HANALEI — Peaceful. Beautiful. Clean. That’s what Kyrylo Babenko thought when he first saw Hanalei while honeymooning four years ago. The seaside town was truly another world. There was no sign of the severe pollution that breeds cancer and blackens
HANALEI — Peaceful. Beautiful. Clean. That’s what Kyrylo Babenko thought when he first saw Hanalei while honeymooning four years ago. The seaside town was truly another world.
There was no sign of the severe pollution that breeds cancer and blackens snow in his native Ukraine. None of the political corruption that props up a few at the expense of the rest.
When people passed him on the street, they smiled and said, “Hi.”
At first, this behavior seemed strange to Babenko and his bride, but after a few days of it, the couple decided they much preferred the island’s friendly, take-care-of-your-neighbor culture.
And so it was decided, right then and there, that they would one day live on Kauai. Babenko just didn’t expect that day to come so soon.
Unrest started brewing in Ukraine on Dec. 1, 2013, when police broke up a protest camp in Kiev’s Independence Square started by students upset over President Viktor Yanukovich’s failure to a sign a trade deal with the European Union.
By December, the reported number of protesters had grown to about 350,000.
A revolution was budding, and Babenko saw the writing on the wall. In January 2014, he and his family moved to Kauai. During the next month, protesters and police clashed in Kiev and dozens of people reportedly died over two days. What began as a small demonstration had quickly turned fatal.
Babenko, of course, couldn’t fully escape the upset by moving to a Hawaiian island.
The crisis jolted the Ukrainian economy, and Babenko began to lose money. His business lost clients. One of his spare parts warehouses was destroyed in a blast. Rebels seized a truck full of the salvaged supplies.
“I was sick and tired of all this mess that is always happening in my country and that is why I am here,” Babenko said.
“With the revolution, of course, I support the people who wanted to make some changes in the country. I gave food and supplies and I bought bullet- proof vests. I sent money to guys on the streets.”
But no revolution will fix the problems that plague the country, Babenko said. At least not right away. And as his desire to become a father grew, so did his urge to move someplace else.
“You can see the air in my city,” Babenko said. “A small fraction of the coal is always in the air. Especially in the wintertime, the snow is gray. Cancer is common. I like my hometown, but I don’t like how everything goes in my country.”
Babenko, 29, was once a Ukrainian police officer charged with launching criminal investigations against corporations that rig their books to avoid taxes.
After six years he left his career because of the bribery and corruption he said he encountered while trying to carry out justice. Instead, he went into business, opening the country’s largest supplier of spare parts for trucks and, later, investing in a popular lakeside resort.
“I left the job with the police because I want to live in peace,” Babenko said. “I wanted to have a family and I didn’t want my kids to know that I’m corrupt. And I didn’t want to make my living that way.”
The spare truck parts industry proved profitable in a country where the roads are either poor or nonexistent, according to Babenko. Everyone, he explained, tries to save up enough money to buy a big rig so they won’t have to pay for incessant car repairs that Babenko said are the result of a lack of proper pavement.
In Ukraine, if it’s not one thing, it’s another, Babenko said.
“I lost too much in this mess and I am afraid I will lose more if my family stays there,” said Babenko, whose family now includes a 3-year-old boy and a four-month-old girl. “All my life, my dream was to live in peace somewhere I can raise my kids and my wife will be safe, and that place is not there. That place is here.”
On a spot of grass leased from the Hanalei Liquor Store stands Babenko’s new livelihood: a creperie food truck named Banandi. The business name was inspired by the distorted way in which Babenko’s toddler son pronounces “banana.”
Babenko’s American dream is to open a creperie restaurant. Not just one on Kauai, but several, spread across the islands.
But for now, because he said the availability of a restaurant location is poor, he is launching his dream from a food truck — a brand-new custom food truck that Babenko said cost him $15,000 to ship here from Florida.
Banandi opened for business on Sept. 2. The next day, heavy rains forced the Hanalei bridge to close, leaving Babenko, who lives in Princeville, stranded from his home, along with a slew of locals and tourists. That night Banandi stayed open for business until 3 a.m.
Those without beds lined up for warm and fluffy Ukranian-style crepes smothered in Nutella and berries, or ham and cheese — all made with a batter recipe cooked up by Babenko’s grandmother.
Even though they were without beds for a night, those stranded were well-fed.
And Babenko was filled with pride to be in a position to provide them with that sense of comfort.
But it came at a price.
“We had to make the next day our day off and sleep for awhile,” Babenko said.
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Brittany Lyte, environmental reporter, can be reached at 245-0441.
