A Difficult But Worthwhile Journey

Canadian volunteers take part in a mission to end trafficking of Ukrainian orphans

Halyna Zalucky

On October 8, we departed on our first route. The orphanage our Trafficking Awareness Program (TAP) team was visiting was only about an hour away from Kyiv. We considered it the “test run,” to see what we did right and what we failed to take into consideration during the planning stage.

TAP’s objective is to raise awareness of human trafficking through conducting seminars at orphanages in Ukraine and to gather information about the difficulties students face upon graduating from these orphanages.

According to the 2004 U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report, “Ukraine has seen an increase in the trafficking of children, especially orphans, during the last year.” The exact definition of the term “trafficking in persons” is a hotly debated topic but, in essence, it entails the relocation of an individual from a familiar environment, for the purposes of exploitation. This relocation is commonly facilitated by organized criminals, who take advantage of those looking for a way out of dire straits.

Orphans in Ukraine are desperate to escape their situations and, therefore, a primary target of traffickers.  These children are at greatest risk at the age of 16 to 17, when they leave the orphanages.  After living in an institution, they go out on their own, with limited access to information. Often, they have nowhere to live, few or no family ties to keep them in the country, and lack basic skills that would help them find employment in Ukraine. Thus, graduating orphans are easily persuaded to accept illegitimate offers of work abroad.  It is at this point when they are at risk of being trafficked.

The seed of the TAP mission conducted this past fall was first planted in Toronto in 2003, when a group of women (no men, unfortunately) recognized the risks facing orphans and decided to do something about it.  The issue was first brought to our attention through Victor Malarek’s book The Natashas, which follows the stories of victims of the sex trade.

Most in the group were already volunteers with Help Us Help the Children (HUHTC), which has been assisting orphans in Ukraine for the past ten years.  The book made us think: “What happens to the orphans once they graduate?”  It was a scary thought.

After that meeting, many projects were carried out, including book launches for The Natashas–with proceeds from book sales donated by Malarek towards the establishment of a seed fund for Help Us Help the Children’s Anti-Trafficking Initiative– and anti-trafficking seminars held at summer camps for orphans. The group also got in touch with Canadian and international groups involved in combating trafficking.

Organized as part of HUHTC’s, Anti-Trafficking Initiative, TAP was financially supported by the Partnership for Tomorrow Program, which is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and administered by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. Through this program, a small travel grant was made available for three Canadians, Natalka Servylo, Alexandra Zalucky and I, to travel to orphanages on one of three routes through Ukraine: East, West and South.

Each team consisted of a Canadian coordinator, a Ukrainian youth volunteer, a trainer from our Ukrainian-based partner organization, The Women’s Consortium, and a driver.

We were an enthusiastic bunch that had no idea what to expect.  The “test run” on October 8 turned out to be successful, and so did the other 32 visits to schools that were to follow.

Each school had its “nuances” as Natalka Chaplynska, the trainer I traveled with on the West route, used to say.  Some schools we visited were in very poor condition; others could pass as regular schools.

Training sessions were conducted with students, both boys and girls aged 15-18, as well as the staff at the orphanages.  In the end, the train-the-trainer sessions with the orphanages' personnel were useful in transferring knowledge, skills and awareness, ensuring sustainability by internalizing knowledge within the system. 

We ran training sessions with the adults in the morning, so that they would be familiar with the information we would then disseminate to the students in the afternoon.  The trainers came up against some pretty heated discussions at the sessions with staff, who often argued that the message was useless, because there was “no choice” for many, but to go find work abroad.  In a questionnaire we distributed to the staff prior to the training sessions, many answered that they too were eager to find work abroad. 

However, after our presentations, which included an informative movie produced by The Women’s Consortium concerning the dangers of going abroad, a large portion of the answers to that question were quite different. I think the drastic turn-around was due to not only fear regarding the potential dangers of crossing the border, but also a result of the message espoused by our talented trainer, Natalka Chaplynska, who emphasized, “It’s up to you to improve your situation!”

The economic situation in Ukraine is dire.  People are struggling to survive.  But the old, “soviet” mentality, of waiting for the government to do something, has to change.

At the sessions, Natalka delivered the following message: “Things abroad are not as golden as they seem and you can end up in some serious danger. You can make things work; don’t wait for the government to do it for you.”  It was an empowering message.  I had tears in my eyes every time I heard it (which was about 10 times). 

The kids, I believe, were also affected.  The proof was that Natalka was able to hold her audiences’ attention for approximately two hours. Any teacher would vouch that this is quite a feat. Natalka’s clear, interesting and informative sessions, elicited many questions from the students, and I believe the information we distributed will be referred to again.

The International Organization for Migration provided funding for the materials we distributed and also gave other financial support. The project also received support from the Canadian government through the Partnership for Tomorrow Program II and from the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation, which has been a great supporter of Help Us Help the Children's Anti-Trafficking Initiative since its inception.

While the trainers in each team were busy training, and the drivers were busy trying to figure out how to get to our next destination (careful to avoid road conditions which could have you bouncing around for hours), the volunteers and Canadian organizers were conducting discussions with the orphanage directors about the opportunities for the students upon graduation.

Opportunities really are limited, in some schools more than others.  The directors seem genuinely concerned and want to provide more assistance than they do, but it appears their hands are tied.  Resources are very limited. Students have embarrassingly small amounts in their pockets when leaving the orphanage. They need assistance in finding a job or getting further training and with securing appropriate housing.

All three TAP teams came back from their routes with a lot of information that we hope will help contribute towards the reforms now taking place.

The journey to the orphanages was long and difficult. We encountered some sad situations:  It’s hard to imagine living the way some of the children do. They have all faced a lot in their short life-spans, and will undoubtedly have much more to face.  But they keep smiling, and it is their smiles that I try to remember and that, along with a hope for a brighter future, make it worth all the effort.

Halyna Zalucky is a graduate of the University of Toronto. She has been volunteering with Help Us Help the Children since 2001 and the Anti-Trafficking Initiative since 2003. Currently working in Ukraine with the International Organization for Migration with the Capacity Building for Migration Management Programme, she was a main coordinator of the TAP initiative this past fall.