Editor’s Note: Up to six million Ukrainians are living abroad, some to study, some for work; others found love. In honor of the nation's 20th anniversary, the Kyiv Post asked Ukrainians abroad for reflections on their lives and their homeland. Here is one of the stories received. Go online and search for “Ukrainian Voices From Abroad” to read all of them.
Violeta Dubau
Kyiv Post: Where are you from in Ukraine?
Violeta Dubau: I’m from Terebleche (Chernivtsi Oblast), a small village south of Ukraine, at the border with Romania.
KP: When did you leave; why did you leave?
VD: I left in 1997 to Romania, to study at the university. By the time when I left there was too much corruption at public universities and I didn’t have the $2,500 to bribe to get admitted at the foreign languages faculty.
I wish I didn’t have to leave my home and homeland so early. I was 16 years old. After finishing the university in Romania, I didn’t wan’t to go back home.
I hated the corruption, the miserable situation that people lived in my country and even though Romania isn’t better, for me it was, because I had a scholarship there, while in Ukraine I had to bribe to study. I never paid anybody in Romania for something that was supposed to be free.
KP: How did you end up where you are now?
VD: I ended up in Buenos Aires because I had the chance to open a visa, being a student (in Romania at that moment). In 2005 when I came to Argentina, I had a sister living illegally in Italy and my ex-husband in France and I didn’t want to live illegally anywhere. That’s why I am in Argentina.
KP: Do you ever regret that you are not in Ukraine – why or why not?
VD: I’m not a communist, but there are some differences that I regret between the “democratic Ukraine” and the communist Ukraine. University was for everybody. Hospital was for everybody.
There was a cultural life in my small village. We had a cinema! There were music and dance festivals, national and international. There’s nothing now. The so-called House of Culture is in a lame situation and has two private markets inside!
KP: What do you miss most about Ukraine?
VD: What I miss about Ukraine is sometimes being understood without speaking. But I think this is something that most immigrants feel.
KP: What do you miss least about Ukraine?
VD: Least of all I miss the lack of opportunities for a better future.
KP: Does Argentina have more opportunities for you than in Ukraine?
VD: Yes, Argentina has more opportunities than Ukraine does.
KP: What relatives/friends are left back in Ukraine? Do they visit you or do you visit them? How often?
VD: I have my little sister in Ukraine, my mom, one nephew and two grandparents. I also have one sister in Italy and another one in [another European country]. I have visited with them three times since I started living in Argentina.
I was legalized here a couple of months after arriving. My sister in Italy got her “green card” after five years of living and working there. My sister in [another European country] has been living there with her two sons for two and a half years and they’re still illegal.
My little sister in Ukraine finished high school last year and got married because my mom, who is a widow, can’t afford to pay a bribe for her to study at university. She’s having a baby in a couple of weeks… Unfortunately, none of the three sisters that live abroad can afford to pay for her studies.
KP: With Ukraine coming up to its 20th anniversary of national independence, how do you feel about your homeland? Is it making progress as a nation? Or not so much? What would it take for you to return?
VD: You can easily see what I think about nowadays Ukraine. I wish Ukraine was like Norway, where people say: if one person had so much hate and anger to kill 86 people, imagine what could an entire country do answering with back with love.
It’s a shame to think that the person who was accused of [so much wrongdoing] is now president.
KP: What do you wish for your country?
VD: What I wish for my country? Civilization. Education.
KP: What would it take for you to return?
VD: I like living in Argentina but I am looking forward to the possibility of moving to the U.S. or Canada. It’s more impossible than possible, as I am already an immigrant here, but hope never dies.
