CANADA-UKRAINE FOUNDATION
A team of 35 Canadian surgeons and other health professionals travelled to the town of Czeladz, Poland, to provide much-needed medical care to soldiers and other civilian victims of the war in Ukraine. The group, with the Canada Ukraine Foundation, tell Julia Foy they are seeing devastating injuries.
As we count down to the holidays and people scramble to find the perfect gift for their loved ones, a group of Canadian doctors, nurses and medical staff are already far ahead.
The Canada Ukraine Foundation sent a surgical team to Czeladz, Poland recently to provide complex care to victims of the war in Ukraine. They are rebuilding broken bodies and shattered lives.
“These unfortunate heroes here have been injured in the battlefield, they’ve had trauma, many have had multiple surgeries before they got here,” Dr. Danny Enepekides, a Toronto head and neck surgeon told Global News.
The injuries the medical team is seeing are far worse than what doctors normally encounter in Canada.
Winnipeg orthopedic surgeon Dr. Chris Graham said “we see everything from mine blasts, tank blasts, sniper bullets. Everything life and limb ending injuries.”
The patients are not only soldiers. Many are civilians who have been injured when their homes were destroyed by Russian missiles.
Thirty-three-year-old Oksana, a mother of two was living in her home in the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine when her home was hit. Her family was buried in the rubble. Her 13-year-old son was killed in the attack.
Through her tears, she told Global News, “I heard my daughter calling that she couldn’t breathe. I finally found her covered in blood. My son was slumped in his chair. It was shrapnel from the missile that killed him instantly.”
Other civilian patients the team did complex surgeries with include Olana, a grandmother of four who was crushed after her home was bombed. She’s had 12 surgeries to date to fix injuries to her arms, legs and face. Her one message to Canadians: “Pray for Peace.”
Despite the horrific injuries patients have endured, members of the medical team spoke with admiration about the spirit of the Ukrainian people.
One B.C. nurse, Holly Lisson- Smith from Kelowna said “just seeing the resilience in these patients is wonderful. It makes you appreciate how they’ve gone through these hardships, and they’re still able to find a way to smile about something each day; to see the positives and the light in any situation.”
All of the doctors, nurses and medical support workers are volunteers, and many are using their vacation days to come on the mission.
The Canada Ukraine Foundation is a registered charity, and all the costs for supplies, travel, accommodation and food for the team members must be covered by donations.
CUF president Orest Sklierenko encourages the public to get involved.
“The need is not going to go away,” he said. “After Ukraine wins the war, there will be a long rebuilding period. There will be so many of these patients who will need require these types of surgeries and interventions from these amazing and talented surgeons who come from across Canada.”
GLOBAL NEWS
https://globalnews.ca/news/9368257/canadian-surgical-team-help-victims-ukraine-war/
Bill Lukashenko pivoted away from marketing just before the pandemic and recently created an online auction that raised $40,000 for humanitarian relief work in Ukraine.
GALIT RODAN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
The organizer: Bill Lukashenko
The pitch: Raising more than $40,000
The cause: The Canada-Ukraine Foundation
Like a lot of people from Winnipeg, Bill Lukashenko’s family was steeped in Ukrainian culture.
His father and grandparents survived the Holodomor, a man-made famine orchestrated by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and immigrated to Canada as displaced people after the Second World War.
When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last February, Mr. Lukashenko felt determined to do something. “It’s almost as though there was a calling with all these millions of people that were displaced and in need of help. I was very sad,” he recalled from Toronto, where he runs a marketing company.
He got involved with various humanitarian efforts but last spring he decided to try something that would have more impact. He began organizing an online event called Auction for Ukraine. He contacted dozens of companies and received a host of donated items ranging from tickets to NHL and NBA games to hotel stays, airline tickets, wineglasses, jewellery, clothing and gift cards. Several people also contacted him to make further contributions to the sale, including artwork
Among the donors was Ukrainian artist Viktor Deysun. Mr. Deysun happened to be in Canada in September and when his sister-in-law in Toronto learned about the auction she got in touch with Mr. Lukashenko. “She says, Bill, we’ve got some artwork that Viktor really wants to donate to help raise funds to help his home country,” Mr. Lukahsenko said.
The auction ran from Nov. 9 to 19 and Mr. Lukashenko made it as inclusive as possible by starting bidding for some lots at $100. “I wanted it to be available to any Canadian who might want to support Ukraine,” he said. The event raised more than $40,000 in total and the proceeds have gone to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation to support of its Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
Mr. Lukashenko, 56, plans to keep fundraising and doing all he can to support Ukrainians. “I felt compelled to help and I continue to feel compelled to help,” he said.
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-bill-lukashenko-canada-ukraine-foundation/
Королівський монетний двір Канади випустив колекційну монету, яка присвячена перемозі збірної Канади з хокею в Суперсерії-1972, кошти від якої підуть на підтримку України.
Колекційна монета номіналом 2 долари присвячена 50-річчю перемоги канадської хокейної збірної над командою СРСР в Суперсерїї в 1972 році.
Збірна Канади тоді здобула 4 перемоги, СРСР – 3, одна зустріч завершилася нічиєю.
Монета з чистого срібла вагою 2 унції – 50-річчя Суперсерії – випущена тиражем 5 тисяч штук.
Роздрібна ціна монети – 189,95 канадських доларів (5130,80 гривень). Монета з чистого золота номіналом 200 доларів продається за ціною 4 099,95 канадських доларів (110745,13 гривні).
Монети можна придбати в бутиках Королівського канадського монетного двору в Оттаві та Вінніпезі, а також у відділеннях Пошти Канади.
Всі кошти від реалізації колекційної монети будуть передані на рахунки «Гуманітарного заклику України» – це спільна ініціатива Канадсько-Української Фундації (CUF) та Українсько-канадського конгресу (UCC).
Канадсько-Українська Фундація закликає канадців купити колекційну монету як подарунок на Різдво або Новий рік, щоб підтримати українців
Всі кошти від реалізації колекційної монети будуть передани на рахунки “Гуманітарного заклику України”, це спільна ініціатива Канадсько-Української Фундації (CUF) та Українсько-канадського конгресу (UCC), повідомляє Цензор.НЕТ.
Колекційна монета номіналом 2 долари присвячена 50-річчю історичної перемоги канадської хокейної збірної над командою Радянського Союзу, яка відбулась в Суперсерїї 1972 року.
Перед початком сезону 1972-1973 років вперше в історії хокею було організовано серію матчів між найкращими професіональними збірними – Канади і Радянського Союзу. Перші чотири гри відбулися в Канаді, наступні чотири – у Москві. У підсумку збірна Канади здобула 4 перемоги, СРСР – 3, одна зустріч завершилася нічиєю.
Тоді канадській хокеїст Пол Гендерсон закинув найважливішу шайбу у своєму житті. Цим він ощасливив мільйони канадських вболівальників, подарувавши їм свято національного масштабу – команда перемогла росіян з рахунком 4:3. Але та перемога над командою Радянського Союзу для всього Світу означала значно більше ніж спортивне досягнення. Це була перемога над “Імперією зла”.
Монета з чистого срібла вагою 2 унції – 50-річчя Суперсерії – випущена тиражом 5 тисяч штук. Роздрібна ціна монети канадських доларів 189,95. Монета з чистого золота номіналом $200 продається за ціною канадських доларів 4 099,95.
Монети можна придбати в бутиках Королівського канадського монетного двору в Оттаві та Вінніпезі, а також у відділеннях Пошти Канади.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki last week visited a hospital in the city of Czeladz where severely injured Ukrainian war veterans and civilians are being operated on.
Over the next few weeks, Canadian surgeons, along with their Ukrainian and Polish colleagues, will operate on military veterans and civilians who have suffered injuries to the head, face, nose, eyes and ears. The etiology of the deformities is different, as all injuries were sustained as a result of hostilities, so the wounded required complex plastic surgeries.
The Canadian team, together with Polish and Ukrainian doctors, conducted numerous virtual examinations and provided primary outpatient pre-operative clinical care to more than 45 injured persons.
“I am very grateful to everyone who is working now to save the lives of Ukrainians – people suffering from Russian occupiers and barbaric attacks. I promised President Zelenskyy two days ago when I was in Kyiv that Poland would make its hospitals more accessible to those in need. And I think that Polish doctors are doing everything to save the lives and health of Ukrainians. And I also want to thank the Canadian and Ukrainian doctors who are selflessly working on this,” Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki emphasized, welcoming the team of doctors.
During 10 days of work, more than 40 highly complex surgical operations will be performed. The operations will be aimed at reconstruction of post-traumatic defects and deformities of the face, craniofacial skeleton, upper and lower extremities. All these injuries were received as a result of hostilities.
This is the second mission of Canadian doctors to Poland since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression in Ukraine. The first mission took place in September. Both missions involved fifty volunteer doctors, most of whom were plastic surgeons from Canada.
“Since the beginning of the war, we knew that we had to do everything to ensure that our missions were a help for our Ukrainian doctors who work 24 hours a day. This is our second mission in Poland, and we can truly say that it is the largest and most effective, and has four surgical areas. The whole team puts all its strength and soul to change the lives of our heroes and people who suffered from Russian aggression”, – comments the head of the mission, head of the cranial trauma program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, professor of plastic surgery at the University of Toronto Oleh Antonyshyn.
“It is a great honor for me to be here with the Mission team for the second time in a row – the work of these volunteer surgeons, nurses and all medical staff is extremely important – they operate on extremely complex injuries and give Ukrainians a chance to return to normal life. I am grateful to the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, for his unwavering support of the Canadian-Ukrainian Surgical Mission team and patients from Ukraine. I am sincerely grateful to the staff of the Powiatowy Zespół Zakładów Opieki Zdrowotnej Hospital for the operating rooms and all their help,” commented Orest Skliarenko, President of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation.
The Canada-Ukraine Surgical Mission was launched in 2014 as a joint project of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
Between 2014 and 2019, 8 missions were conducted in three cities – Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv. During these missions, 548 patients were consulted and 230 were operated on.
Thanks to the donors of Canada-Ukraine Foundation, more than $1.5 million worth of equipment and surgical materials for the treatment of Ukrainians were donated. Volunteers also provided storage space, physical and financial support, which allowed the team to transport more than 14,000 tons of medical supplies and equipment.
Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF) was established in 1995 to coordinate, develop, organize and deliver assistance projects generated by Canadians and directed to Ukraine and to the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada.
Королівський канадський монетний двір випустив чотири колекційні монети, кошти від реалізації яких будуть передані на допомогу Україні.
Як передає Укрінформ, про це повідомляється на сайті Королівського канадського монетного двору.
Зазначається, що усі монети присвячені 50-й річниці перемоги канадської хокейної збірної над командою СРСР в Суперсерії 1972-го року. Дві монети виготовлені з металу й одна – зі срібла та мають номінал, відповідно, два та 30 дол. Найдорожча монета викарбувана з чистого золота тиражем всього 300 штук та продається за 4100 дол.
Увесь прибуток від продажу цих колекційних монет Канадський королівський монетний двір перерахує ініціативі “Гуманітарний заклик України”, яку спільно втілюють Канадсько-українська фундація та Конгрес українців Канади.
У Канадсько-українській фундації закликали канадців купувати ці колекційні монети як подарунки на Різдво й Новий рік з метою підтримки українців.
Як повідомлялося, у березні Канадський королівський монетний двір оголосив, що передасть Червоному хресту для допомоги українцям усі прибутки, отримані від продажу двох колекційних монет у формі української писанки.
A mobile classroom that travels across Canada to teach people about the Holodomor famine in Ukraine has made a stop in Winnipeg.
The Holodomor National Awareness Tour bus presents more than 20 different documentary videos, along with educational activities for youth that outline the man-made famine, which killed millions in Soviet Ukraine from 1932-33.
The bus is sometimes used for school presentations, but it has been parted outside the Canadian Museum for Human Rights since Thursday, and is open to all through Sunday.
It contextualizes the tragedy within the greater fabric of human rights.
“Our lessons are based on using the Holodomor as an atrocity to create the awareness of democratic rights,” Roma Dzerowicz, tour manager with the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, said Friday.
“It is a stepping stone to creating that awareness, while at the same time spreading the awareness of democracy, tolerance, civility — that working together,” Dzerowicz said.
In 2016, the Canada-Ukraine Foundation decided to make knowledge about the Holodomor easily accessible, and the idea of a mobile classroom with interactive programming took hold.
“When it comes down to students, they have a voice that they can break out of silence, to raise awareness of what is around them today, and to make for a better world for tomorrow,” she said.
Funded, in part, by the federal Canadian Heritage Department, the bus has travelled from Victoria to Sydney, N.S., twice in the past six years.
Dzerowicz said what people can expect when visiting the bus is, above all, the truth about the troubled history of a country marked by strife again today.
“We look back into February this past year — 90 years ago is when the famine genocide was just going into its final phases, and (February is) when the war in Ukraine broke out,” she said.
“Many have said that there’s also another genocide that is again unfolding (in Ukraine).”
Winnipeg Free Press
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2022/10/28/cross-canada-ukrainian-famine-awareness-tour-stops-in-winnipeg
A Canadian medical team recently returned from a mission to Poland, where the group of volunteers helped injured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. Global’s Julia Foy travelled with the Canada Ukraine Foundation charity and has more on their work to help victims of war.
Global News
https://globalnews.ca/video/9341661/b-c-medical-team-helps-ukraine-war-victims
Canadian volunteers worked closely with Polish and Ukrainian medical staff during their medical mission. Global News
A Canadian medical team recently returned from a mission to Poland, where the group of volunteers helped injured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. Global’s Julia Foy travelled with the Canada Ukraine Foundation charity and has more on their work to help victims of war – Dec 11, 2022
A group of Canadians left their mark in Poland during a recent medical mission. The volunteers used their medical expertise to help treat badly injured civilians and soldiers.
Surgeries began at 8 a.m. and went until after midnight in the hospital named Powiatowy Zespot Zaktadow Opieki Zdrowotnej in the town of Czeladz.
All of the surgeons, nurses and medical staff with the Canada Ukraine Foundation’s Canada Ukraine Surgical Aid Program are volunteers who are fueled by passion.
“The entire objective of this humanitarian effort is to provide comprehensive, complex surgical assistance to the casualties of that war,” Dr. Oleh Antonyshyn.
The ongoing devastation in Ukraine, caused by the Russian invasion, has wounded thousands of soldiers and civilians.
“It’s frustrating. I would say (the war has made me) more than emotional, (it has) made me angry,” said Dr. Steven McCabe, who’s been to Poland on five missions.
“You wonder for what purpose something like that could happen.”
At the Polish hospital, 35 medical experts and support staff from Canada are helping with surgeries for war victims, on a medical mission.
A 33-year-old Ukrainian woman, who was severely injured when a Russian missile struck her home, spoke to Global News. Her son died in the missile strike.
Global News is hiding her identity for safety reasons and is referring to her as Oksana.
She said her son was slumped in a chair and shrapnel from the missile that instantly killed him. She also heard her daughter calling and found her covered in blood. She survived.
Oksana received facial surgery to repair the injuries sustained in the missile strike. Her surgery took eight hours to complete.
Over 10 days of the mission, the Canadian medical team consulted with 28 patients and completed 42 complex procedures, working alongside Polish and Ukrainian doctors.
“(We are) educating Ukrainian physicians to do advanced surgery, whether it be orthopedic care or micro-surgical care,” said Dr. Kevin Higgins.
The importance of the training and sharing of knowledge is not lost on the local doctors.
“For us, it’s very important to do this operation together with our Canadian surgeons and partners,” said Dr. Nhat Herych, Lviv Emergency Clinic’s chief of surgery.
The Canada Ukraine Surgical Aid Team is planning another mission in March but is hoping the war will be over before then.
Canada Ukraine Foundation is a registered charity and all of the costs of its medical missions are covered through fundraising.