First Bell at the New School #16

Little Masha ringing the First Bell of the new school year

Joshua and Dominic dressed for their first day of school with flowers for their teachers

Today was First Bell for Dominic and Joshua, their first day of school. It was also the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new School #16. The school is the first school in Bila Tserkva to be built in independent Ukraine. All the other schools had been built during Soviet times. The school is not yet completed, but the first four grades will be attending while the rest continue at the old school until next year. So for now, the boys will be going to separate schools. It looks like the boys will both have morning or first session classes instead of afternoon classes like last year.

Dominic with his classmates

Joshua in his new classroom

It's still strange to think about how different American schools are compared to Ukrainian. All the children wear nice clothes and bring their teachers flowers on the first day. Everyone takes so much pride in celebrating the Ukrainian culture even in the school. I noticed that on the chalkboard in Joshua's classroom, in bold letters, was a prayer to God asking for His blessing of the class and the new school year. Try that in public schools in California.

My Friendly Epistle

Taras Shevchenko
Viunishcha, December 14, 1845

To the Dead, the Living, and to Those Yet Unborn, My Countrymen all Who Live in Ukraine and Outside Ukraine,

If a man say, I Love God, and
hate his brother, he is a liar,
1 John iv. 20

Day dawns, then comes the twilight grey, The limit of the live-long day; For weary people sleep seems best And all God's creatures go to rest. I, only, grieve like one accursed, Through all the hours both last and first, Sad at the crossroads, day and night, With no one there to see my plight; No one can see me, no one knows me; All men are deaf, no ears disclose me; Men stand and trade their mutual chains And barter truth for filthy gains, Committing shame against the Lord By harnessing for black reward People in yokes and sowing evil In fields commissioned by the Devil... And what will sprout? You soon will see What kind of harvest there will be! Come to your senses, ruthless ones, O stupid children, Folly's sons! And bring that peaceftil paradise, Your own Ukraine, before your eyes; Then let your heart, in love sincere, Embrace her mighty ruin here! Break then your chains, in love unite, Nor seek in foreign lands the sight Of things not even found above, Still less in lands that strangers love... Then in your own house you will see True justice, strength, and liberty! Gain knowledge, brothers! Think and read, And to your neighbours' gifts pay heed, -- Yet do not thus neglect your own: For he who is forgetful shown Of his own mother, graceless elf, Is punished by our God Himself. Strangers will turn from such as he And grudge him hospitality -- Nay, his own children grow estranged; Though one so evil may have ranged The whole wide earth, he shall not find A home to give him peace of mind. Sadly I weep when I recall The unforgotten deeds of all Our ancestors: their toilsome deeds! Could I forget their pangs and needs, I, as my price, would than suppress Half of my own life's happiness... Such is our glory, sad and plain, The glory of our own Ukraine! I would advise you so to read That you may see, in very deed, No dream but all the wrongs of old That burial mounds might here unfold Before your eyes in martyred hosts, That you might ask those grisly ghosts: Who were the tortured ones, in fact, And why, and when, were they so racked?... Then 0 my brothers, as a start, Come, clasp your brothers to your heart, -- So let your mother smile with joy And dry her tears without annoy. Blest be your children in these lands By touch of your toil-hardened hands, And, duly washed, kissed let them be With lips that speak of liberty! Then all the shame of days of old, Forgotten, shall no more be told; Then shall our day of hope arrive, Ukrainian glory shall revive, No twilight but the dawn shall render And break forth into novel splendour.... Brother, embrace! Your hopes possess, I beg you in all eagerness!

Translated by C. H. Andrusyshen & W. Kirkconnell