Humanitarian tells of Ukraine visit

The Plains 6-8 grade students were treated to a special assembly by Chris Hyslop last week. Hyslop came from Missoula to show slides of his trip to Ukraine last summer. Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Walsh asked Hyslop to talk to the students last Tuesday to give them insight into some of what is going on in the world. "This is a great opportunity for you to have Mr. Hyslop in Plains to talk about his experiences," Walsh told the students gathered in the gymnasium.

Hyslop told his story with a slide show. Maps of Ukraine and Russia as well as Europe and Asia were shown to give students an understanding of the geography of the war and the surrounding areas affected by it. He also talked about the politics between the Russian and Ukrainian governments.

"The story going on is that the Russians came and invaded our country for no reason," Ukrainian citizens told Hyslop. The Russians say, according to Hyslop, that there actually is no place called Ukraine. The name translates to Little Russia. "The Russians are worried that Ukraine will want to be a part of Europe," Hyslop explained. Ukraine was the heart of the Soviet Union until the cold war. Russia has used Ukraine as a buffer zone between them and Europe. Hyslop further explained that if Ukraine joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the buffer zone would be gone. "Russia has nuclear weapons, so nobody wants to provoke Russia," Hyslop said.

The capital of Ukraine is Kiev. Russian troops were unable to take it over. Today, Hyslop said, the Russian troops occupy 600 miles of territory on the east border. The areas that are no longer being occupied by Russian troops look peaceful and normal. Hyslop portrayed this with his city photos. "War is not everywhere," he explained. He also showed photos of bombed buildings. To demonstrate to the students that war does happen in towns and cities, Hyslop showed photos of an apartment building that was hit by a bomb that killed 46 people. Five of them were children.

Hyslop took a photo of a woman standing in a small room that had been damaged by bombs, and had walls ruined by rain and mold. He asked her what she was doing there. "I've got to get ready for the school students who will be showing up," she replied. She was a librarian and told Hyslop, "We are not giving up. We've got to keep going."

"Eight million people picked up and ran away," Hyslop said. Over half of the population grabbed what they could and left Ukraine. Some of the refugees came to Montana, he added.

Another photo was of a front door which was the only part of a house that remained standing. On the door was a message in Russian that said, "People live here." The people hoped that their home would be spared if soldiers knew the building housed a family. It was destroyed anyway, Hyslop said.

Many people took refuge in the subway system. They later turned it into a museum. Hyslop had several photos of the art that was created to represent the war and what people went through.

Humanitarian aid distributes boxes of food and other goods to a village near the front line, according to Hyslop, depicted in a photo. The trucks deliver quickly and leave to not draw attention, he added. The aid workers also help people with their damaged homes. One woman in a photo received aid and had her roof and windows repaired.

"The laws of war state that troops are not supposed to purposely attack civilians, but the Russians are not following that rule," Hyslop said.

Hyslop said he joined the Peace Corp 25 years ago and went to Kyrgyzstan in central Asia. He has also spent four years in the Montana World Affairs Council which is a non-partisan, non profit organization that facilitates understanding about what is going on in the world and how it affects the U.S. such as in gas prices and commodities. "Montana has the largest per capita military personnel," he added.

"It is good to be invited to schools and give students this information. They need to see what is going on in places like Ukraine," Hyslop said.