennonite Family Center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, to see how they and their clients are doing. (Trevor Brine / CBC)
“Thanks to the people of your country”
Back at the center, 83-year-old Dina Khvostenko reflects on how she grew up in Ukraine during World War II and how it compares to the current conflict.
“I remember how enemy tanks were behind our house. There were also soldiers behind the Dnieper River and there was a shootout,” he said.
“But such horror is happening now, I don’t remember … This war is very cruel. They kill civilians, mutilate, rob, rape.”
She is also grateful for the island of peace she has found in the center.
“Here we feel good, we eat, we pray, we sing, we eat,” he said. “Thanks to the people of your country who help us, who support us, and thanks to the staff of the center. May God send them his mercy.”
TARGET | Ukrainians grateful for the support of the Canadian Mennonite group:
“We are here as a family”: Ukrainians grateful for center founded by Canadian Mennonite group
Every day, people from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, gather at the Mennonite Family Center, established as a charity registered by the Mennonite Benevolent Society in Winnipeg, to share meals, visit, sing, and have a Bible study.