TaISSA RUZYCKY
Community worker
Date and Place of Birth: [date not given] in Lviv, Ukraine
Date of Interview: January 29, 2017
Place of Interview: Oakville, Ontario
Interviewer: Zoriana Kilyk
Length of Interview: 01:26:28 (raw)
(Excerpt):
TR: My specialization was actually social work, but I worked for many years in Human Resources Development, which was a department in the Federal government, where I tried to solve problems for the clients who came to us. In the 80's there was a terrible crisis because a lot of people were getting laid off, the steel industry fell [in Hamilton], and they were laying people off, people were losing their homes, they were committing suicide. I had to lead such groups of people to calm them down. The government did not want to disclose this because it was all kept fairly covered. Today I can talk about it, because when I ended working there I had to sign that I would not talk about it, but that is all behind me now. You know if it very interesting what happens to a person when they lose their job. I will tell you of one incident that I know for sure. One client; he was a general manager in some company, and he lost his job, but he did not want to tell his family. So what did he do – he took his briefcase every morning, left the house, then either went in search of work or to the library, so that his neighbours...[knew] nothing, and then came home as if nothing was different. You know this is very traumatic. Nobody really understands what it means for a man to lost his job. A woman as well. But this, in those times people became depressed, yes, they started to become physically ill, because the mind and the physical being are connected. So that, I had to go through a lot with these people. And when you help others, unfortunately I must say, it has a great impact on you, and a person burns out and has to carry that burden with them
CROSS REFERENCES:
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