For more than a decade I passed by this structure, wondering who had started to build it and whether it would ever be constructed. Then, several weeks ago, I again drove by this carcass and was pleasantly surprised. A building that seemed forever abandoned on the hillside it inhabited was a hub of activity. Men carried boxes from a handful of parked automobiles while a woman washed windows on the second floor. A large sign that now hung across the building promoted building products in Polish.
Increasingly, this is the scene one witnesses in western Ukraine: Once empty structures are finally witnessing a rebirth, while village homes, faded by years of seeming neglect are getting a much-needed facelift.
While still not quaint, many villages are showing an improvement from a decade ago. A growing number of houses now sport colorful new roofs, while formerly boarded-up stores are again open, or new ones built in their place instead.
This progress, however, has come at a price: A disproportionate percentage of monies for these improvements have largely come not from those earned at home, but by those sent by family members who have left the country and are working abroad.
Thus, two trends best define the changes that have taken place in Ukraine over the last 20 years: poverty and migration.
Certainly, poverty and migration have always been a part of western Ukraine’s story line. Early in its existence, the region’s leading newspaper, Dilo, posted advertisements by leading European shipping lines promising better lives in Canada and the U.S.
People took risks and became part of those respective landscapes. World War II saw another mass migration of western Ukrainians, particularly of those who were politically active and stood in opposition to the new ruling Soviet regime.
The fall of the Soviet Union, however, witnessed a decidedly different western Ukraine. Still harboring strong nationalist sentiments, the region was one of Soviet Ukraine’s poorest. With the empire’s demise, the floodgates opened and workers illegally headed west. Twenty years later, the effect of that migration is still being felt.
The fall of the Soviet Union, however, witnessed a decidedly different western Ukraine. Still harboring strong nationalist sentiments, the region was one of Soviet Ukraine’s poorest. With the empire’s demise, the floodgates opened and workers illegally headed west. Twenty years later, the effect of that migration is still being felt.
What initially was intended to be a one- or two-year sojourn to make money has become a permanent solution. Women who left to work as domestic helpers in Italy were eventually granted permission to stay permanently; many left families back at home, but their hard work is paying for everything from new homes to college tuition. Men who traveled to Portugal to construct that nation’s rapidly developing road system eventually became legal immigrants. Slowly, they are bringing family members from Ukraine, but leaving a void within their communities. (On the flip side, they are organically establishing new communities, complete with Ukrainian-language schools, thousands of kilometers from their homeland.)
While many western Ukrainians are still hoping to go West, overall, however, the flood of emigration from western Ukraine has curtailed in recent years. An increasing number of people are deciding to stay home, having taken a look at the harsh realities of life as an immigrant and the thousands of western Ukrainian families that have splintered because of it. Others are beginning to see the economic payoff of years of grueling work, whether it be a bazaar or someplace else. They see snippets of light at the end of the tunnel.
Others want to come home, but are unsure when.
Earlier this year I met a group of women in Bologna, Italy, all from western Ukraine. Two had lived apart from their families for well over a decade. Working as caregivers for the Italian elderly, they have been their families’ principles breadwinners while their husbands have raised their children in Ukraine.
Those kids are college age now, and these women are looking at hopefully soon returning home. (That process, however, presents its difficulties, they said: After living in a country where workers rights are respected and quality of life is higher, it will not be so easy to return to the Ukrainian-mindset.) One single woman in her 30s said she has every intention of returning to Ukraine, but only when she is ready to retire. Perhaps Ukraine will be a different country then.
How much more western Ukraine changes will depend on the government in Kyiv and if it will establish honest rules for business and improve quality of life.
Throughout travels in western Ukraine and in discussion with the country’s emigrants, the constant complaint is that the government has not created all the conditions for small businesses in western Ukrainian villages abound. Money made in Italy goes not only into buying apartments or paying tuition, but also bribes to local officials on a myriad of issues. For western Ukraine to progress, that must change, its residents say.
Staff writer Natalia A. Feduschak can be reached at [email protected].
