15 August 2022
Article from July 2022 edition of INPractice
Pictured above: Lecia Semcesen
Adelaide nurse Lecia Semcesen says the Ukrainian community in SA has never been more united.
"Everyone in the community either has family or friends or a friend of a friend living in Ukraine" says Ms Semcesen, whose grandparents hail from the eastern European country.
She says the Ukrainian community in SA - estimated at about 5,000 strong - has been “deeply shocked” by Russian President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war. However, they are heartened by the overwhelming support from the South Australian community.
Ms Semcesen wrote to the ANMF (SA Branch) to thank CEO/Secretary Adj Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars AM for our $10,000 donation to the Ukrainian Red Cross Appeal.
The ANMF (SA Branch) chose Red Cross because it is a trusted charity with a proven track record. Its Ukraine Crisis Appeal states: You can help the Red Cross teams who are on the ground providing first aid, supporting health facilities with medicines and equipment, providing families with food, shelter and hygiene items, delivering much-needed water. and repairing vital infrastructure.
Allegations and evidence of mass graves, torture and rape against an innocent population, even children, are horrific and rife.
Ukrainian officials say 103 children have been killed (as of mid-May) since the war began on February 24.
Russian forces have struck more than 400 educational establishments and 59 of them have been destroyed.
And then there are accounts of children too shellshocked to talk. "I think their faces tell more than their words can,” an Australian nurse volunteering in the Ukraine told Channel 9's A Current Affair. "There's an incredible underlying fear and terror of what's ahead and what they'll come back to."
By mid-May, the UN reported 12 million Ukrainians had fled their home, six million to neighbouring countries, the other 6.5 million displaced in the war-torn country itself. Thousands of civilians have died.
One of the things the war on Ukraine has done is bring the Ukrainian community closer together. A Friday night ritual is to go to the Ukrainian Hall where children, including Ms Semcesen’s two sons, Lucas and Alex, attend Ukrainian school and Ukrainian dancing, and parents and members of the Ukrainian community eat Ukrainian food (pierogies and borscht) and catch up with friends.
"There are people who are coming to the hall, people we haven't seen for maybe 20, 30 years," Ms Semcesen said.
Support for the Ukrainians has come from all corners of business, government and the community. A local beer was released on the market to help the fund-raising effort. Prancing Pony Brewery, Barossa Valley Brewing and Route 9 Distillery brewed their limited-edition Red Eye Pale Ale, using a recipe from Pravda Beer Theatre, a Ukrainebased brewery.
Managing Director of Route 9 Distillery, Rob Watt has a close family connection to the cause and instigated the collaboration. "My wife, Natalie, and her family are from Ukraine, and we are very connected to the Ukrainian community in Adelaide. We couldn't live with feeling helpless, as we watch the devastation being wreaked on this country." he told the Glam Adelaide website.
The beer sold out on pre-orders - 10,000 litres in 36 hours - before it was even released in late April, with proceeds going to charities assisting humanitarian and medical support as well as Ukrainian refugees arriving in Australia.
Premier Peter Malinauskas pledged $25,000 to The Advertiser Foundation's Ukraine appeal, taking the total in mid-May to $90,000 that will be distributed to refugees who have arrived in South Australia.
"Our Ukrainian Community Centre is in Hindmarsh, across from the soccer stadium,” Ms Semcesen says.
"We have many associations including the Association of Ukrainians in SA committee, the Ukrainian Women's Association in SA, as well as the Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox Churches all working hard to fund raise for those in Ukraine and for the displaced Ukrainians and their families that have arrived here.
"We've got volunteers helping to distribute toiletries, toys, clothing, footwear and vouchers. We've got teachers that are conducting English classes for both the newly arrived adults and children. Children are attending Ukrainian school and dancing lessons as well.
"Peaceful marches from Hindmarsh Square to Elder Park, prayer service for Ukraine in Victoria Square and a vigil at Parliament House have been organised by the community. Attendance has been phenomenal and truly does show that Adelaide is standing with Ukraine which is comforting.
"The organisers from WOMAD invited our community to set up a little fundraising stall. Over $50,000 was raised and the WOMAD crowd was so generous, supportive and opened their hearts to the people in Ukraine affected by war.
“We had a fundraising night at the Lakes Resort, they raised over $50,000, the Grace Emily (hotel in the CBD) raised over $29,000. Krispy Kreme launched a blue and yellow Peace for Ukraine donut. The Adelaide Festival also did a 'Celebration of Ukraine' fundraiser for us too.
"The multicultural communities of Adelaide, workplaces and schools are also getting behind us with support and fundraising, it is magnificent to see."
More broadly, health workers from across the world have displayed courage, compassion and solidarity during the war.
Thousands of Russian nurses, doctors and health care staff pleaded with Putin to end his war as soon as it began.
In May, the World Health Organisation reported more than 200 verified attacks on health care sites including the shelling of a maternity hospital where a pregnant woman and her unborn child were both killed, among others.
Health services continue to be severely disrupted and yet we continue to hear reports of medical professionals - doctors, nurses and midwives - risking their own lives to tend to the wounded and pregnant, amid appalling conditions.
"The doctors and nurses are finding it hard to provide emergency care over in Ukraine. I just have the utmost respect for the nursing and midwifery staff over on Ukraine, the conditions they are working under are absolutely horrible. No electricity, no heating, sometimes no running water, minimal supplies," Ms Semcesen said.
"They have so much courage, are selfless and they are risking their own lives to save the lives of those who have been injured. They are heroes in my eyes, just as are those on the war front.
"Those Russian medical professionals that stood up to Putin in Russia, I admire them, they're standing up for things that are right and just, they're against tyranny."
Assisting the cause, the new State Government sent five pallets of medical supplies to Ukraine, to support the local hospitals and health care workers providing emergency care to wounded civilians.
In Australia, Russians have also protested Putin's war. Indeed, the Russian Speaking Women in SA hosted a Community Easter Fair, selling traditional Russian and Ukrainian fare alongside craft and souvenirs to help raise funds for Ukrainian refugees arriving in SA.
Spearheading the fundraiser was Russianborn Olga Papageorgakis who settled in Adelaide with her Greek husband 24 years ago. “I grew up in Russia, but my grandfather was Ukrainian... what is happening to the Ukrainian people now is very bad - it is terrible, it is disgusting,” Ms Papageorgakis told The Advertiser.
"We feel really sorry for the innocent people who are dying and want (this war) to finish as soon as possible.
"I felt like I wanted to do something to help. In Adelaide, the Russian community and Ukrainian community are all friends, we party together, we celebrate life. We came here for a better life for our children".
Pictured below: Adelaide nurse Lecia Semcesen and her family attend an Easter service at the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Wayville. Lecia Semcesen's two sons Lucas (left) and Alex.
Ms Semcesen said the bravery and defiance of the Ukrainian people evoked "an immense sense of pride”
"It's bringing Ukrainians around the world together. we're uniting, we're stronger, I think the people of the world have seen that. Australia, the South Australian community has been amazing."
She says the ANMF (SA Branch)'s electronic big-screen sign promoting solidarity with the people of Ukraine, outside our offices on Torrens Rd, is "beautiful, that's showing we are united and we stand with Ukraine in South Australia”.
People wanting to donate to the Ukraine cause or volunteer to assist Ukrainians arriving in Australia can visit the following websites:
ukrainecrisisappeal.org
helpukrainiansaustralia.com.au
ozeukes.com/donate
redcross.org.au/ukraine
Click here to read the July 2022 edition of INPractice.