Woman of Distinction Award

This afternoon, I was honoured to be one of five Canadian women awarded the Woman of Distinction Award by the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations. We were each given a beautiful bronze and marble sculpture by Oleh Lesiuk.

The five women to be honoured are:

1. Senator Raynell Andreychuk – for her dedication and commitment in promoting freedom, democracy and human rights throughout the world. Special recognition is to be given Senator Andreychuk for the work done in Ukraine during the presidential elections to assure that the elections were democratic, free of corruption and adhered to the Constitution of Ukraine.
   

2. Olga Swyntuch-Zawerucha – for her dedication and commitment in establishing the Credit Union Movement in Ukraine. Mrs. Zawerucha used her extensive knowledge, skills and expertise to train young women and men to take on leadership roles and establish Credit Unions in their towns, cities and villages. At this moment there are over 700 successful Credit Unions in Ukraine.
   

3. Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch – for her perseverance and dedication in writing stories for Canadian students and educating them about the horrors of war.  Through her novels she exposes young readers to issues such as, the internment of Ukrainian-Canadians by the Canadian Government during the First World War, Famine Genocide Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine and Ukrainian Immigration to Canada. Through her books Mrs. Skrypuch provides a vehicle for children to deal with issues with which they might not be familiar or are afraid to discuss.

4. Myroslava Tataryn. – The Saskatchewan – raised activist is being honoured for her work with the disabled peoples’ organizations in Canada, Ghana, Ukraine, South Africa and Uganda. Ms. Tataryn has been active in promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in worldwide AIDS advocacy efforts. Myroslava speaks publicly about building alliances between the AIDS and disability rights movements as well as integrating a disability rights perspective into international development work. She has worked as an adviser on disability and AIDS for Stephen Lewis’s advocacy organizations,  AIDS – Free World.

5. Zenia Kushpeta – is being honoured for her work with developmentally challenged in Ukraine. Ms. Kushpeta established, Dzherelo, a rehabilitation centre for disabled children in Lviv. To assist the disabled and their families, Ms.Kushpeta started the Faith and Light Groups, in Lviv and six other centres. In her work with developmentally and physically challenged children she found that these children were often excluded from activities or completely ignored. It is, Ms. Kushpeta’s hope and challenge to change peoples’ attitudes towards people with disabilities.

Author: Marsha

I write historical fiction, mostly from the perspective of young people who are thrust in the midst of war. View all posts by Marsha