Paul's Ukraine Peace Corps Journal

1/10/14 Merry Christmas and с Новым годом! (Happy New Year!)

Paul's Latest Updates

Social Work Classes

I have just finished my final Social Work Class with my 8 students at the University on "Working With the Elderly in the United States". After our final class, we had a little ceremony presenting certificates to the students and congratulating them on their completion photos are pending! As a result of the classes, the students have been exposed to issues of societal aging worldwide, the programs and services for the elderly in the States, the role of government vs. non-profits (NGOs here), and the role of social workers - including knowledge base, ethics and the concept of a professional team. Much of this information is brand new for the students, and will hopefully be useful to them in their upcoming professional careers. In addition, I learned a little about the differences between services in Ukraine and in the States. As a broad observation, I would say that social work services in Ukraine are not as formally developed, and there is a greater emphasis on family involvement - in addition to the fact that funding for social work services is not at the same level as in the States. My efforts to promote a dialogue with the students was largely unsuccessful - partially because of the language barrier (I always had an interpreter) as well as it not being "nнормальный" (normal) in the classroom setting. It has been an educational experience for all of us. The students are still working on a health needs assessment of 300 elderly in a local "Veteran" home, where they are learning interview skills and survey design. The survey evaluation and analysis will take many months to complete - with which I will be involved with Olena, my counterpart. The final survey will give an overview of self perceived health as well as any unmet needs.

HIV/AIDS Event

The HIV/AIDS training event that Lisa, the secondary school student who had training with me in Kiev in August, and I have been preparing has been postponed. we will hopefully be able to do the training at the school when it doesn't conflict with classes, exams, etc. It has been challenging to try to schedule this, due to logistics.

Health

I will be going to Kiev this weekend (my 10th visit!) for my ongoing dental infection, and am hopeful that this may be my last visit, as I will be there for a week for the final treatments, bridge fitting, etc. God willing, and if the creek don't rise!!!

Politics and Maiden

Many of you have been asking about my safety, and about the political events unfolding in Kiev and elsewhere in Ukraine. I want to reemphasis that I am OK and that the Peace Corps does an excellent job of keeping us posted on political events and giving us updates on travel restrictions and other issues. Our safety as PCVs is paramount to Peace Corps. As you know, Peace Corps is an apolitical organization, is here at the request of the Ukrainian government and we are not to get involved in politics or express any public views on the current events. As of now, Peace Corps is welcome in Ukraine and we as PCVs continue to do our jobs to the best of our abilities.

SPA

Some good news to report! Our SPA (Small Program Assistance) grant proposal was approved in December by the SPA Committee! We will be receiving funding in February for a 9 month grant to provide the following for our organization, the Donetsk Branch of the Sociological Association of Ukraine:

Capacity building training for our NGO (non governmental organization) staff and members for Project Design and Management, Volunteerism and Grant Writing
Training for community and NGO staff on social entrepreneurship
Doing a needs assessment with area social workers on perceived social needs in the Donetsk region, and sharing the results with appropriate agency and governmental organizations
Establishing a "Center for Social Research and Coaching" which will include renovation of a classroom space and the purchase of needed materials to start the Center

All of us at the NGO were very happy that after much long and hard work that the vision will now become reality. The difficult part will now be to actually implement the project and make it sustainable after I return to the States. Keep posted for further developments.

English Clubs

The four English Clubs that I work with are all still going although participation in some have been waning, partially because of a busy school schedule. There have been lots of cultural exchanges about the differences between the holidays in Ukraine and the States. I have learned that New Years is celebrated on 1/1 as in the US, but that Christmas, following the orthodox tradition, is celebrated on 1/7. I wanted to do something simple for all of my new Ukrainian friends, and realized that on my limited (some would say "Spartan") Peace Corps allowance, I had to set my sight on gift exchange that I could afford. So I made copies of my CD music from my computer library, giving samples of largely classical, baroque, renaissance and other music - people seemed genuinely pleased to receive happy, joyful music during the holiday season!!!

Travel

I have just finished my first "отпуск" (vacation) since starting 4/13 with the Peace Corps. I travelled by train to Ivan-Frankivsk (a 24 hour journey!) and spent a week in the area, visiting with other PCVs and touring Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolomyya, Yeremche and Lviv. Some of the highlights included:

visiting another site of a PCV in Ivano Frankivsk
touring the regional museum in Ivano-Frankivsk
staying at the famous Vitale's On the Corner B&B in Kolomyya, sampling delicious Ukrainian fare
hiking on a lovely trail near Yeremche in the Carpathians (almost felt as if I was in Colorado!)
staying in Lviv for 2 days and going on a historical walking tour, a train tour, armoury museum tour, pharmacy museum tour, as well as eating at several wonderful restaurants and seeing the famous Lychakivske cemetery

I have included all of my photos for the last - Enjoy! Keep those emails coming!