More Yushchenko buzz

By Aussiegirl

Lots of tidbits here. First, there have been some unconfirmed reports that there were protocol discussions in which Yushchenko might accompany President Bush to Rome in order to attend the funeral services for the Pope, but in order to do this he would have to miss delivering his speech to the joint meeting of Congress scheduled to take place on Thursday, April 6th at 10:45 a.m.

Tomorrow, April 5th, as he continues his whirlwind tour of America, President Yushchenko will visit Nastya Ovchar, the little Ukrainian 5 year old who bravely rescued her baby sister from their burning home in Kharkiv, suffering third-degree burns over 80% of her body in the process. The little heroine, Nastya was flown to the Shriners Hospital in Boston by a special arrangements made by the President of Ukraine and his wife Katya.

Also, Chicago area Ukrainian-Americans, 100,000 strong, await eagerly the return of Katya Chumachenko Yushchenko to her hometown. Katya Chumachenko was born in Chicago, graduated from Georgetown University and received an MBA at Chicago University. She worked in the Reagan White House in the office of public relations.

Shops in the Ukrainian quarter of Chicago are filled with pictures of Yushchenko and Chumachenko and yellow-blue flags decorate the streets.

The President will also deliver a speech in Chicago that evening.

And one last bit of news that is a bit old -- Katya Yushchenko was finally awarded Ukrainian citizenship, after years of denials by the Kuchma government. It wouldn't be nice to deny citizenship to your own First Lady, now, would it? Congratulations to Katya.