The tour was organized by Walter and Marina Unger of Toronto who have chartered this ship for several years now and have developed both great expertise in the region and strong relationships with ship personnel and experienced guides.  In all of our traveling in Africa, Asia, Poland, etc., this was the first time that we took an organized tour, and it proved to be extremely valuable. 

The MHC includes learning something about Ukraine and the Ukrainians.  We spent time in Kiev, Khanev, Sevastopol, and Odessa -- I have no evidence that our ancestors ever visited these places except that for some, the train route to North America passed through Odessa. 

Our leaders and guides were excellent.  I regret that I seldom pointed my camera in their direction.

Our guides were experienced in general and with Mennonites.  Long before independence, they worked with Intourist, the Russian government agency, and got to know Mennonites coming back to their roots.

The tour personnel included four North American Resource People:

• Prof. Paul Toews of Pacific University in Fresno; his academic background provides a great framework for understanding the Mennonite experience in South Russia and Ukraine.
• Rudy Friesen, an architect from Winnipeg who has developed expertise and published an excellent  book (Into the Past, Raduga Publications, Winnipeg, 1996) on the Mennonite buildings of South Russia.
• Wilmer Harms of Newton, Kansas.  A retired physician and amateur historian, he has developed considerable expertise about the region and recently published a book on Mennonites who made escapes from Russia from Siberia through Harbin in the late '20s and early '30s.
• Alan Peters of Fresno, California, the foremost genealogist among Mennonites of the Low-German tradition.  I knew Alan from previous interactions.  (When he introduced me at a session on genealogy, he was kind enough to confer some expertise.)
• Stephanie Martens, a choir director, was also brought along, useful for a bunch of Mennonites who love to sing.