pn - LOCAL NEWS ‘Soviet speaks of his troubled By CLAUDETTE SANDECKI ‘Seafl Writer Pavio Werbovetski comes across as a conciliator, Russian-speaki people in the Ukraine just as there are Ukrainian-speaking people in other parts of the country, he explained. The Ukranian native says the economies of the Soviet republics must be tied to one another to survive and the ethnic populations of the U.S.S.R. are so integrated throughout the vast country that separation of states would lead to chaos. “*If the Baltics get their independence the first thing they will do is tell the Russians to get out and that will lead to civil war,” Werbovetski told the Castlegar News through interpreter Jim Chapman. Werbovetski was in the West Kootenay last week to wisit relatives and “‘to see how Canadians live."’ He called the scenery beautiful and said the area reminds him of the Werbovetski said he supports some of the new parties that have formed in the Ukraine but while he agrees with their call for Ukranian to become an official language of the republic, he feels Russian must remain as the national language and be spoken in the republic as-well. There are added his point of view is not necessarily what he wants personally, but it reflects the reality of the country that must be taken into account. Werbovetski said his stand on the rapid toll the U.S.S.R.’s decision to enter the people. the Soviet army and sent to Afghanistan, he said. Although he drove a supply truck during the war and was not involved in battle, he drove to the front lines regularly and had friends die in the fighting, he said. they fought alongside also told the Soviets they were needed, he said. But too many people on both sides died during the fighting, Werbovetski said, and he now believes the Soviet Union should have provided supplies and financial aid to About four years ago, at age 18, he was drafted into homeland the Afi government but should not have sent in woop so help Kabul wage war against its rebel coun- trymen in the hills. Werbovetski’s life is much quieter now. He and his wife and one-year-old son live in Ternopol, the Ukranian city of his birth, and he works at a fabric factory while his wife works in the factory's nursery caring for the children of other workers. He and his family live in an apartment with their own kitchen and Werbovetski said they live well. “We live well because everyone lives the same way,"’ he said. ‘But if it were so good we wouldn’t be backing perestroika."* ‘And Werbovetski said he is adjusting to the rapid social and political changes happening in his country which he said are “all for the better.”” ““You have to smash the mountains in front of you before you can go ahead,”’ he said, quoting well-known Ukranian writer Ivan Frenko. Castlegar held a few surprises for Werbovetski, notibly how the Doukhobor people here have held on to their culture for so long, he said. Werbovetski spent several days with Chapman, a local writer, and left Friday to visit relatives in Sask. Students y school ior Don Mair (left) and his group of peer Scunslbarn tre hehnen aret odere tone om mak problems. bg Cortews photo continued trom front pege Ford said having a group of Grade 9s as her responsibility has made her think twice about how she has fun or whether she attends parties and drinks. “*You always think, would you want your kids seeing you like this?’ she said. And other students sometimes give the counsellors a hard time because they are perceived as Striving tg be ‘‘better’’ than other people their own age, said yw counsellor and Grade 12 student Steve Martin. But the peer counsellors are no more perfect than anyone else at the school even though they are more aware of the consequences of their actions and have to consider how they will be seen by the students they counsel if they join in certain activities, he said. “We're going to screw up too,"" Martin said The most important thing for the counsellors to remember is that students with problems are going to do what they want to do no matter what the counsellors say, so the counsellors have to try to be as unbiased as possible and remember **it's their life,"’ Ford said. **We have to help them make their own decisions even if it might contrast with your own personal beliefs,"’ Bevans said. “*The bottom line is, there are kids (in the school) already doing this,"’ Mair said. ‘‘The program just gives them some skills’* to make the job easier and formalize the roles they are assuming. The peer counsellors are “‘not just advice givers,” “‘very pleased"? with how the to the idea now and students are using the service more and more. As well, the concept of peer counselling is becoming more widespread in the province, he noted. The students said they are not necessarily going to end up in helping professions because of their experiences as peer counsellors. But the program has changed how they relate to others and made them more aware of what is happening around them in society “I didn’t realize there were as many problems in this school as there are,’’ Ford said. Those words likely also ring true for other high school counsellors around the province and across the country Church to get new priest Right Rev. David Crawiey, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kootenay, will induct Rev. Dorothy Barker as Parish priest in the Anglican Parish of St. David, Castlegar, June 19 at 7:30 p-m. The service of induction will take place in St. David’s Anglican Church, located on Christina Place and Columbia Avenue, and people of all religious faiths are invited to attend this historical event in the spiritual life of Castlegar, a church news release says. Barker, a graduate of the Van- couver School of Theology, Univer- Overwaitea Shoppers Drugmart SuperValu Zellers Not oll Hyers receive full distribution sity of British Columbia, comes to Castlegar from her most recent post as ecumenical chaplain at the Univer- sity of Guelph in Guelph, Ont Bishop Crawley, newly consecrated bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kootenay, will perform the ceremony in the presence of some 15 visiting clerics from widely scattered parts of the Diocese. The guest preacher at the induction will be Rev. Barbara Clay, a long-time colleague of Barker, and currently rector of St. Lawrence's Anglican Church in Coquitlam. In her new charge as rector at Barker brings the Kootenay-Boundary region a wealth of knowledge in the ever-changing atmosphere of spiritual life and wor- ship, the church says. Barker’s at- tributes are many, including that of a registered nurse. + The Anglican Diocese of Kootenay is bounded along the north by the Trans-Canada Highway to Chase, south to the U.S. border, cast to the Alberta border, and west to Keremoes, representing approximately 70 parishes. Support group raises funds for MS victim By CasNews Staff Don Belanger spends a lot of time at home and it’s not by choice. The Castlegar man is confined to a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis and getting in and out of his van is a difficult and uncomfortable procedure involving a rope which he calls **a Flintsone deal."’ In the win- er, the procedure is also cold and wet, he said. The Castlegar HandyDART bus is r for disabled whoeichancs bot the bes can't tobe him all the places he wants to go, Belanger said. “The bus doesn’t take me to my kids’ place,"’ he said, explaining that June 17, 1990 Castlegar News A3 LOCAL NEWS him to retire, he said. ‘ Belanger, who can get around sometimes with elbow braces, sounds discouraged when he talks about the possibility of getting a lift because of how many times his requests have been turned down by various agen- cies. Although he would be more in- dependent with a lift, Bélanger said he’s taking a wait-and-see attitude on the idea of the fund. “I'm to the stage now where if it happens, that would be great, but . . Belanger, whom Godderis praises as “a wonderful guy with a great at- titude who is very proud as well,” said he counts himself lucky that his condition has not progressed as quickly as it does for some people. “