Ukrainian Culture That Saves Lives: Fundraising for Ambulances Through the Easter Hayivky

More than €12,000 was raised by St. Barbara's parish together with nearly 20 Ukrainian organizations in Vienna at "The Easter Hayivky" event on May 12, with choirs, music and dance groups, and the event ended with a performance by People's Artist of Ukraine Oksana Bilozir.

All day long, Ukrainian hayivky and vesnianky were played in the center of the Jesuit church's courtyard, and a fair selling traditional Ukrainian jewelry, books, paintings, embroidered shirts, and Ukrainian food was held around the perimeter. It was here that one could meet almost all Ukrainian organizations in Vienna, each of which had its own table. For six hours, Ukrainian songs were played in the courtyard, people met and talked to each other, learned about Ukrainian culture and, most importantly, raised funds to buy ambulances for Ukrainian doctors.

In contrast to Russian culture, which destroys, ruins and kills, Ukrainian culture saves lives. And those sacred words of His Beatitude Lubomyr Huzar about the importance of "being yourself" have a very practical embodiment in the way Ukrainians who are living abroad raise funds for their country today. To be Ukrainians on an ordinary Sunday, to sing hayivky and eat Ukrainian borscht, varenyky, holubtsi (cabbage rolls), Boykiv roast and even the famous Lviv syrnyk (cheesecake). Ukrainians lead traditional Easter dances, participate in master classes, and the most important thing is that we find each other, find "our people", communicate with other Ukrainians, and ultimately plan further measures to help Ukraine. Also, we invited Austrian friends so that they, too, could experience the traditional Ukrainian culture. Here is a short algorithm of how the Greek-Catholic parish abroad can join the victory of Ukraine. In fact, once again organizing such an event, the parish of St. Barbara united Ukrainian culture, Ukrainian organizations in Vienna, the Ukrainian embassy, ​​Ukrainian artists and Ukrainian business abroad. At the same time, the event took place on the territory of the church.

The exhibition "Spring in Her Eyes" organized by "Ptashka Art Project" was also held as part of the event, with the participation of four Ukrainian artists: Valentina Samoilyk, Kateryna Felistovych, Phi Do and Oksana Yavorska. Among the guests of honor at the event was the most prominent contemporary Ukrainian artist, Ivan Marchuk, who celebrated his 88th birthday that day. Those interested could buy postcards with the image of Marchuk's paintings and his signature, and the money were allocated to charity.

Easter eggs by Oksana Dopilko and other Ukrainian craftsmen were sold at the Easter market. "I am a member of the Youth Choir, which is specifically the organizer of hayivky, and I also performed solo and held a master class for children. We also organized a stand selling authentic Ukrainian Easter eggs. For this goal, we united artists from Ukraine and Austria, who partially donated their handmade products to us, and almost the entire amount from the sale will go towards the purchase of ambulances," says the Oksana.

The most important thing is the goal: the purchase of ambulances for Ukraine, which is suffering daily under Russian missile attacks. The purchase of ambulances will help save the lives of dozens or hundreds of wounded Ukrainian soldiers who are today defending their country from Russian aggression. This is not the first time that the parish has had to buy ambulances for Ukraine after a full-scale Russian invasion. Earlier this year, the youth choir of the same parish collected the cost of an ambulance at Christmas time; ambulances were bought by the parish for Ukraine in previous years as well.

The parish priest of St. Varvara church, Fr. Taras Chagala is convinced that today it is necessary to collect funds to help Ukraine and demonstrate the unity of Ukrainians and Ukrainian organizations.

"It is often said that Ukrainian organizations are not friends with each other, that they have difficult relations, and our event today shows the opposite because almost all Ukrainian organizations in Vienna gathered at our event. And this is extremely important for our local community. It is also important that we have drawn conclusions from the experience of the previous year and that we can develop successfully. And next year, I am sure, it will be even better, and we will organize a big festival," the priest said. In 2023, the parish already organized a smaller event of a similar format "Art-space Barbareum" with performances by Ukrainian performers and the sale of Ukrainian food.

As one of the organizers of the event, director of the Ukrainian library at St. Varvara Parish and artist Oksana Yavorska, said, the cost of each such used ambulance is 5,000 euros, and the goal of the Easter fundraisers is to raise funds for two such ambulances. This goal was successfully achieved, as 12,400 euros were collected.

The main partners of the event were "Ptashka Art Project", the Ukrainian choir "Barbareum", "Plast Austria", "Domivka", "TUMA", and Free People School, and the main information partners were Ukrainian House Vienna and Kryla Communication. The event was also supported by Bereginia, Ustream Fest, the Ukrainian-Austrian Society, the Media Center of the Ukrainian Community in Vienna, the Ukrainian Saturday School in Vienna, Unlimited Democracy and Ustream.

Ukrainian ambassador to Austria Vasyl Khymynets is convinced that Ukrainian culture should be more and more understandable for Austrians.

"It is very important that the authentic word "hayivka" would be pronounced very easily and is understandable for our Austrian friends and partners. In this way, we can tell them about our state and our traditions and attract them to support our state, our people," he states in his speech.

The preparation and sale of Ukrainian dishes were organized by Nadiya Pelekhan and the parish community "Territory of God's Love".

"Our parish priest, Fr. Taras, asked if we could help with cooking, and we gladly agreed, taking on the main part of the traditional Ukrainian cuisine that is present here. We cooked 150 liters of borscht and made two and a half thousand pcs. cabbage rolls, 50 liters of Boykiv roast, as well as delicacies from the traditional Ukrainian sweet table, such as Lviv cheesecake, cheesecakes with peaches, cakes with fresh berries, patriotic gingerbread with the flag of Ukraine," says Ms. Nadiya.

Ukrainian semi-finished products store "Warenyk Haus Daheim", which opened recently in Vienna, treated us to verenyky on the hayivky. Its co-owner, Anna Paterman, said that at the event, it was possible to feed about 300 people with varenyky, syrnyky, mlyntsi (thin pancakes), and pelmeni (dumplings).

"We paid a fee to participate in the event, and we will also donate 30% of our income here today to purchase ambulances. Such events support the spirit of the diaspora, help people feel their identity, and also spread our culture. There were also a lot of Austrians here today who are getting to know our culture better," says Anna.

Ukrainian dishes were enjoyed not only by Ukrainians. Diplomatic institutions and Catholic organizations, in particular from the Catholic Austrian Community, are present at the event. Franz Sedelmayer, a native of Bavaria, came on the hayivky with his son, who belongs to the Katholisch Österreichische Landsmanschaften. He recently published an autobiography under the telling title "Welcome to Putingrad". In 1990, as an entrepreneur, he had his own security company in St. Petersburg, and his liaison with the local mayor's office was Vladimir Putin himself. Due to corrupt arbitrariness and illegal expropriation, Sedelmayer left Russia, but later, he successfully condemned Russian state property abroad to Russia. Franz Sedelmayer is convinced that today, European states are not doing enough to stop Russia's war against Ukraine.

"I think that much more should have been done. The countries that provide Ukraine with material support and weapons, at the same time, do not allow the use of their weapons on Russian territory. I am a big supporter of Ukraine, and I think NATO troops should be in Ukraine to help in its defence against Russia," Sedelmayer notes.

Katholisch Österreichische Landsmanschaften and other Catholic lay organizations have been actively involved in helping Ukraine since the first days, and they are cooperating with Ukrainian organizations in Vienna.

Tetyana Khomenko, who comes from Lviv, has been living in Vienna for 23 years and works as a surgeon. Every year, she goes to Lviv for Easter to celebrate it with her Ukrainian family. Tatiana has been volunteering since 2014 and constantly tells her Austrian friends about Ukraine.

"Ukraine is interesting to foreigners even now during the war. Many of my friends, including German diplomats, asked me to go with them to Ukraine as they wish to see Ukrainian life today. At first, they asked: Where is Ukraine? Then they studied our history in detail and began to tell me about it," says Tetyana.

She notes that the Viennese hayivky are very close to those that take place in Lviv in the Shevchenkivskyi Hai Park ("Shevchenko's Grove").

"I remember the hayivky from the "Shevchenko's Grove" in Lviv. This is a wonderful tradition and a very important thing that unites us all. I believe that such measures are even more important for Ukrainian refugees because it is one thing when someone comes here to study or work and quite different when people are forced to come here because of the war. So it is very important to come, communicate, and eat real Ukrainian borscht together, talk with your friends, and unite," Oksana is convinced.