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A Quaker concern for Ukraine
In early May Mikhail Roshchin of Moscow Meeting and Roland Rand of Talinn Friends Worship Group in Estonia brought a concern to the Europe and Middle East Section (EMES) of Friends World Committee for Consultation. They wished to travel to Ukraine to find out what ordinary people were experiencing in the midst of violent conflict and ask if there was anything Quakers could do in a modest way to foster local peace initiatives. Friends gathered in Strasbourg for the EMES Annual Meeting recognised and upheld this concern, and asked EMES to facilitate it by banking any money collected for it.
An article appeared in the Friend (May 16) after which Friends, many Meetings and two Trusts, together with sources in other European countries, gave enough to cover the costs of our two Friends’ visits; there might be surplus for small-scale one-off support if some promising Ukrainian peace work was identified.
In the mean time the violence was getting worse, which made it unsafe to go during the summer, which was the original plan. Eventually Roland visited Kiev and the Odessa Region in September. In conversations with members of different ethnic groups, young people and a religious leader, he found a universal wish for the fighting to end, though some did not want this if the price was the break-up of the country. He attended a meeting of the local Alternative to Violence Group, and commented, “At the AVP seminars it was the clear wish for Ukrainians to live in a tolerant environment despite the differences among them. I sensed that many had reached that viewpoint at the end of the seminar. The regret over historical neighbours not managing to live in harmony was shared by many who held nationalistic viewpoints. Compromise was considered essential for a peaceful solution to a conflict.” He recommended AVP training in Ukraine as a possible recipient of Quaker support.
His first meeting in Odessa was with the AVP Group there, where again the national situation was discussed. “Concerning the question what can be done right now for the resolution of the conflict, it was found that activity should take place on several levels: person-to-person, system-to-system. One person cannot resolve conflict between systems, but s/he can help on the person-to-person level. Some participants thought that it is important to start with the closest one, for example with oneself.”
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| Roland Rand with children in Odessa |
He also met other community activists, among them Inna Tereshchenko, director of the Odessa Regional Mediation Group. Currently Inna is the representative for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). (A number of Friends have worked with her in the past and have a high regard for her.) Roland wants to stay in touch with her and give her whatever support he can. He found that cultural days and festivals are being held to promote peace and stability. Good examples are the free-of-charge concert given in Odessa that he attended, and the women's movement's demonstration at Maidan Square in Kiev against the war.
Mikhail (known as Misha) managed to reach Lugansk near the border with Russia in October. This District has declared itself the “Lugansk Republic” which makes Ukraine a “foreign country”. He found both his journey and the city very calm and quiet since the armistice which was agreed in Minsk in September – but is not universally honoured. He says, “The armistice is observed well here. I have met a few responsible people such as the President of People's Council of the Lugansk Republic, Alexei Kariakin, who took part in the Minsk peace negotiations. I have met also with a vice-prime-minister Vassili Nikitin. Especially interesting and helpful for me was a meeting with a troupe from the Ukrainian-speaking theatre in the city. In the People's Council I heard of a project of a peacemaking dialogue between Lugansk and Ukraine. I feel that this proposal is very positive.”
He also reports “a peacemaking initiative of a social-political leader of Alchevsk (a city in Lugansk province) called Alexey Mozgovoy who started a real peacemaking direct dialogue, by means of web, tv and skype connections, with with peacemaking activists (journalists, political people and even a few military people) from Kiev.”
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| War-damaged church in Lugansk |
The AVP project leader in Kiev said later: “I'd like to say that Roland's mission was a success. Thanks to him, we started raising important issues and a desire to promote peacemaking. In my opinion, we had a real peaceful dialogue, and I'm sure it has helped many of us to take another step to understanding its meaning.” There are fuller reports from both Friends on their experiences, and copies are available from lampen (at) hopeproject.co.uk.
Friends gathered in Strasbourg for the EMES Annual Meeting recognised and upheld this concern, and asked EMES to facilitate it by banking any money collected for it. A support group was set up for them. It hoped that ongoing support for peace activists there would follow in some form, not necessarily involving new structures, which it felt it could not undertake to manage. This seems to be happening.
The first article in the Friend and other information about this initiative raised an astonishing £10,490 from Friends, Meetings and Trusts to make it happen. The original plan was for each journey to be made by two Friends, but this proved impossible, so our Friends’ costs were less than expected, around £6,600. This left a good surplus to devote to the local peace-building initiatives which they recommended to us: the AVP training, the proposed summer camp for displaced children, and the work of our friends in the Odessa Regional Mediation Group. There is also a modest grant for the continuing dialogue between Misha and his new contacts. Misha and Roland want to thank those who supported their concern and bring back to you the gratitude of people in Ukraine who are trying to be positive in the midst of fear, anger, loss and uncertainty.
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