Roxy Toporowych was a high school sophomore when communism fell and Ukraine became independent in 1991.

The Parma native, whose grandparents came to northeast Ohio following World War II, could never have imagined at the time that 13 years later she would be standing in the Maidan —  the square in the heart of Kiev —  watching as Ukraine ushered in an "Orange Revolution" and along with it, an era of sweeping change that would finally free the country from Russian influence.

Nor did Roxy, 28, know then that, along with her friend Jeremy McCarter, 27, she would play an essential role in that democratic process —  ensuring free and fair elections by working as international poll monitors.

"This was a way we could help the people help themselves," Roxy said. "Giving somebody money or sending packages to Ukraine is one thing, but helping them understand that they can improve their lives by choosing their own destiny means so much more. We were able to make a difference on a much broader scale than simply giving somebody a $20 bill."

Run-off Elections

On Dec. 26, Ukrainians held a repeat of the run-off election between incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. The re-vote was called because of reported corruption and voting irregularities that took place during the original vote on Nov. 21. The second election, while still controversial, was deemed more fair than the first by many observers.

In helping Ukrainian voters understand and follow their own voting protocol, Roxy and Jeremy became intimately involved with the election process. It was an assignment fraught with tensions and difficulties brought on by all parties involved. But Roxy and Jeremy said they persevered because they knew the reward for the people of Ukraine far outweighed the risks.

"There was a lot at stake with this election," Jeremy said. "All the progress that they have made since becoming independent could have been lost."

"We were afraid," Roxy added. "Just as people in Ukraine were afraid, that this was the only chance they had to really either move toward becoming a free, Western country with a feeling of independence, or pretty much be trapped forever under Russia."

The duo was motivated by their ideals to take action, however, getting to Ukraine for the election was no easy task.

Filmmakers

Roxy and Jeremy, who live and work in New York, had already taken a trip to Ukraine during the summer of 2004, to shoot footage for a documentary film project on folk dancing. Their company, KinoRox, is currently working on completing a project that focuses on Ukrainian folk dancing troupes in the United States and Ukraine. Money was tight.

But the August trip allowed Roxy and Jeremy to return to New York with a deeper understanding of the hardships Ukrainians faced while still under the sphere of Russian influence.

"The people there just really needed something to believe in," Roxy said. "Seeing what life there is like puts things into perspective and that trip really stuck with us. When this election controversy happened a few months later, we knew we had to go back and help them. We knew this was the one thing we could do, so we decided to go for it."

Roxy and Jeremy had been attending protests in New York following the Nov. 21 election. At one of these events, Roxy met a friend whose father offered to sponsor her airfare to Ukraine - a $1200 ticket.

That meant Jeremy had to raise the money for his ticket in a hurry. So, in an email to his friends an family, Jeremy wrote: "You may know nothing about Ukraine but this is what's going on and it is something that I really believe in. I think we need to go there and make a difference."

Soon, people started replying with pledges of $50 here and $100 there.

"In a couple days I had raised all the money just from friends who probably didn't know where Ukraine was before that," Jeremy said.

Poll Monitors

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America in New York was among the groups that helped organize a reported 12,000 international poll monitors throughout the country. Roxy and Jeremy got the call that they had been accepted as poll monitors on Dec. 15 and they quickly purchased flights for Dec. 20.

They had one training session in New York and within five days, they were sitting in training sessions in Ukraine.

"It was tough," Roxy said. "Mentally, also we had to prepare for this experience."

Jeremy said the rules were pretty straightforward and their instructions were to be as fair as possible and document everything.

"We were supposed to be completely unbiased, which of course we were," Jeremy said. "It wasn't as important to see that one party wins as it was to see that the will of the people is who wins."

The will of the people was made clear when the pro-Western candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, claimed 52 percent of the vote, compared to the Russian-backed Yanukovych's 44 percent.

Celebrations

With the election over, the duo made their way to Kiev, to the Maidan, to join the celebration.

Adorned in orange caps and scarves (orange is the symbolic color of the revolution), Roxy and Jeremy celebrated a burgeoning sense of freedom with their new Ukrainian brothers and sisters, who milled about a makeshift tent city in the square, hoping to catch a glimpse of their newly-elected leader, Yushchenko.

Some lucky revelers even got a chance to shake the prime minister-elect's hand.

"We were walking around the Maidan and a Mercedes pulled up and guards rushed out," Jeremy said. "It was Yushchenko, and Roxy just started shouting 'Bravo, bravo.' He came over and shook her hand. It was pretty cool."

Now looking back on her motivation for going to Ukraine, Roxy - whose mother Olenka still lives and works as a teacher in Parma - said her connection to her hometown, and the large Ukrainian community there, is as strong as ever.

"It's a family," Roxy said. "Anywhere I've lived, even if you feel a little lost, you just find the Ukrainian church or the Ukrainian dance troupe, and you immediately come upon a family. And that's nice and it's refreshing.

"Sometimes it can be a crutch, but at the same time it's a blessing that I have these really tight-knit communities everywhere, and Parma is one of those families."