The academic future of two dozen Jamaican students who were enrolled in Ukrainian universities, the majority medical students, still hangs in the balance as local authorities continue to sort out arrangements to facilitate their education locally. But, with their safe arrival home last Wednesday from the Slavic country now under Russian attack, and with the issue still fresh, some of the students are hoping an arrangement can be worked out soonest, before their ordeal loses public interest. Up to Friday, however, there were mostly promises by the Government and representatives of The University of the West Indies (UWI), where many of the medical students had reportedly applied but opted to study in Ukraine because of high tuition fees locally. Education Minister Fayval Williams said various alternatives are being considered, but whether the students can be added to others for whom the Government offers subsidised tuition fees was uncertain. Currently, about 55 students benefit from that arrangement, which covers 80 per cent of their fees for study, UWI officials said. There are more than 1,000 applications annually. “I spoke with the principal of The UWI and I know that he has received information on them (students), and that there will be some engagements with them as well,” Minister Williams told The Sunday Gleaner. “So we will follow that to know what decisions can be made for those students. I don’t have a time frame but the various ministries that are of concern are working on it.” She added, “There is a significant need among many of our students for better financing for tertiary. That is something that we are looking into as we come with a policy on our tertiary sector. The policy is being worked on, it’s a commitment of the ministry right now.” But, even with the best wishes of the nation, it appears that a remedy for the displaced students will be long in coming. Even if they come up with the fees, they will need transcripts, which, based on the current state of affairs in the warravaged Ukraine, may be difficult to acquire. So far, Dr Donovan Stanberry, campus registrar at The UWI, said the university has most of the students’ grade profiles for high-school academic performance. “The second set of issues is those who were far along in their programme, where would we put them in our programme? And, for that, we would have to do an individual assessment, student by student, to look at their transcript from schools they attended in the Ukraine,” Stanberry told The Sunday Gleaner. “That can be done but it will take some time. We would have to get those course outlines and the transcripts from the Ukrainian universities, and we don’t know what state those universities are in terms of sending those things to us, because of the war. No student has applied to us as yet, so all that has been happening so far is exploratory.” He added, “These students have shown a lot of resilience, a lot of bravery. Those set of circumstances I’m sure will evoke some benevolence fromthe private sector, theGovernment or citizens. If that happens,wewouldbe happy, butwewouldnot be in a position to charge themless thanwhat the course cost, which is the US$28,000.” SCHOOLS DAMAGED In the meantime, second-year student Joel Tulloch and his parents are hoping for a shining light. He had four years left in his studies before the bombs started exploding late last month in Ukraine. “Currently in the Ukraine, many of our schools have been damaged, so I don’t know what will happen next. It is like we are in limbo. I want to continue medicine but the issue is where?” he asked. “That is why we are looking forward to the help from the Government and the private sector. Upon arrival in Montego Bay, they said that we should not worry and that they are working on it,” said Tulloch. “So we are just waiting to see if their word will come to pass,” he said, fearing the promises will die along with public interest over time. For Tarek Simpson, who only had two months and two exams left to complete his studies, Russia’s invasion could not have come at a worse time. In fact, it came the day he was slated to return to Jamaica, and his flight was among those cancelled when the shelling started. Simpson was instrumental in arranging accommodations for the other Jamaican students on the journey back home. Now he advocates for himself, and on their behalf, on the way forward. “I’m not sure exactly how they (Government) can assist but hopefully they can try to assist not just myself but other students who are displaced,” he offered, describing the whole affair as extremely traumatic. corey.robinson@ gleanerjm.com THE SUNDAY GLEANER, MARCH 6, 2022 | NEWS A4 Serv-Wel Industries Limited 8-10 Ashenheim Road (876) 923- 6036 Weekdays: 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM 8000.sq WAREHOUSE FOR RENTAL A.G.M. Meeting Notice Strata Plan # 63 NOTICE of ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Saturday, March 19, 2022, at 10.00 a.m. to be held at the pool side - common area & Via ZOOM Zoom ID# 2157244539_ Password PSP#63 Tel: 876-979-8399 Email:seawind1@cwjamaica.com TO BE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE YOUR ACCOUNTS MUST BE CURRENT Proxy Forms to be submitted no later than 10:00 a.m. March 17, 2022. Mr. Richard Barriffe is not an employee of Portmore LPG Supplies and is not authorized to transact business on the behalf of the company. NOTICE WATER RESOURCES ACT 1995 Part VI General 24 (1) An application has been received from the Bath Fountain Hotel to abstract and use 30,000 cubic metres of water per day from the following source in St. Thomas: • Bath Mineral Spring A map showing the location of the proposed site may be seen at the Objection to the grant of the licence may be sent to the Managing Director, Water Resources Authority, P.O. Box 91, Kingston 7, before Monday, 2022 March 21. Ms. Nadeen Spence Chairwoman WATER RESOURCES AUTHORITY Corey Robinson Senior Staff Reporter THE FINAL six minutes were the most excruciating for Kelly-Ann Tulloch on Wednesday night. For the past two weeks, she had not slept, as images of gunfights and bombs exploding on her son in Ukraine burned deep in her mind. Finally, her prayers were answered. Her firstborn had escaped that war-torn country and had arrived in Jamaica. But now, the vehicle transporting him from the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James seemed to be taking forever. They said it would be a three-hour journey to Clarendon, other student drop offs included, the anxious mom told The Sunday Gleaner. But, as the clock wound on, the worried mother sat on her verandah, midnight dew soaking her head, and cursed herself for not picking up her child herself. “Me reach outta the gate and I say ‘any car, any bus ... if is even a truck coming ... is dem!’” she recounted. “I said, ‘look from when they said six minutes away’. Six minutes gone already and me can’t see no light.” Kelly-Ann whispered one final prayer: “God, please don’t let anything else happen to him.” And then headlights pierced the darkness in the distance. “When me see the light a come, me start to jump up inna di before day. Me seh ‘a him this!’ and start meck noise, you know! Inna di quiet residential scheme, you know!” she laughed, referencing Longville Park in Clarendon where residents who knew 20-year-old second-year medical student Joel Tulloch were equally on edge awaiting his return. “Him reach about 12 o’clock or a little after 12, and like the man (driver) start opening up the back. But I didn’t want to see any bag or any suitcase. I wanted to see my son,” Kelly-Ann exclaimed, recounting the sweet yet bitter sight. “When me see him, is pure skin and bones, but me glad fi see me son. I only wanted to know me son come.” Close by, Joel’s father, Nicholas Tulloch, had awakened from a nightmare. “It was like I was coming out of a wilderness, a space of uncertainty and now realise that there was hope at the end of the tunnel,” his dad told The Sunday Gleaner. “When they made about three attempts and each time they couldn’t get on the train (to leave Ukraine), I was saying this thing not going to happen.” “But one thing, though, we trusted God. He was at work,” he said. “He was doing the restoring. I don’t know why He allowed this experience but maybe the future will tell.” UNIVERSITY BOMBED For Joel, the future has already started speaking. Now, he is being hugged by family, a sharp contrast to the hug shared among himself and other fretful Jamaican students at a metro station not far from their school, V.N. Karazin National University in Kharkiv, a week earlier. Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, came under attack last week by Russian forces who reportedly bombed an administrative building, killing and injuring several civilians. Footage of the incident and others of burnt buildings and military vehicles have gone viral on social media as Russian forces made their way to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. It is the hellfire, which Joel and other students who were awakened and driven underground by distant predawn bombs, had been fearing. Luckily, he escaped before the onslaught started, but the memories of what he endured will live on, he said. “I feel happy that I was able to escape what is happening. Right now, I am currently having dinner with my family after two years, and that is the best feeling I could ever have,” said Joel on Friday. “To know that the city where I was living has been taken over and destroyed makes me sad but I know Ukraine will bounce back. For me, it’s just good to be home.” THE ARDUOUS JOURNEY On at least one occasion on the journey out of Ukraine, as he and others huddled inside the metro station after the first bombs exploded, there were stampedes as people panicked in anticipation of the invasion by Russian soldiers. Many walked along train tracks deeper into tunnels, desperate for safety, he said. There was no cellular phone signal and food was low, Joel recalled, sharing how he and other students slept uncomfortably in a shelter for one night before emerging hours later the following day. With airports closed as the Russians stepped up their attack to capture Ukraine, the main option for the Jamaican students was to make their way to Poland, where other Jamaicans were waiting. But that meant a journey to Lviv in Western Ukraine, which was a task in itself. Long story short, Joel said, they managed to hire two taxis to the train station connecting the two major cities. That’s where they met up with other Jamaican students. “And that is where the trouble started,” he said. “Whilst going to get tickets, a bomb fell literally outside of the train station, and everybody started running underground.And as soon as the train came, another bomb fell and then most people and the Jamaicans ran leave the train.” ‘HE IS HERE’ He said some people stayed behind and boarded the train, which ultimately left the stragglers. “That’s when we formed a circle downstairs and started singing ‘He is Here’ and one of us prayed. That was the last thing that we knew how to do,” Joel said, noting that this was about 2:00 p.m. and that they were told another train would be available at 9:00 p.m. So they waited. But the second train also left them. It was deemed full. Hours later, they found another to get on but they had to fight their way aboard. All 24 Jamaicans were soon accounted for and the stuffy train ride to Lviv lasted 24 hours, passing a checkpoint where Ukrainian soldiers scouted the transportation for fleeing Ukrainian men who were made to stay back and fight. From Lviv, they took a bus to get as far as they could to Poland, but that vehicle was stopped by angry civilians as it tried to cut the long line of traffic heading to the border. That’s when Joel and the other Jamaican students had to get out and walk the rest of the journey. On at least one occasion, they were offered a ride part of the way but, for much of it, they walked the 20 kilometres trek, he said, all the time fearing the worst. During it all, Joel’s grandmother Doreen McIntosh said she knew he would make the journey. “I said to God, ‘God, my grandson could be a gunman in Jamaica. He could be a goat thief, he could be a hog or a cow thief, but is the ambition that him have to be a doctor to come back and help we nation, and God I know you not going to let the enemy kill him’,” Doreen chanted. corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com A hellish wait Jamaican student, mom recount the horrendous journey out of Ukraine into the safe arms of his family in Clarendon CONTRIBUTED Kelly-Ann Tulloch embraces her son Joel Tulloch, a medical student who was among those studying in Ukraine before the Russian invasion. Joel arrived home safely to his family in Longville Park, Clarendon last week. Stuck in limbo Fayval Williams, Minister of Education Jamaican students from Ukraine uncertain about academic future Dr Donovan Stanberry, UWI campus registrar
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