S.O.S. was formally registered September 2007 (after a 2 year application process begun in 2005), but the charitable work began a decade before! It started in 1980 when I asked family about my roots. A great aunt gave me an address in Ukraine. I was told that a letter would never get there, (Ukraine was part of Communist Russia then), or that their reply would not get back to me.
I kept the address for 10 years; when Ukraine became independent in 1991, I wrote a letter in English. Later I was elated to find a reply in my mailbox! A translator told me things were very different in Ukraine - the country & people were poor, so I began shipping boxes of clothing overseas.
They invited me to come visit - oh, what an eye opener that was!
A young woman had only the clothes that I had sent her to wear!
Another family said they'd be naked if not for the clothes we sent.
I've traveled to many countries, (13 in Europe), but never had witnessed such poverty,
swept back 100 years, seeing villagers in heavy, traditional clothing planting crops, with chickens, mice, pigs, muddy roads and outhouses defining their homes.
No refrigeration, no telephone, no soap to wash dishes and pots, no toilet paper! Most everything in a state of serious disrepair, broken down buildings, houses, and only the rare old car (in the villages) that barely ran. I was deeply grateful to live in Canada, to my ancestors for leaving their homeland. The need to help was apparent.
Most of the people who have contributed are not Ukrainian descendants, they just live charitable lives. Thank you to all! What hope you have sent!
I kept the address for 10 years; when Ukraine became independent in 1991, I wrote a letter in English. Later I was elated to find a reply in my mailbox! A translator told me things were very different in Ukraine - the country & people were poor, so I began shipping boxes of clothing overseas.
They invited me to come visit - oh, what an eye opener that was!
A young woman had only the clothes that I had sent her to wear!
Another family said they'd be naked if not for the clothes we sent.
I've traveled to many countries, (13 in Europe), but never had witnessed such poverty,
swept back 100 years, seeing villagers in heavy, traditional clothing planting crops, with chickens, mice, pigs, muddy roads and outhouses defining their homes.
No refrigeration, no telephone, no soap to wash dishes and pots, no toilet paper! Most everything in a state of serious disrepair, broken down buildings, houses, and only the rare old car (in the villages) that barely ran. I was deeply grateful to live in Canada, to my ancestors for leaving their homeland. The need to help was apparent.
Most of the people who have contributed are not Ukrainian descendants, they just live charitable lives. Thank you to all! What hope you have sent!
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