Sunday, July 04, 1999

Immigrants an antidote for indifferent citizens

---

BY MARK CURNUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Inna Konovaltchouk grew up in the Soviet Union and is pursuing U.S. citizenship. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        Inna Konovaltchouk, 41, grew up in the Soviet Union and lived comfortably — even as a divorced mother — under communism.

        Now she is a permanent resident of the United States, living in Mount Washington with her Russian daughter and American son-in-law and looking forward to becoming a U.S. citizen.

        “It is a good life here,” said the native of Omsk, Siberia, a region of Russia. “I want to live in United States my whole life.”

        This day, which commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of U.S. citizenship, finds the state of citizenship called into question.

        The National Commission on Civic Renewal, co-chaired by former Education Secretary William J. Bennett and former Sen. Sam Nunn, is one of several groups critical of an atrophied citizenry. The commission, in a 1998 report, called on Americans to vote; work to repair crumbling neighborhoods, public schools and families; and hold media and other sources of popular culture to higher standards of civility.

        “In a time that calls for active citizenship, we are in danger of becoming a nation of spectators,” they wrote.

        If that grim analysis is true, an antidote can be found throughout U.S. history by watching how immigrants have re-energized the nation, says Ernest Barbeau, executive director of the International Family Resource Center. It is the local immigrant- and refugee-assistance organization formerly known as Travelers Aid International.

        Bringing enthusiasm — if little material capital — immigrants reawaken the people they come into contact with, Dr. Barbeau says. They embrace the opportunities inher ent to the democracy hatched 223 years ago but apparently taken for granted today by many native-born Americans.

        “There are marvelous qualities about this country that bring tears to your eyes,” he said. “I had a lump in my throat this week when I met three Kosovars and heard them express their thanks for the level of caring, trust and opportunity extended to them by Americans.”

        Ms. Konovaltchouk also appreciates the opportunities before her. And she, like Sergei Khrushchev, the son of the late Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev who recently passed his citizenship exam and will swear loyalty next week, believes a person should be a citizen of whatever country they live in.

        But her feelings toward U.S. citizenship are less tepid than those of Mr. Khrushchev, a Brown University lecturer, and brim with vigor.

        “I have many plans,” said Ms. Konovaltchouk, a seamstress at David's Bridal in Fairfield who has 20 dresses and outfits she designed and sewed in Russia.

        “I am saving money. I want to find sponsors (investors). I want to start a sewing and (clothing) design business. I want a big house. I want an expensive car.”

        She has to wait five years before taking the citizenship exam, and once she passes, she wants to contribute.

        “I want to vote,” she said. “In Russia, you vote but do not have choice. I want to be good to the people who work for me.”

        She also had a business in post-communist Russia.

        She opened a sewing shop in Omsk in 1992, a year after the fall of Soviet communism. But when market reform stumbled and hard times hit in 1997, she had to let her 12 employees go.

        That December, she came to the United States after winning permanent residency in the State Department's visa lottery.

        Her daughter, Oxana Troehler, now 20, entered the lottery while enrolled as an exchange student at Ohio State University in Columbus in 1996.

        Oxana, who said her chances in winning the visa were 1 in 55,000, went back to complete her education in Omsk. Her mother sold her two cars, possessions and home for the equivalent of $25,000 and came to the United States.

        “I had no future in Russia,” Ms. Konovaltchouk said. “I did have friends. But for Oxana, I wanted a big future.”

        She misses nothing about her former life, except for her brother living in Omsk.

        Ms. Konovaltchouk sends him money every month; $20 is enough for him to live on for three weeks. The problem is the Russian border patrol searches all mail and seizes everything of value.

        For a while, she hid $50 bills inside the aluminum wrapper of chocolate candy bars, where they were undetected by X-ray machines. The authorities caught on to that. Now she wraps bills in medicine bottles.

        For a month after they arrived, Ms. Konovaltchouk and Oxana stayed with the family of Dan and Pat Keith in Fairfield. Oxana had met their daughter, Erin Keith, while in school in the United States.

        Then they moved to Hamilton. They found a townhouse in Mount Washington when Oxana met her future husband, Greg Troehler, a private pilot.

        Alone, without a husband and speaking little English, Ms. Konovaltchouk was miserable the first year.

        “I went to room and cried,” she said. “Oxana would come up and cry with me.”

        Slowly, she learned more English. She got her driver's license, a car and a job. Each day, she understands more about U.S. culture and the government, and she likes what she sees.

        Compared to Russia, the U.S. government is not corrupt. The government and its citizens “give more than they take,” she said. “People are very friendly. They smile at you. They talk to you about your problems. Service is very good in stores.

        “I wish American people to never change. I want them to stay the way they are. Very nice.”

        And while American people are different than Russians, Ms. Konovaltchouk says the U.S. and former Soviet governments have more similarities than people here would think.

        “With the welfare,” she said, “it is communist here. American government takes care of people.”

        Today, like Americans, she will celebrate the Fourth of July. She first confused the holiday with Labor Day.

        “It is holiday for workers, no?” she said.

        Her son-in-law explained that it is the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress, when the 13 American colonies said they were no longer subject to British rule.

        “Now I remember some of my history from school,” she said.

        Ms. Konovaltchouk will work today at David's Bridal. Then she will attend a birthday party for Erin Keith and her parents' Fairfield home.

        They'll cap the day — like millions of Americans — by watching fireworks.

        “I love that. We had them in Russia,” she said, “but there were no so many and not so beautiful.”

Local voices on citizenship

---

River rescuer saves boy
Pool drownings preventable, experts stress
Weekend packs triple threat
Hemings descendant wants to be welcomed by Jeffersons
Immigrants an antidote for indifferent citizens
WKRP's back on the air
Hollywood not kind to Sandy
Where the WKRP actors are now
Where would the WKRP characters be now?
Did founders imagine money would matter?
Belle and bell readied for 3-week journey
Police hope checkpoints keep drinkers off the road
Events focus on women with disabilities
Nothing new in Springer bio
Success hasn't changed the Brotherhood Singers
Movies can be a tool in talking with kids
Teaching kids movie etiquette
After 35 years, Balladeers have much to sing about
Bar owner faces new charges
Chief wants traffic squad brought back
City 'inherits' $1.8 million
City kids find nature next door
Dad sentenced for nonsupport
GET TO IT
Industry lobbyist influenced original tobacco bill
Man charged in child porn case
TRISTATE DIGEST
Two jailed in robbery, attack on elderly man
Village survives loss of factories
Waynesville made for walking