VI: Everyday life on the border

Group VI: Saskia Heller (D), Iryna Kapush (UA), Liuba Rudaja (MD)

Reports published by weche.info

Divided by border and history: Sokyrjany-Ocnița (Part one, in Ukrainian)

Ukraine has international borders with seven countries and many of Ukraine’s regions have access to the border. For example, Chernivtsi region borders with 2 countries, so the topic «everyday life on the border is relevant\important for our nation.

In this project we want to tell what does it mean – to live near the state border.
For the realization of this aim we need to visit two cities\villages, that have a checkpoint. I offer to choose such settlements:
1. Sokyriany  is a small town in Chernivtsi region, Ukraine. It has a checkpoint and a border with Moldova. The population of this city is 9,192 (2015 year);
2. Ocnitsa  is a town in the northern part of Moldova, the center of the Oknitsky district. This city has a checkpoint across the state border of Ukraine. The population of Sokyriany and Ocnitsa is the same.

We offer to focus more on the following aspects:
– General description of the cities Sokyriany and Ocnitsa, introduction to the topic
– Some sentences about both checkpoints, types of passes, the number of workers, etc .;
– Ethnic groups of the population in both cities;
– Are the residents of Sokyriany often crossing the Ukrainian-Moldovan border; \ and vice versa?
– For what needs (Why) do they do this?
– What dangerous situations can happen on the border?
– Protection of the border. What has changed in this question, in comparison to last 20 years?( interview with old man\woman on this aspect);
– What rules do you need to follow, when you live on the border? ( the advices of people who live on the border);

– The interviews with local authorities or employees about the checkpoint : (questions about the problem of smuggling, illegal crossing of the border, responsibility for it, protection of the border, etc.)
– Communication of those people, who are separated by the border (what language do they use, do they live in peace or in controversies, which traditions \ habits people have learned from each other)
– Traditions of everyday life, which one nation has taken from each other.

For this article we will need characters, probably 3 or 4 people who lived both in Ukraine
and in Moldova.