Mission Siret congratulates Dr. Oxana Matiychuk on being awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon (Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande). On behalf of the President of Germany, the decoration was presented by the German Ambassador to Ukraine, Heiko Thoms, in Kyiv in recognition of the work of the organization Gedankendach.
Dr. Matiychuk is the head of Gedankendach, a Ukrainian-German cultural society based in Chernivtsi. The organization was founded in 2009 at Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University to promote cultural cooperation between Chernivtsi and Germany. Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its work focused primarily on arts and cultural projects.
Since the outbreak of the war, Gedankendach has expanded its activities to include humanitarian assistance. This transition was made possible in part through its strong connections with German-speaking countries, from which the organization received numerous offers of support.
Today, Gedankendach assists internally displaced people throughout the Chernivtsi region by providing cultural and educational programs, organizing medical assistance, and distributing food. Since May 2022, Gedankendach has been one of Mission Siret's partner organizations and receives regular deliveries of humanitarian aid.