It was on September 5th, 2009 when Milan Paďak from Uzhhorod came to Rusky Kerestur (the Vojvodina region in Serbia) to study at the Secondary Comprehensive School of Peter Kuzmjak. He will continue his studies at the Rusyn Department, in the first year of the above school.
Fifteen-year old Milan Paďak was driven to Rusky Kerestur by his parents, Valerij and Larysa Paďak, who, on September 7th, were not only welcomed by Janko Choma, the school director and Ľubica Ňaradijova, a staff representative, but also the chairman of the Rusyn National Council, Slavko Oros, and the chairman of the Russian Mother and the World Council of Rusyns, Ďura Papuga.
The student’s father is well-known at the above school among Rusyns, especially for being the chairman of the Zakarpatsky Regional Charitable Fund “Rusyn School”, who, at the latest meeting of the World Congress, was accepted as a member. He owns the V. Paďak Publishing House and has published many books in Rusyn. He is one of the primary promoters of the Kerestur Secondary Comprehensive School as potential education for students from the Podkarpatsko region in the Ukraine. By enrolling his only child in this school, he gave the best example to follow for other Rusyn parents in Podkarpatsko.
“A few years ago, thanks to, among others, the National Council of Rusyns, we started to negotiate about the possibilities of educating students from Slovakia and the Ukraine in Rusky Kerestur. The school and our National Council will take care of assigning foreign students a scholarship. I believe that Milan will be happy with his school-life in Kerestur. If necessary, we are able to provide as many as five foreign students with a scholarship and accommodation at the dormitory,” – said the school director, Janko Choma.