Dear friends,

I am raising funds to establish a scholarship in the memory of my dear friend Mykola Pekh, an inspiring and remarkable public activist from Lviv, Ukraine, who passed away in 2014.

Despite being visually impaired since childhood, Mykola was an extremely optimistic and enthusiastic person. He has been active in Lviv NGO life for over 10 years in the areas of youth exchanges, social work and public health. Mykola was a co-founder of the NGO Wings of Hope established to support visually impaired people as well as of the Institute of Ukrainian Studies. He was a co-coordinator of the Race for Children project, which raised over USD 60,000 to benefit Lviv maternity hospitals with brand new equipment to improve the pre- and after-natal care of prematurely born children. For his personal and professional qualities, Mykola was awarded highly competitive Chevening and FLEX scholarships, which allowed him to study in the UK and the U.S. Even though he could take a high paying job at a law firm, for all his life he remained committed to the NGO life and public service in Ukraine.  

See two short videos about Mykola here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ans4zlUsjL0 (5 mins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZkqcJxlxxA (2 mins)

Unfortunately, in June 2014 Mykola unexpectedly fell ill and left us. As he was such a remarkable person, together with our NGO friends we would like to establish a legacy scholarship in his name at the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU). UCU is one of the leading universities in Ukraine setting high standards for scholarship, professionalism and transparency. It is famous for its impeccable reputation for integrity and zero tolerance to corruption. 

The Mykola Pekh Scholarship will support gifted UCU students who (i) either have disabilities or are enrolled in one of UCU's master programs focused on caring for impaired individuals and (ii) who show academic excellence and active community citizenship despite difficult circumstances – just as Mykola did.