We have a lot of information about Heifer itself, but not a whole lot about Ukraine. To understand why Ukraine needs Heifer’s help, we should understand a little bit about the country’s history. Ukraine is in eastern Europe, believe it or not. It borders Russia to the east, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south.
Here is a map of Europe, to get an idea of where Ukraine is in relation to the world:
And here is a map of Ukraine itself:
Ukraine is of Slavic origin, and by the 19th century, the majority of Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire. Ukraine was also a part of the Soviet Union, but gained its independence in 1991 with the fall of the USSR.
When still part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s economy was the second largest within the union. But as with many former countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has had a hard time developing its economy. The former Soviet Union’s economy was managed by the government, which meant it decided how much of what Ukraine would produce, and make sure that in return Ukraine would get whatever it needed from other areas. After Ukraine gained independence, it made the switch to a market economy, where it needed to compete with the rest of the world
The economy suffered hardship for several years, facing incredible inflation. Many people resorted to growing their own food to get by. Fortunately, by the mid-1990s, Ukraine’s economy began to grow.
While the economy is on the mend, there are still large populations of impoverished people in Ukraine, and Heifer has dozens of programs in place to help. One project bought dairy cattle to an area that used to be an industrial center for the Soviet Union where the plants are now closed. Another project was created to start a horse farm to increase tourism to the area. Several projects have been started to help orphanages in Ukraine. There are several impoverished villages to which Heifer is supplying livestock to alleviate poverty.
Information about projects in Ukraine came from http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.2665753/
The map of Europe is from http://www.ideacenter.org/clubs/locations.php.
The map of Ukraine itself is from http://jenfx.blogspot.com/2006/10/map.html.
Most of the information is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine
-S.S.
