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Photo of the Main Board of the Association of Ukrainian Women of Belgium with Professor R. Lisovskyi, who designed the Emblem of the UUB flags on the day of consecration of the flag of the Main Board27.5.1965year

In the picture - the first row of Mrs. Zinaida Vityaz, Robert Lisovskyi, Vira Dyminska, who embroidered the flag of the main Administration

standing - Klavdia Vasyuta, MariaCVyshchuk, Kateryna Fedyniak, Kateryna Boyko, mother Efrozinia Bachynska, Ivanka Koval, Kateryna Rab, Parania Galaburda, Lida Demchuk

Mrs. Klavdia Vasyuta is still alive today.

 

Marichka Halaburda Czyhryn

From ancient times, Ukrainian women in Belgium took care to preserve Ukrainian identity and promoted our culture among Belgians. Here is a picture from the 1-week exhibition in the SPA(SPA) in1974, OUB organized a  SUM-ivka helped.

 

From left to right. Lidia Demchuk, Maria Kapechuk, Fenyk, Natalka Kozytska, Nadia Senichak, Mr. Khodorovsky, Stefka Karpa, Anna Sabadash-Sokhatska, Ivanka Firman, Klavdia Vasyuta, Paraska Galaburda (she answered), Oksana Kozytska and Mariyka Karpai are sitting.

Exhibition of Ukrainian Embroidery  in"Chateau de Peralta" in Belgium

on the occasion60- summer of the UAB (Union of Ukrainian Women of Belgium)

 

Already on Monday6-th of October2008 year  Mr. Yuriy Melnychuk, a collaborator  flew from Kyiv to Brussels. Museum of Ivan Honchar  in Kyiv and Mrs. Olena Skrypka.

They brought their collection of ancient towels, shirts and costumes from different regions of Ukraine, added to the embroidered pieces we collected  and immediately started preparing the exhibition.  After several days of work, everything was ready for the opening on Friday10-10-2008.

 

The exhibition was officially opened by Mrs. Pirar, the head of the Cultural Center "Ourthe-Meuse"and Halyna Shapoval Bylyna, the head of OUB, and then all those present could enter the exhibition hall and view the wonderful embroideries and other exhibits. In the hall there was also a room with a bed, wedding (the tablecloth was almost embroidered on it200 years ago!) and the Easter table, on which a loaf of bread, kolache and  Paska baked for us by Mrs. Stefa Protsykiewicz.

 

We also managed to borrow 2 embroideries of Mrs. Irena Senyk, because we could not imagine an exhibition of Ukrainian embroidery without her works.

Among those present were also representatives of the Ukrainian Embassy, the embassy presented us with a buffet and vodka and mead.

 

Many Belgians have already visited the exhibition, who are very impressed by our beautiful exhibits and spontaneously apply for embroidery master classes  led by Mr. Yury Melnychuk.

 

On Sunday19October was the closing of our exhibition, which we ended with a concert.

Already in the afternoon, relatives and children from Antwerp came to see the exhibition and listen  Yuriy Melnychuk, who told them about Ukrainian embroidery and  about its symbolism.

Long before the concert, people gathered  to the hall to take a place for the concert, because the hall was too small and could not accommodate everyone!

 

The delegation of the Ukrainian World Coordination Council - "Eurocaravan" also visited our closing ceremony

UVKR-2008".

After the official opening  concert  Mr  Dmytro Pavlychko greeted all those present and introduced the members of the delegation. Everything was in two languages - Ukrainian and French, translated into those two languages by Alla Kuzhel (by the way, Alla also simultaneously translated during embroidery workshops).

 

The concert featured  Maksym and Yuliya Mykhailiuk (violin and flute), their mother Hannia Pachekha-Mykhailiuk  (bandura) and Marusya Osmalska, who accompanied Maxim on the piano. They successfully performed folk and classical Ukrainian melodies. The audience was very satisfied and the young musicians had to play again.

The song "Hey in the meadow red viburnum" sounded and all the people stood up to  to sing this Ukrainian National Anthem together - as Mr. Dmytro Pavlychko said

 

The concert ended with Iryna Kosenko, who masterfully played the piano, there was no end to the applause, so she had to give an encore. Iryna is a professional pianist who completed  his studies in Lviv at the Solomiya Krushelnytska Institute of Music and  in  conservatory in Brussels. At the end of the concert, all our artists got a nice  a bouquet of flowers, as well as   gave flowers to Olena Skrypka and Yuriy Melnychuk with heartfelt thanks, for  that they came from Kyiv to us and for  their tireless work.

 

I can't help but brag,  that members  delegations   highly praised our beautiful, truly professional exhibition of Ukrainian embroidery, which they had never seen even in Ukraine!

And how aptly they   said  - "not the number of people is important, but their spirit and love for their own."

After the concert, there was a reception for the guests, prepared by tireless hands  members of UAB,  during which we still talked, took pictures and only then  said goodbye to the members of the delegation.

 

You will probably understand that all member UAB  extremely proud and pleased with such  marking 60-summer   of our organization and we will start thinking,  how to celebrate  our70- summer of OUB.

 

 

Thank you  everyone,  who contributed to the successful exhibition!

Ukrainian Language Festival in Antwerp

Sunday11/18/2012.

 

There is a good Ukrainian community in Antwerp, most of them "newcomers". From the beginning, they were already organized at the parish, a Ukrainian school was created, Plast was organized, and at the beginning of 2012, a department of the UAB (Union of Ukrainian Women of Belgium) was created.
Together, they organized the Ukrainian Language Festival, which took place on Sunday, November 18, 2012.
After the service of God, which was served by 3 priests, fathers Igor, Andriy and Maryan, they all moved to the hall not far from the church, the hall was too small to comfortably accommodate everyone, more people came than the organizers had hoped. It was nice to see that people from Limburg Region also came to this celebration.
The host of the holiday, Lyuda Cherepanina, opened the holiday and, together with Maria Volosko, greeted the attendees with a traditional bread held by little Marta Matychak.
In the first part, the children of the Ukrainian school under the leadership of their teacher Hania Nikulyshyn performed, the children recited poems and sang songs about the Ukrainian language, they wrote a page of history about the ban on the Ukrainian language from the 18th century, the ban on publishing books, printing sheet music of Ukrainian songs, etc. Famous people like Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, and Kotlyarovsky were also mentioned. The children finished their program with children's songs about the Ukrainian language. Our sincere thanks to teacher Gana for putting together this program so beautifully and skillfully.
After the children of the Ukrainian School, Plast spoke, Nazar Cherepanin explained what a Plast is, when the world Plast was created, when the Ukrainian Plast was created, in which countries of the world there is a Ukrainian Plast, about its activities, he spoke with such passion that it was felt that he was a Plast with a full heart ! After each plastun and plastun woman on the stage told why they like to be a plastun, and all this in a beautiful Ukrainian language, and ended their performance with a plastun song.
As I listened to all this, I remembered my time in SUM, our camps, our schools... pure nostalgia!
After the plastuns, the women of the OUB department performed, a choir led by Halyna Oleksiy and
between songs, the women recited touching poems written by Ukrainian women workers in Italy, published in the book "With hope for a world of love, truth and goodness". This is also their fate.
Between songs and poems, Nadiya Senichak told why she is Belgian, why she is Ukrainian - I will post this text separately, it is very interesting and I am convinced that we will all recognize ourselves.
The program ended with the song "Native language", the text of the song was laid out on the tables so that everyone present could sing along.
I noticed that people were really interested because it was quiet, very quiet in the hall so that you could hear everything well and not miss a single word - in the Ukrainian language!
After the program, there was a snack for those present and a short farewell ceremony was held with the member of the OUB, Hana Klymko, who returned home to Ukraine on the second day!

 

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