Tragedy has many times befallen the people of Ukraine in the last century: millions of deaths during the Great Famine of 1932-33, a Jewish population nearly wiped out by the Nazis, the worst nuclear accident in world history in Chernobyl and a rapid decline into poverty when the USSR disbanded in 1991. Today, the nation and its youth struggle to reconcile a troubled past with a future full of promise.

KIEV, Ukraine - "I liked Soviet times much better than now. Life was better then," reflects Mitre Pablovich, 75, as he sits on a bench outside his crumbling apartment building. Pablovich is a recently retired electrician and has lived in Kiev his whole life. He shares his tiny three-bedroom flat with his wife, daughter, son-in-law and their college-aged son. On most days, though, Pablovich spends more time outside his building in the fresh air than cooped up with his family. He is doing what he can to enjoy his retirement.

"I am still a happy man. I have a good family. We have water, food and gas. That's all that matters," he adds. However, his furrowed brow, stoic expression and frequent complaining suggest otherwise. Pablovich felt like the current government in Ukraine had let his family down. As citizens of the Soviet Union, they could be sure that in retirement they would be taken care of completely. As it turned out, Pablovich and his wife, who is still gainfully employed at age 70, had to work for many more years than they planned. Even more troubling to Pablovich is that his grandson cannot find a job.

"Before (the collapse of the USSR) young people would finish school and get jobs. Now it's a big mess with these kids. They have nothing to do. I hope they can get jobs," he says.

Pablovich is not the only person in Ukraine concerned with youth. Despite a solid education system, a product of the Soviet regime, many young Ukrainians are worried about their own futures. Young adults are in the unique position of having been raised in both a communist and capitalist society. In school they were taught the ideals of Soviet society, hard work and community, while at the same time they were bombarded with Western messages of excess and wealth. Make no mistake about it; young Ukrainians are also a part of the MTV generation.

Perhaps it is this fascination with western culture that led to the democratic revolution this past winter. Young people from all over Ukraine flooded Kiev last November to protest widespread election fraud. Even the success of the youth-led political movements has not secured young people's role in bringing Ukraine out of its current economic and political rut.

Meanwhile, Pablovich has other worries closer to his mind than the state of Ukrainian youth. The apartment building he has lived in since 1967, the year it opened, is in complete and utter disrepair. The building is full of rotting garbage, and flies swarm in the stairways. The elevators that service the six-story building shake their way up and down the shaft, a trip not fit for the faint of heart. Outside, gangs of unemployed young men and teens roam the streets, drinking the day away. Homeless people are passed out in the community vegetable garden adjacent to the building. It is a scene common to poverty stricken neighborhoods the world over, and is something Pablovich has to watch and deal with every day.

Pablovich and the other residents of the building haven't always lived like this. Just 15 years ago, this same building was clean, safe and considered one of the nicest complexes in all of Kiev. It was reserved for workers who had been valued members of the Communist Party, like Pablovich, who, as a dedicated worker, earned favor and respect in the eyes of his peers. The city was well taken care of by the government, until that government closed up shop. Since the communists left, the residents have been forced to take care of the building themselves because the new regime had neither the will nor the financial backing to continue with the maintenance of what is now private property. Sadly, the residents also didn't have the money to fix the elevators or hire maintenance crews. Over the years, the people have done what they could to keep the building livable, which isn't much considering most of them barely have enough cash to survive. In the mid-'90s, 63 percent of the population was living on just $4 a day.

The maintenance of this one apartment building across the Dniper River from majestic central Kiev is just one example of the enormous changes the people of Ukraine have had to cope with as they shed their communist past and begin life in a democratic nation.

The Last 14 Years