HOUGHTON-HANCOCK -- Nearly every Wednesday at 5 p.m., from August to November, Yoopers for Ukraine continued their weekly walks across the Portage Lift Bridge in support of Ukraine. This community group has been leading walks for Ukraine across the Lift Bridge since the war began last February. Recently, because of winter weather, they decided to change the time of the walk to 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoons, in order to be able to cross the bridge in daylight.
The last Wednesday walk was on Nov. 23, after sundown, when organizer Nadija Packauskas announced that the walks would be changed to a daytime hour. After a Facebook poll, Sunday at 2 p.m. was selected as the new time for the walks.
A chilly Sunday -- Dec. 4, 2022 -- did not discourage the hardiest Ukraine supporters from demonstrating on the bridge.
Craig Waddell of Houghton, who joined the Dec. 4 Walk for Ukraine, told Keweenaw Now his reason for supporting Ukraine.
"This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, 'death by hunger,' a genocidal famine in Ukraine in 1932-33 orchestrated by Joseph Stalin in his efforts to industrialize and to collectivize agriculture and also to stop the Ukraine independence movement," Waddell said. "The effects of the Holodomor are still felt today, for example, as a consequence of population-replacement policies that moved ethnic Russians into areas formerly populated by the 4 to 7 million Ukrainians who perished in that genocidal famine. These ethnic-Russian areas are now claimed by Vladimir Putin. That’s why we’re marching today."*
Nadija Packauskas, co-founder of Yoopers for Ukraine, also referred to the Holodomor in a video she took during the Dec. 4 Walk, noting that, just as Stalin used hunger as a weapon against the Ukrainian people,Vladimir Putin is using winter as a weapon of war.
"He is shutting off water. He is shutting off electricity. He is purposely hitting public utiities, purposely making sure that people have no warmth, no water and no access to warmth, no access to light," she said.**
Nadija noted Yoopers for Ukraine support an organization that helps Ukrainians -- Ukraine Trust Chain, a tax-exempt public charity that funds aid and evacuations for Ukrainians in the active war zone. Their volunteers provide urgent food, medical supplies and rides to safety.
Nadija added this organization makes every dollar count and you can even give just one dollar.
"One dollar gives 3 loaves of bread. One dollar buys 10 candles for a family," she noted.
See below for links to several organizations that accept donations for Ukraine.***
The next Sunday Walk for Ukraine will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18. Meet on the Houghton side of the Lift Bridge.
Walks for Ukraine: November 2, 2022
Participants in the Nov. 2, 2022, Walk for Ukraine begin their walk across the Portage Lift Bridge. (Videos by Keweenaw Now)At the Nov. 2 walk, two regular participants, Tom and Beth Maki of Lake Linden, who are pictured at the end of the above video displaying flags at the corner of Shelden Avenue near the bridge, said they were concerned for their son, Matt, who has been in Ukraine working as a teacher for 10 years. He did not attempt to leave Ukraine even when bombing came close to the town where he works.
October Walks for Ukraine
During the October walks, Keweenaw Now interviewed some of the participants on their reasons for supporting Ukraine.
During the Oct. 26 Walk, one of the younger participants, Indrek Seigel, a student at Houghton High School, whose mother, Michigan Tech Professor Marika Seigel, is of Estonian origin, spoke with Keweenaw Now. He then led the walk across the bridge to Hancock.
While waiting for the Oct. 19 Walk to begin, Adelina Oronova, Fulbright Ukrainian Scholar at Michigan Tech and one of the co-founders of Yoopers for Ukraine, spoke about the dangers from the Russian control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which is near her home town.
On Oct. 19, Adelina Oronova comments on the effects of the war in Ukraine on her home town, Zaporizhzhia, which is about 80 miles from the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, and on her family members. Oronova helps organize the Yoopers for Ukraine Walks and other activities.In early December Oronova told Keweenaw Now that despite the sufferings this war has inflicted on Ukrainian civilians, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalensky spoke for Ukrainians' refusal to give up their resistance against Russian aggression.
"Over the last few weeks, Ukraine has experienced blackouts as Russia keeps targeting the country's energy facilities and other crucial infrastructure," Oronova said. "In the winter time, with temperatures quickly dropping, it could be considered 'energy terrorism.' And this is exactly why they do it -- they hope that it will incline Ukrainian people to have negotiations on less favorable conditions. But as Zelensky represented Ukrainians, he said this to Russia: 'Without lights or you? Without you.' And I totally agree. My family, along with millions of Ukrainians, experience scheduled blackouts, absence of water, and heat from time to time. But, as Zelensky said, 'Cold, hunger, darkness, and thirst -- for us these are less frightening and less deadly than your friendship and brotherhood.'"
The Oct. 19, 2022, Ukraine Walk begins as participants head toward the Portage Lift Bridge, displaying their signs and flags in support of Ukraine.Another participant in the Oct. 19 Walk -- Connor, a Michigan Tech student, also spoke with Keweenaw Now.
During the Oct. 19, 2022, Walk for Ukraine, Connor, a student at Michigan Tech, tells Keweenaw Now why he participates.On Oct. 5, some members of Ukrainian refugee families now living in Houghton joined the walk.
Led by Angi Denesynko of Ukraine, participants in the Oct. 5 Walk, including two Ukrainian families, return from Hancock, crossing the Portage Lift Bridge to Houghton.
Also in October Yoopers for Ukraine held a Walk / Run Family Fun Day on Mont Ripley, including activities for kids. Displays about Ukraine outside the ski chalet created awareness for the family event and fundraiser.
September Actions for Ukraine
In September Yoopers for Ukraine devoted energy to creating a prize-winning float for the Parade of Nations. In fact, their float won first prize!
Riding and walking with their prize-winning float, Yoopers for Ukraine participate in the Sept. 17, 2022, Parade of Nations on the Portage Lift Bridge between Hancock and Houghton.Shortly after the Parade of Nations, Nadija Packauskas and her father, Vytautas Packauskas, accompanied by Mila Yutskevych, Michigan Tech Fulbright graduate student in Civil and Environmental Engineering, went to Washington, D.C., for the September 18-20 Ukraine Action Summit, a community advocacy event in D.C., where they met with other advocates for Ukraine and Senators and Congressional Representatives in order to communicate needs for aid to Ukraine.
"Hopefully we managed to convince Representatives and Senators to push further and keep helping Ukraine," Mila Yutskevych stated in a Facebook post following the event.
August Walks for Ukraine
Keweenaw Now interviewed Mila Yutskevych, shortly after her arrival in the U.S., during the Aug. 17 Walk for Ukraine in Houghton.
Marika Seigel, Michigan Tech professor in Humanities, also participated in the Aug. 17 Walk for Ukraine. She spoke with Keweenaw Now about her support for Ukraine.
Marika Seigel, Michigan Tech professor in Humanities (recently appointed to become Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of the Pavlis Honors College beginning in January, 2023), speaks about her Estonian heritage and why she is supportive of Ukraine. She then walks with the other participants in the Aug. 17, 2022, Walk for Ukraine from Houghton to Hancock and back.August 24: Walk in honor of Ukrainian Independence Day
Two Nigerian students spoke with Keweenaw Now as participants gathered in Houghton for the Aug. 24 Walk.
During the Aug. 24 Walk for Ukraine two Nigerian students now studying at Michigan Tech -- Samuel Nwankwo, Masters student in engineering, left, and Raymond Kamgba, Masters student in mechanical engineering -- speak to Keweenaw Now about their support for Ukraine.A visitor to Houghton, Florida resident Jim Bacon, also joined the Aug. 24 Walk for Ukraine.
Florida resident Jim Bacon tells Keweenaw Now why he is participating in the August 24 Walk for Ukraine in Houghton.During the Aug. 24 Walk, some Ukrainians celebrated their Independence Day with music as they walked.
Supporters of Ukraine return from Hancock to Houghton on the Portage Lift Bridge during the Aug. 24, 2022, Walk for Ukraine.Copper Harbor: Art in the Park
Yoopers for Ukraine participated in the annual Art in the Park event in Copper Harbor Aug. 21, 2022, with a colorful booth.
To learn more about Yoopers for Ukraine visit their Facebook page.
Notes:
* Click here to learn about the Holodomor time of famine in Ukraine.
** To see the Dec. 4 video by Nadija Packauskas, click here.
*** To donate for aid to Ukraine, see the following:
https://www.ukrainetrustchain.org/donate-yoopers
https://sharedetroit.org/nonprofit/share-ukraine
https://ucareinc.org/ (Aid for Ukrainian children)
