Students from War Zone Received Financial Aid from the Family of Dale and Andrea Shumka
The family of Dale and Andrea Shumka has been actively supporting talented students of Ternopil National Medical University for four years. First of all, they help those who are obtaining a degree in the field of nursing. During 2017-2021, 22 students obtaining their degrees in “Nursing” became Hryhoriy and Yevdokia Shumka Scholarship holders. Dale Shumka and his family live in Canada, and his ancestors are from the Ternopil and Lviv regions. By supporting talented students, he makes a significant contribution to the development of Ukraine.
Recently, Canadian supporters transferred five thousand US dollars to help those students who suffered losses from full-scale Russian aggression. On August 30, 2022, 65 representatives of various TNMU faculties from the places of hostilities, as well as from the front-line territories, received financial assistance.
A few years ago, Andrea Shumka, Dale Shumka, and Marnie Shumka had the opportunity to visit our university and learn about its activities, talk with Ukrainian students. Dale Shumka then noted that “I constantly dreamed of walking the road my father walked. I want to see the sky that he saw. Only recently has such an opportunity appeared. I really want Ukraine to grow and develop. I want to come here more often and see this development. I believe in this! Let’s be optimistic – and everything will be fine”. Deep love for Ukraine and cheering for its destiny became the main drivers for starting named scholarships and supporting Ukrainian students.
The students expressed their deepest appreciation to the Ukrainian Canadians for this important help, which will give them the strength and motivation to further study and rebuild Ukraine.
The fate of Dale’s parents was not easy, but they never gave up and continued to love Ukraine with all their hearts. Hryhoriy (Henry) Shumka emigrated to Canada from the village of Uhryn in Galicia in 1906. Having survived numerous difficulties of integration into a new life in a foreign land, he eventually settled in the Ukrainian community in the city of Mander, Alberta. Soon after, he distinguished himself as a skilled livestock buyer and even managed to acquire an agricultural equipment business. Hryhoriy was an unstoppable reader who constantly improved his knowledge about the world. Realizing how much he valued education, the people of Mander elected him a member of the local school board.
Yevdokia (Bertha) Bezzubiak was born in Beaver Lake, in the Northwest Territories, shortly after her parents and four siblings emigrated from the village of Bila in Galicia in 1900. They also settled in Mander. Yevdokia was so desperate to learn that she often ran away from work on the family farm to go to the local school. But her father, although he sympathized with her desire to get an education, said that her place was on the farm, with her sisters. Unfortunately, this was the kind of life people in the new Ukrainian communities in Canada used to have. Yevdokia never lost her desire to learn. Throughout her life, she valued education, had a strong faith in God, and regularly visited to church.
Hryhoriy and Yevdokia met and got married in Mundare in 1919. They had sons Joseph, Edward, Leslie, daughters Phyllis and Marion. In the early 1930s, during a global economic crisis that wiped out thousands of businesses, the family lost their farm equipment business and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, at the start of World War II. Since military industry had a huge need for skilled workers from all social classes, this provided an opportunity for Hryhoriy to resume his career. It taught the family to never give up, be optimistic, work hard and take advantage of every opportunity. Soon after settling in Vancouver, the family had a sixth child, a son, Dale.
Hryhoriy was hardworking and made new friends easily. He was loved and respected, and his ability to apply logic to solving problems became legendary. Yevdokia was a friend to everyone who met her, and many acquaintances came to her to discuss their problems and hear her advice. She loved being a housewife and making every effort to ensure that the family had a cozy home, a comfortable life, and her baked goods were so delicious that it was eagerly awaited by family and friends. Hryhoriy and Yevdokia had a tradition of having a family dinner every Sunday, bringing together all their relatives and inviting friends to dinner, treating everyone to Ukrainian dishes. Hryhoriy believed that one should always first ask questions, then analyze the situation, and then take measures to solve problems. He had a life motto: “There are three kinds of people in this world. There are those who watch things happen. There are those who do the work to make them happen. And finally, there are those who ask in confusion what just happened”.
For fifty-one years of their life together, Hryhoriy and Yevdokia helped those who were less fortunate. It did not matter whether a person was rich or poor, healthy or sick, they treated everyone as friends and often made personal sacrifices for help. They took great pride in creating a successful family, pampering their grandchildren, and encouraging them to uphold the family’s Ukrainian heritage. Today we see a continuation of this tradition by Dale and Andrea Shumka.
TNMU Press Secretary, Yanina Chaikivska.
Photographs by Mykola Vasylechko.