UAYA Vyshkilniy Tabir with the Ukrainian rock group, Lama. Photo Credit: Christina Iwanik
Ukrainian American Youth Association Camp Prepares Future Leaders of Ukrainian Community
By Dmitri Lenczuk
“Our nation is. Our nation will always be.”
With these final words of wisdom from the great Ukrainian poet of the 1960s, Vasyl Symonenko, the Ukrainian American Youth Association’s “Vyshkilniy Tabir” marked both the end of a two-week adventure and the beginning of a journey in community leadership for many of its graduates.
As a camp held annually on the UAYA property in Ellenville, NY, the Vyshkilniy Tabir (a member-only teacher-leadership camp) aims to raise high school-aged UAYA members to become leaders and teachers in the Ukrainian community. In a span of two weeks, from June 28th to July 11th, campers sat in on lectures by renowned UAYA “vykhovnyky” (teachers) and took part in various leadership- and team-building activities.
Led by Kommendant (Chief Disciplinarian) Crystyna Kobyleckyj and Holovniy Vykhovnyk (Chief Instructor) Dmitri Lenczuk, campers were expected to learn diligently, but encouraged to have fun in the process. The main camp project was an experimental “camp council” consisting of all 3rd-year campers and some 2nd-year and 1st-year campers in between. This council took charge of organizing all camp events, including, but not limited to, a bonfire, a masquerade dance, and a fundraiser for the humanitarian aid of Ukraine’s troops. The representatives in the council took leadership positions, sorting the campers into committees that organized all of the camp’s main events and projects. Each council member had a mentor from the camp’s “Komanda”, enabling them to experiment in their style of leadership with help from experienced professionals.
The results of this project were spectacular. The “Vykhovnyky” organized a video of support for Ukraine’s troops and a camp bonfire, which, despite the incessant rain, included a program of skits, poems, and songs that was easily adapted to an indoor setting. The “Kulturnyky”, among the largest groups in the camp, split up into sub-committees to organize a traditional Ivana Kupalo celebration and a masquerade dance, in addition to creating a symbolic camp flag and choreographing a traditional folk dance for the Nadiya Yea Festival. The “Ratnyky”, a rival in terms of size to the “Kulturnyky”, created a theme-based “capture the flag” game for the camp to take part in, along with a re-design of the camp’s entry gate. This group also lent a helping hand in many other projects, including the building of the aforementioned, though unfortunately unused, bonfire. The “Mizhnarodnyky” organized a welcoming committee for the guest band from Ukraine, Lama, who performed at the Nadiya Yea Festival and visited the UAYA campers. The “Suspilnyky” created a competition among the campers that solved two major problems: 1) how to help Ukraine from America, and 2) how to keep the campgrounds clean. The innovative solution included several modes of collecting plastic bottles, which were later recycled and exchanged for money. The funds raised were sent to the Ukrainian humanitarian organization “Vilni Lyudy”, which runs out of Kharkiv, Ukraine and aids battalions in Eastern Ukraine.
The camp, officially named “Heroyi Ukrainy imeni Ally Horskoyi” (“Heroes of Ukraine, in memory of Alla Horska”), was structured in order to remember and honor a different Ukrainian hero each day of the week. Ranging from Volodymyr the Great to Alla Horska to Stepan Bandera to the Heavenly Hundred, each day had a theme and a lesson in how Ukraine was led in the past. By learning from previous successes and failures, the future leaders of the UAYA and the Ukrainian Diaspora are now better equipped to face the challenges of two evolving Ukrainian societies: in America and in Ukraine.
Along with its unorthodox structure, campers were met with many opportunities that were unique to this camp, alone. After being the main speaker at the Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine’s “Sviato Heroyiv”, Dr. Volodymyr Viatrovych, the head of the Ukrainian Institute for National Memory, spoke to the campers about the history of Maidan and the importance of Stepan Bandera in the current war in Eastern Ukraine. Campers had the opportunity to view the documentary about the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, “Music of Survival”, along with a Q+A session with its award-winning director, Orest Sushko. Campers met and welcomed the Ukrainian rock band, Lama, with their own hit, “Z Dzherela”, along with a Q+A session exclusive for the camp. Vyshkilniy Tabir performed not only for Sviato Heroyiv, but also in the Nadiya Yea festival, with three songs and a dance. Last, but not least, all campers had front row seats to performances by both DJ Stas and Lama.
Over the course of two weeks, campers learned how to lead and how to teach, not only through standard lessons, but through experience and unique opportunities. It became increasingly evident as the camp progressed that, through patience and practice, these campers will not only become active members of the UAYA community, but an active part of the Ukrainian Diaspora as a whole. It is wholly clear that this generation of Ukrainian-Americans is ready to take the wheel and steer. It is only a matter of time.
UAYA Vyshkilniy Tabir during Sviato Heroyiv. Photo Credit: Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine, Inc.
