Free-wheeling Ukrainians.

Twenty years ago, at the age of 17, Jaroslaw Hrybalskiy broke his spine in an accidental fall which paralyzed his legs. In the former Soviet states, the handicapped were not of interest. Thus, as an inhabitant of Lviv, a city of 800,000 in the west of Ukraine, Hrybalskiy remained confined to his bed at home.

Several years later during his stay at a sanatorium, a visiting Swedish physiotherapist supplied him with an `active' wheelchair in which a disabled person can move around by himself. Hrybalskiy made astonishing use of his newfound mobility. He collected the addresses of 500 disabled people living around Lviv and went on their behalf to visit the provincial governor in his office. This visit was unique: the office, on the first floor, had never before been entered by anyone in a wheelchair--especially someone who went upstairs on their own!

Hrybalskiy and a group of friends founded an organization named `Reabilitatsia Invalidiv' which aims to integrate disabled people into society. Together with the Swedish organization `Rekryterings Gruppen', which has donated more than 50 `active' wheelchairs, Reabilitatsia runs camps several times a year. Patients are taught wheelchair skills like `stepping' on and off the sidewalk, wheelchair dancing and sport. `Sport for the handicapped opens up a way to a normal life,' states Hrybalskiy.

Svetlana Bednazh, a Ukrainian student who helped at a camp, relates, `This was my first encounter with handicapped people in my society. I realized these people are just the same--they have hearts and souls and feelings just like everyone else.'

A friend of Hrybalskiy's, Mykola Swarnyk, has also become involved in working with disabled persons. After his wife died in childbirth eight years ago, Swarnyk found himself having to care for his handicapped son. He sought out other parents of disabled children and founded `Nadiya' (which means `hope'), an association of parents of children with cerebral palsy.

From the work of Nadiya sprang the Dzherelo Rehabilitation Centre where children are cared for and receive training. With support from Canadians of Ukrainian descent, a building donated by the municipal government has been redecorated. The bright wall paintings of fairies and flowers create a cheerful atmosphere.

Oksana Kunanec, a trained physical and occupational therapist born of Ukrainian-Canadian parents, has spent three years working at the rehabilitation centre. She has inspired colleagues from Canada to come and train Ukrainian physiotherapists, and she now teaches at the Lviv State Institute of Physical Culture.

`We see quite remarkable results achieved with the children who we first thought hopeless. I'm helping Ukrainians care for Ukrainians,' she says. Kunanec now has an even greater reason to stay in the Ukraine: in September she married Mykola Swarnyk!

Hrybalskiy, Swarnyk and Kunanec have made many links with foreigners keen to help. Since 1993, a convoy of trucks organized by the Dutch Polen/Oekraine foundation has brought hospital supplies, wheelchairs and beds each spring. Owners lend their trucks free of charge and drivers donate their time.

For the invalids who have become mobile in their wheelchairs, and for the parents whose handicapped children are receiving better care, this network of caring individuals has been the key to an active life.