It is rare. Only a few hear it. Fewer still answer. This week in our 120th episode of Nasha Kasha- we meet three remarkable people, who have heard a calling.By Steve Andrusiak.

Greek philosopher Aristotle has said -“Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit”. This week Nasha Kasha presents just such a long-time slow fruitful friendship.By Steve Andrusiak.

Winnipeg's North End is a large urban area located to the north and northwest of the downtown core. The Red River flows on the eastern border and the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline sits to the south. This week, Nasha Kasha learns of the area’s history and evolution from a long time resident and film-maker.…

Multiculturalism: the coming together around heritage for greater understanding. It can be seen through many lenses and heard from many voices. That’s the whole point. In this episode, Nasha Kasha celebrates the idea and the diversity from a Ukrainian platform.By Steve Andrusiak.

No, they didn't quit their day jobs. Nasha Kasha introduces us to two life-long musicians, who also thrive at their day-side full time construction jobs.By Steve Andrusiak.

Nasha Kasha tells the story of one of 24 internment camps. It happened during the First World War. Of the 24, this one was in Northern Quebec, near Amos in the Abitibi Region. Like the rest, it was exclusively for Ukrainians, who committed no crime.By Steve Andrusiak.

A flower is the seed-bearing part of a plant that is typically surrounded by brightly coloured petal and a green calyx. It blooms. It blossoms. It flowers. This week, Nasha Kasha is dedicated to that which brings us joy.By Steve Andrusiak.

Queen Victoria: born May 24th two hundred years ago stood 4 feet 11 inches, and she reigned over England and its empire for more than sixty years. There is Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Victoria Square in Athens, Greece. And the site of today’s Nasha Kasha episode: Victoria British Columbia. Now meet Victoria of Victoria BC…

In Ukraine, a newly elected President needs to build consensus with his parliament. The largest voting block is loyal to the man the new president recently unseated. But parliamentary elections are only five months away.By Steve Andrusiak.

Today Nasha Kasha salutes volunteer emergency relief workers. Placed “amidst the ruins” they save lives, offer survivors support, bury the dead, and they work to safeguard communities from future disasters.By Steve Andrusiak.

This week Nasha Kasha tells three stories about Ukrainian life in Phoenix, Arizona. One interviewee is a little bit cool to this whole being Ukrainian thing. Another, who is not Ukrainian is warming up to a brand new embrace. And a family of three feels "just right". Welcome to episode 153: the Goldilocks edition.…

Early achievement in mathematics is a strong predictor of later academic achievement. This week Nasha Kasha introduces us to two math educators, who tell us how teaching math squares with the root of their Ukrainian culture.By Steve Andrusiak.

April 15th, people around the world looked on in disbelief as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burned. Six thousand kilometres away in Hamilton Ontario, fire wrecked a Ukrainian hall. Small by comparison, the Hamilton blaze robbed a community of archives, some rental income, and the meeting place they call "domivka".…

Community development is planned action taken to generate solutions, growth and the expansion of a community, based on best practices. The Ukrainian Canadian community is finding that getting people to care and to commit is less and less a matter of loyalty and membership. It has far more to do with broader feelings of belonging.…

Have you ever wanted to jump into the pages of a script, and become one with the story? How about coaxing a hero to step through your flat screen, and into your life? The people of Ukraine are doing just that. You may call it curious. Ukrainians call it election day.By Steve Andrusiak.

One is a first-time recording artist. The other an accomplished Music Industry teacher. Both began recording songs in a basement studio. Nasha Kasha is a story of dreaming big and living life along the way.

Recitals highlight a music school and the hard work of its students. Attendees are mostly family and friends, who are there to lend support. In London, Ontario one recital recently also lent support and light to the repertoire of the Ukrainian Art Song.By Steve Andrusiak.

Greek philosopher Aristotle said there are three types of friendship. One enjoys the benefits each person brings to it. A second embraces the pleasure of company. The third Aristotle called friendship of the good is built on mutual respect. This type is as individual as are you. On rare occasions a friendship embraces all three types, and this ...…

Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula has been the ancestral home of a Tatar people for centuries. But for almost half of the past decade, Crimea has been occupied by Russia. The invaders have banned the Mejlis, which is the Representative Assembly. Crimean Tatars are now subject to arrests and attacks. Today, Nasha Kasha explores the ties between Crimea ...…

We have just marked Valentine's Day in North America. However, this day is celebrated differently around the world. Let's sample how differing cultures mark their days of affection. We'll also hear from a soulful singer named LUKA about life and music and love.By Steve Andrusiak.

About a dozen couples play cards each week in a Winnipeg church basement. They know all about making the best of the hand that's been dealt. Two years ago a fire made their church unusable. Friendship, resolve and humour helped them regroup, and keeps them going still.By Steve Andrusiak.

Words to live by grace buildings, monuments even the currency of many countries. Today, Nasha Kasha looks to Ukraine to explore why its motto proclaims glory above all.By Steve Andrusiak.

It was mid-January in Thunder Bay, 41 years ao. Constable John Kusznier died in the line of fire at a brawl. He is that city’s only police officer to have been gunned down. This report remembers him.By Steve Andrusiak.

The bass plays the lowest line of notes running through a musical performance. It’s the bridge between rhythm and harmony in jazz. And it provides a strong beat. This week Nasha Kasha is all about the bass and one musician who is studying to master it.By Steve Andrusiak.

One Winnipeg choir took the name of an ancient instrument- Hoosli. Another the name of an accomplished composer and choral conductor- Koshetz. As 2019 opens, Nasha Kasha brings us the story of Ukrainian Christmas and two choruses, who give this Julian calendar feast day voice.By Steve Andrusiak.

The Kerch Strait links the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea. Its troubled waters flow past Crimea. In 2014, Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine. Then it sent soldiers into Eastern Ukraine. Recent events in the Kerch Strait are turning an on-going international affront into a crisis. As the US Navy prepares to sail into the region Nasha Kasha explor ...…

Ukrainians in Canada’s four Atlantic provinces, who want to maintain their roots and language are pretty much on their own. Canada’s Ukrainian organizations largely ignore anyone living east of Quebec City because populations are tiny. No Ukrainian community is tinier than PEI’s.By Steve Andrusiak.

Winnipeg's North End is a large urban area to the north and northwest of downtown. It's bordered by the Red River on the east and the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline to the south. Film maker John Paskievich tells us about growing this storied neighbourhood and his work there today.By Steve Andrusiak.

On a recent trip to Thunder Bay, reporter Stefan Andrusiak recorded two stories. One is about a tiny fly-in First Nations settlement. The other is that of a First Nations parliamentarian, who also happens to have Ukrainian roots.By Steve Andrusiak.

The tenants of the Christian Orthodox faith may be firmly rooted in centuries old scriptures and tradition. But new-found liberation for the Orthodox Church in Ukraine is in the air. This episode of Nasha Kasha tracks the history and explains why being self-headed is important for believers.By Steve Andrusiak.

They are change makers for Ukraine: entrepreneurs, civic leaders and not for profit organizers working to improve local government in a time of broad ranging reforms. This fall, 10 traveled to Canada. Nasha Kasha explores the challenges that tax them, and how Canada is helping.By Steve Andrusiak.

Hunger is being used as a weapon in the sieges of places like Aleppo, Homs and Eastern Ghouta in Syria. There have been food blockades in Yemeni ports. In the 1930’s Joseph Stalin used hunger to starve the Ukrainian nation. That starvation of millions to death has a name: Holodomor.By Steve Andrusiak.

Born in Edmonton, based in Montreal, rooted in reggae… a song writer and recording artist known only by her first name, has expanded her influence to Ukraine. This week, Nasha Kasha hears from Auresia and reggae with a Ukrainian vibe.By Steve Andrusiak.

Early achievement in mathematics is a strong predictor of later academic achievement. This week Nasha Kasha introduces us to two math educators, who tell us how teaching math squares with the root of their Ukrainian culture.By Steve Andrusiak.

Membership in a university students club can extend horizons, build knowledge, shape social networks, even stand out on a job resume. This week Nasha Kasha meets 3 Queens University students, who have excelled at school with benefits rife by getting busy with student life.By Steve Andrusiak.

In 1982, the communist newspaper Pravda, reporting on Jewish refusenik activities in Leningrad, referred to Moshe Azman as an enemy of Soviet Power. This week Nasha Kasha meets the refusenik, who went on to become chief Rabbi of Ukraine.By Steve Andrusiak.

"Mat-ka, Mat-oosh-ka, Dob-ro-diy-ka." No matter how you say it in Ukrainian, there is a special role and respect given to the wife of a priest. Yes. In both the Orthodox and the Ukrainian Catholic Churches, men about to become priests are permitted to marry.By Steve Andrusiak.

The Ironman competition is among Susan Koziak’s most recent professional assignments. This week on Nasha Kasha we here of her career, her heritage and the first boy she ever kissed. Along the way Susan discovers there’s a bit of iron in all of us.By Steve Andrusiak.

Dr. Brian Cherwick leads Newfoundland’s finest Ukrainian folk band. Okay, … he leads Newfoundland’s only Ukrainian folk band. The Kubasonics combine chants from centuries past, Ukrainian love songs, and a touch of punk and rock ... from the Rock. This week, Nasha Kasha introduces a band leader, who earned his PhD in polka, and music that could ...…

Odessa Ontario is 26 kilometres west of Kingston. It is in the very heart of British Loyalist country. There is no evidence of a Ukrainian presence. So why in the mid-1850s would the villagers name their community after a Ukrainian port? The answer is this week’s Nasha Kasha story.

This coming fall, voters in the province of Ontario will elect mayors, councillors, school trustees and all other elected municipal officials. There’s a dizzying array of choices. Nasha Kasha profiles two candidates in Hamilton with similar roots, similar opinions and aspirations. Remarkably they have never met.…

Biking around the block or around North America: it all begins with an intention. This week Nasha Kasha tells the story about bike repairs in order to ride and riding in order to help repair a country.By Steve Andrusiak.

In 1975 there was only a handful of Ukrainian families living in Moncton. They formed a club. More than 40 years later, newcomers from Ukraine are putting down their own roots in New Brunswick. Viktor is an astronomer. His wife Julia is a physicist. This week on Nasha Kasha we'll hear why they settled in Moncton, where they're distinguishing th ...…

In Edmonton, back when Andy Semotiuk was a teenager, Roy Orbison’s songs spoke to him like no other. Andy has written a screen play called Only the Lonely. But today it’s more difficult than he ever imagined to tell Orbison’s story his way.

Behind the scenes at an American resort, workers reveal why their disperate lives have come together in the Catskills in a place called Suzie Q. Here’s this week’s Nasha Kasha.

What would you wish for if your name were Wish? Evan Wish wanted fame. The young composer traveled from Brandon Manitoba, to Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories before settling in Los Angeles. Today’s Nasha Kasha is all about hopes and dreams, and the choices in between.By Steve Andrusiak.

Balaklava Blues is a story about Ukraine's on-going struggle to live free from Russian incursions. It's also the story of two musicians , who have found a calling in all that strife.By Steve Andrusiak.

A flower is the seed-bearing part of a plant, that are typically surrounded by brightly coloured petal and a green calyx. They bloom, they blossom and of course they flower. This week, Nasha Kasha is dedicated to that which brings us joy in sight, smell and sometimes taste.By Steve Andrusiak.

In Ukrainian "cha-ban" means shepherd. "Zor-ya" means star. In Thunder Bay, the Chaban and the Zorya dance groups have been shepherding and staring in Ukrainian performances for 50 years. This week's episode of Nasha Kasha meets the remarkable women, who lead these groups.By Steve Andrusiak.

Two violins, one stage. One is in the hands of a rising virtuoso, still in school, The other played by a community orchestra member, having read the score and wanting more. This week, Nasha Kasha tells of one orchestra and its rising strings.By Steve Andrusiak.