And The Oscar Goes To… Ukrainian Children with Cerebral Palsy

The interior of the Barsky nightclub in downtown Kyiv, with its lush wonderland of overstuffed pillows, coral-like golden chandeliers, and fringed red drapery, is a far cry from the clean lines and ascetically white rooms of the International Clinic of Rehabilitation in Truskavets, Ukraine, where young cerebral palsy patients can be found receiving miniature massages or peddling gently on tiny exercise bikes. In fact, the two are situated more than 200 kilometers from one another, and, were it not for the work of FLEX alumni, would remain unlinked. Yet, both the Barsky club and the Truskavets Center do indeed have something in common: their recent work helped to provide needed medical treatment to twins Andriy and Oleksiy Lazorenko, age 3, and Yuriy Onufer, age 13, as they cope with their illnesses.

Located south of Lviv and near the border with Poland, the city of Truskavets became home to the International Clinic of Rehabilitation in 2003, and operates under the “Kozyavkin method” for treating cerebral palsy, which combines massage therapy, joint therapy, and reflex therapy to improve patient mobility, and, as the clinic claims, “teaches patients to live.” Central Ukraine Alumni Coordinator Iryna Shadeyko ’05 first heard of the clinic through Kharkiv FLEX alumna Nataliya Horban ’06, whose younger sister has received treatment there. Iryna started up a planning committee for what she envisioned as a charity benefit event to assist low-income victims of cerebral palsy, following directly on the heels of the success of her HIV/AIDS Awareness Party in December 2008. Over the course of the next two months, she, along with Kristina Chelmakina ’08, Oleksandra Honcharuk ’08, Marina Gaidak ’04, Anna Kasha ’05, Mariya Moskovko ’05, Evheniya Pakushevych ’08, Iryna Pompa ’08, Iryna Shvartsblat ’04, Valentyn Tsygankov ’08, and Olena Vazhynska ’05 were actively involved in locating a venue host, recruiting sponsors, advertising with local media, attracting public attention, and most importantly, roping in Ukrainian celebrities to perform for the evening.

Their hard work paid off on the evening of March 26, when no less than eleven major Ukrainian stars and groups (including the S.K.A.Y. band, the Robin Hood band, the Chicos de la Fiesta band, and singers Olena Grebenuk, Yuliya Nelson, Irina Poison, Torry Joy, Nataliya Valevska, and Vitaliy Kozlovsky) performed for a group of FLEX alumni and community members decked-out in black tie, for the night. Because the Barsky club had generously donated its space to FLEX entirely free of charge, all proceeds from the sale of tickets, and donations themselves, went directly to the children. The event was also made possible by contributions from the Language Business Club “Status,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Family and Youth, student councils at five major Kyiv universities, and the companies AdLabs, and AdLive. Adding to the glitzy atmosphere, the Kyiv Living Sculpture Theater donated two “live” representations of Oscar statuettes, who posed, painted entirely in gold, for the duration of the evening. No less than twenty-two Internet news sites provided advertising, and media coverage of the party itself was organized by the radio station KissFM, and TV channels M1 News, “Gildiya Clubberov” and MTV.

In total, the evening raised 7,650 UAH (~$1000 USD) for the three children, who were selected based on their financial need. Andriy and Oleksiy Lazorenko, and Yuriy Onufer were first proposed as beneficiaries by Dr. Valentyna Kosytska, head physician at the International Clinic of Rehabilitation. The funds were transferred directly into their accounts via assistance from Nataliya Horban ’06. Articles covering the event will be forthcoming from media venues such as Viva!, Joy!, Story, What’s On, Paradise, Hello! and Afisha in late April. Photographic coverage of the evening was made available by the Barsky nightclub online at HYPERLINK "http://www.barsky-club.com/#gallery/pictures/2009-03-26/" http://www.barsky-club.com/#gallery/pictures/2009-03-26/. Both the club and the alumni are looking forward to future opportunities for collaboration.