Two special guests at the Ukrainian Homestead in Lehighton this weekend were Dr. Mykiya and Iryna Tkachenko, who are visiting the United States for a year. This is their first visit to the United States.

“It’s been great so far,” Dr. Tkachenko said. “It’s a great to experience different cultures here.”

Iryna dances with the Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, and is a graduate of the National Pedagogical Drahomanov University in Kyiv. She joined with Spirit of the Dance at the Ukrainian Festival in Lehighton this weekend.

Her husband, Dr. Mykita Tkachenko, is spending a year at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

“I’m an orthopedic surgeon from Ukraine. I am here conducting research at the university.”

Dr. Tkachenko is learning more about prosthetic limbs in the United States, in order to provide such care for Ukrainian soldiers injured in the war in Ukraine.