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Fredericksburg woman returns from Ukraine
Fredericksburg woman returns from Ukraine
By JODI BIZAR
Underneath the lush fields and picturesque churches lurks a poverty so severe that women vie to become mail-order brides to aged American men.
This is one of many memories a former Fredericksburg woman brings back with her following her Peace Corps mission to the Ukraine.
Patricia Lillicotch, who recently returned from a two-year assignment to the Ukraine, says because of wars and immigration, women outnumber men by 9 to 1, and therefore rally to become mail-order brides to U.S. men.
"The men come to get women who will cook and clean," she said. "The women say to themselves, 'I need to get out of this country [because of the poverty] and the only way to do that is to get married to an American.'
"And the women are very smart about it. They make themselves beautiful. They have nothing at home, but they have made-up faces and beautiful clothes," Lillicotch said.
Lillicotch, who attended elementary school in Stafford County and later worked for a cable company in Fredericksburg, taught in the Ukraine in 2001 through 2003.
She worked with university students eager to transform the Ukrainian economy from communism into one of free markets.
Lillicotch learned to respect the Ukrainians--their work ethic and their will to survive.
"The best thing about the experience was the people," Lillicotch said. "They don't have anything, but somehow they make do."
Lillicotch taught conversational English and everything and anything about American culture.
She worked in the industrial city of Kremenchug, which has 250,000 people.
"I didn't know where the Peace Corps was going to send me, and I didn't have any expectations," she said. "I just wanted to help people."
Lillicotch received a bachelor's degree in marketing from Bellevue University in Nebraska. She was working for Warren Cooper Cable in Fredericksburg when she joined the Peace Corps.
She had intended to teach business when they sent her to the Ukraine. But they needed her to teach English.
In a country with one of the richest soils in the world, residents face the task of creating a transportation system to turn these goods into cash. That's why they are working so hard to learn more commonly used languages, such as English, so they can attract international companies, Lillicotch said.
In the Ukraine, residents speak either Ukrainian or Russian. So Lillicotch had to learn some Russian to survive.
"I'm still learning it," she said. "I did learn enough to buy groceries and get around my town."
She said she was happy to help Ukrainians learn English and dispel many of the misconceptions about the United States spawned by TV shows like "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Melrose Place."
Ukrainians were surprised to learn all Americans were not rich nor were they thin.
Being away from home, though exciting, was also difficult. "I did feel very isolated and I suffered from depression," she said.
But she met some "good friends" there, too, including three she still e-mails.
Lillicotch doesn't know about her future, except that she plans to earn a master's degree.
Sara Johnston, a Peace Corps spokeswoman in Washington, said Lillicotch is actually just one of many Fredericksburg residents who have served in the Peace Corps.
"The Peace Corps is alive and well in the Fredericksburg area," she said.
Roughly 60 people from the area have served the corps and six now volunteer in Latin American, Africa and Asia.
"We are a group of people trying to make a difference overseas," Johnston said.
The Peace Corps was established in 1961 and now has 165,000 volunteers serving in 135 countries. In fiscal 2002, it had a $275 million budget. But that's likely to change.
"It's growing," Johnston said. "[President] Bush wants to double its size."
Peace Corp volunteers, though not paid, are provided a living stipend, insurance and about $7,000 when they complete the service.
Date published: 6/18/2003 Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
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