Humanitarian recounts late 2024 trip to Ukraine, at Selby Library

Since 1990, Tania Vitvitsky, who has deep ties to Ukraine, has returned to the country nearly every year.

On March 20, the Sudbury, Massachusetts resident took the opportunity to share her most recent observations with about 15 people in the Jack J. Geldbart Auditorium at Selby Library.

Anisa Mycak of Longboat Key, who organized the event, said she hoped that it would serve as a forum for activists and volunteers to meet Sarasota residents who share their desire to help Ukraine, stating this is something needed “more than ever right now."

Highlighting resilience

Mycak, who has been involved in Ukrainian American organizations for decades, said she has known Vitvitsky, who is founder of Ukrainian Charitable Platform, for about half a century.

“I wanted to support her work because it's so important, because we say every drop in the ocean helps, and so she's doing a wonderful job supporting grassroots Ukrainian organizations on the ground,” she said.

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Vitvitsky was born to Ukrainian parents, who were post World War II refugees, in a displaced persons camp in Austria, and arrived in the U.S. with her family at the age of three.

In her speech, she recounted her latest trip to Ukraine, the country she considers her native home, presenting a slideshow of photographs taken during her trip. 

Instead of highlighting only the war, however, she chose to focus on the resilience of the country's people.

The trip covered the Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, and Lviv regions in western and central Ukraine on August and September 2024.

"What's remarkable about Ukraine at this point is despite the missiles, despite the drones, the rail service works beautifully, as does the overnight delivery service," she said. "It's just really, the country, despite everything, functions, which I think is remarkable."

She said life goes on even amid the constant interruption of air raids, marked by sirens, with concerts that are full and children at play in fountains.

"It's a very kind of... strange situation, because you know a drone can fall right nearby, or a missile, but people have to live," she said. "They have to go to work, they have to go to restaurants, they have to have a good time, because life cannot just stop, with people sitting in their homes and crying. Of course, you don't see what's happening inside."

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She said the country has an enormous need for mental health services.

She recounted visiting a group that holds impromptu concerts in Lviv, a beauty and photography session for mothers with handicapped children held underground, and the Ukrainian House National Centre's exhibition “Material Matters: Ukrainian Art Textiles," as well as other sites and people.

She said the current feeling amongst Ukrainians regarding the United States' role is one of disillusionment. 

“I can tell you that they're not going to stop fighting,” she said. “What are they going to do? Where are they going to go? It's their country. And when people start talking about territory, there are people on the territory. … I'm not a political scientist, but my sense is the war will continue.”