Easter towels from Volyn come to Canada

The inmates of the Kovel juvenile correctional colony, Volyn region, have embroidered 30 Easter-themed towels over the last four months. They are to be sold at a Ukrainian diaspora charity auction in Canada. The embroidery hobby group has operated at the colony’s secondary school since 2005.

It is noteworthy that embroidery art has been taken up not by women, its traditional practitioners, but by the imprisoned young men. The group’s instructor Valentyna Androshchuk says that 30 young men are attending it regularly, while much more inmates like the hobby. In some cases, contrary to the colony’s general rules, the kids may embroider even at their barracks when the school is over. “In this way, the kids compete with each other to get a letter of commendation from the management, and are very proud of these awards,” Androshchuk says. However, the prisoners are even happier to hear praises from their families. “Quite often, the kids’ parents tell us that they never realized their children were endowed with such strong creativity. They openly admire what they are seeing and feel proud for their children. Most mothers cry when they see the embroidered pieces made by our pupils,” she shares her observations. The Kovel colony inmates’ works have been exhibited in Austria and Germany, and now their embroideries will decorate the Easter celebrations in Canada.

The head of the Ukrainian-Canadian Charitable Foundation Children’s World Halyna Mykytiuk visited the convicts again four months ago, bringing 28 meters of fabric and colored threads for embroidery as gifts and inviting the kids to embroider Easter towels. The inmates supported her proposal and fulfilled this “order” early and with excellent works. The foundation’s representatives intend to offer the kids’ works up for a North American Ukrainian diaspora charity auction. Both the auction’s proceeds and the Canadians’ charitable contributions will fund development support for the hobby group and living conditions improvements in the Kovel colony. The foundation already participated in sending bed linens, irons and a dryer to the correctional facility.