Retired Southeast Missouri State University prof a frequent Ukraine visitor

Robert Gifford has visited Earth's most contentious spot, Ukraine, 17 times in the past 30 years on self-funded trips.

Gifford, who is retired in 2004 as a music faculty member at Southeast Missouri State University, got started going to the besieged country three decades ago.

It all started with a hard-to-read letter sent by a Ukrainian oboe teacher.

"In 1991, I received a letter because I'm a member of a group of international [music] conductors," Gifford said. "It was a plea for help for students. I just decided I was going to go and made my first trip in 1992 and kept returning."

Gifford and his wife, Ann, today sponsor a scholarship for music students in Ukraine.

"I've gone to Ukraine twice," said Ann Gifford, saying she found the people to be warm, caring and welcoming.

Robert Gifford suspects he may not see the nation he has come to love in the future.

"I would love to return again, but at age 80, I may have to stop circling the globe," he said, noting Rotary International provided him with a one-time "Global Grant" to purchase musical instruments in Ukraine.

Daria Hudymenko, a visiting music scholar at SEMO from Ukraine, is living with the Giffords in Cape Girardeau.

Hudymenko said she hopes to return to her homeland in September to be reunited with her 85-year-old grandmother — who lives in Lviv, a city in western Ukraine near the Polish border with a population similar in size to St. Louis.

The visiting scholar hails from the same hometown, Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, as the nation's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy took office in 2019 and is a former actor and comedian.

"In my social circle, we didn't expect from [Zelenskyy] this kind of bravery," Hudymenko said, adding she is doing what she can from southeast Missouri to help her compatriots back home.

"I am using social networking to correct 'fake news' from Russia being disseminated in Ukraine. It's a huge problem. It's unbelievable what's going on," she said.

Looking forward

Hudymenko, who admits to many tears and sadness last week when Russian forces invaded Ukraine, says she now is resolute.

"My relatives, friends, family and myself have a belief in our army. We are full of hope and believe we will prevail and have victory," she said.

Gifford has the last word.

"As much as I deplore all wars, if I were 20 years younger, I would travel back and join the fight," he said.