Paul's Peace Corps Journal ll 

12/25/15

Relaxation

Updates

Although I want to focus this blog on some things that I do to relax and recharge, first I want to review a few things that I've been doing since my last blog.  In regards to the grant proposal for the homeless shelters, the proposal was sent by the Rotary Club but still requires some writing, so it is not yet ready to be posted on the International Rotary site.  I'll keep you posted on how it progresses.

I have started a new project, helping to translate into English a Ukrainian booklet by our NGO MAMA86, on a recent study of water purity in the Kirovograd area - which is a huge issue here.  I work closely with our staff journalist Yulia as we discuss back and forth between her understanding of the meaning of sentences in Ukrainian, what Yandex or Google translate suggest and my own understanding of English.  When completed Liudmyla is hoping that this document can be used by English readers, perhaps even with future trainings or funding sources for related projects.  It is a very interesting project!

Also, one of the grant proposals that we had hoped would get approval - a training effort for women in the Kirovograd area to do civic involvement on the issue of water purity, did not make the final cut for consideration for funding.  On the other hand, the 3 NGOs that I work with have been as busy as beavers in doing flash mobs, training for persons displaced from the East on small business development, presentations on all sorts of issues in local schools, etc.  One of the recent events that they did during the runup to local elections was a flash mob in front of the city council building.  The event encouraged passersby to consider their children's (as well as their own) future, and "not to sell their vote for grechka". In other words if someone running for office gives you a bag of cereal grains, don't vote for that person - the issues at hand are far more important than the small gift. The staff of the NGOs had a small skit demonstrating the issue, and passersby were encouraged to have a "selfie" photo taken holding a bright sign about not selling their vote.

Vitaliy and Liudmyla

Staff posing as accepting
bribes

Skit by city council building

 

"I will not sell my vote!"

Big Box ll

The second box of humanitarian aid is in route on a shipbound for Odessa and should arrive in port in about 3 weeks.  This shipment is in a 10 x 40 foot container - so it is twice as big as the previous shipment that arrived a number of months ago.  There is an assortment of medical supplies, clothing, stuffed animals and other things needed.  Various NGOs and organizations will pick up the items from the port when it arrives, including some of the items for the Kirovograd area.  we will hopefully have some more information and photos to share at my next blog.  This is all being organized and carried out by Ukrainians (diaspora) in the Denver and surrounding area, including fundraisers to help pay for the shipping and other costs.  Some notices and letters from Ukrainians here have appeared in their online newsletter back in the Colorado.

English Club

The English Club that I help to facilitate at the Library continues to thrive.  Actually, the library offers 3 English Clubs each week (usually sponsored by one of us PCVs), a movie night and a grammar club night - all to encourage persons trying to improve their English skills, and provide an avenue for cross cultural exchange.  Topics range from Tolerance to Music to Organic Foods, to Lincoln and the Civil War, to Friendship, to the Possibility of Alien Life, to American folk dancing (including dancing!)  and everything in between.  At times the discussions can become quite lively!  PCVs generally find the English Clubs to be a very good place to form friendships, exchange ideas, and enjoy some cross cultural humor!  The attendance was increasing after the summer vacations, and generally runs between 20-50 persons in attendance, including all age groups.  Since the focus is more on speaking and conversation and not on grammar, it is less demanding than an official "class" in English, and gives people of all levels an opportunity to speak.  We do have some brief pronunciation exercises at some Club meetings on practicing the "v" and "th" sounds which are difficult for Ukrainian and Russian speakers.  The members also frequently break up into small groups or couples to help each other with understanding.  The Ukrainian members recently sang "Happy Birthday" to several of us PCVs and gave us presents from the members, which was heartwarming. The PCVs also have a close working with the library staff of the "Windows on America" section of the library, which is great!

World Wise Program

I recently started participating in the World Wise Program which matches a teacher in America with a PCV.  The teacher that I have been matched with is in New York, and she teaches English to recent immigrants, persons applying for citizenship, from a variety of languages and cultures.  We have only had a couple of communications so far, but their students came up with a list of 5 questions for me about Ukraine, my experiences, etc.  I answered their questions and have sent them 5 of my own questions.  We will be exploring the idea of possible  Skype sessions between their students and the members of the English Club, as an example,  I'll keep you posted about how this develops over time.

Relaxation

I did get a chance to go on a trip to the Czech Republic and Austria recently, and wanted to share a few photos.  Many of you know that I am a fan of Josef Haydn, my favorite composer, and got a chance to do one of the things on my "Bucket List" - to visit Esterhazy Palace outside of Vienna, where he was court composer in residence for so many years.  It was great!  First Prague:

 Prague Castle view from the Vitava River at night

 Famous "Dancing Lady" building in Prague

 Estates Theater (where Mozart's first showing of "Don Giovanni")

 Performance of Mozart's "Magic Flute" at Estates theater

 Paddleboats on Vitava River

 View from Petrin Hill, walking up to the Castle

 Fall in Prague

 City walls

 View of Prague

 Stahov Monastery, Prague

 Prague Castle (government building)

 St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague

 Vitava River in Prague

Famous Apostles clock in city square in Prague

And then Vienna!:

 Museum

 Hapsburg opulence

Historical Instrument Museum (Beethoven)

 Cittern (like mine, but older!)

 Famous Housing Development in Vienna

Hundertwasser

  Esterhazy Palace

 The Great Master, Josef Haydn

 Haydn Concert Hall

Prince Esterhazy

This blog is my own and does not represent Peace Corps policy or opinions.

Paul's Ukrainian Peace Corps Journal II

                                

                              Latest Report  10/17/15

Working From A Schedule (?)

Getting Organized
A really important thing for all PCVs to do is try to get organized and stay focused.  Now that I have been back here in Ukraine nearly 5 months, it is key to making your placement both useful and rewarding.  What I did was meet with my counterpart to renew our vision of how I can best meet the objectives within the Peace Corps framework.  So we revisited my list of activities and tried to come up with a more realistic view of what I can accomplish and also a secondary list of activities for those slow periods.  For me that is especially important, as I don't do well with "slow periods" without a backup plan.  So, I am continuing to work with my counterpart on exploring funding options with my NGO Flora and to provide some technical assistance.  An example would be when I help with the English revisions of letters or funding proposals, and help them develop a "picture" of what funding agencies are looking for - not just in the ideas themselves but also in the actual wording.  You can have the world's best proposal but if you can't explain it well to the English speaking evaluation committee than all may be lost.  The overall idea is to help them be better able to do for themselves and make their projects and organizations important to Ukraine and hopefully more sustainable long after I'm gone.  A lofty goal but difficult to achieve.

Meeting with a potential funder and local NGO leaders

Press Conference of Flora during "Green Week"

Especially during "Green Week" I was involved with ecology and organic food issues at the the English Club, local schools and one of the colleges.  The students and participants had many questions about how recycling works and what organic foods and farming means in America.




As another update, I am still working on the Rotary Club application with my friend Dmitry from the Kirovograd Rotary Club and Vitaliy from the New Generations organization (one of the partner organizations of my NGO Flora) that sponsors the three homeless shelters that I mentioned in my previous blogs.  The application process has been bumpy, but we have now have an application which is nearly complete, which a very well done informative Power Point presentation, and which has grown in size from an original limited request for a well to be drilled for water to include other amenities for humane living at the homeless centers.  

Once it is fully complete, the application will be sent to the Rotary International Committee for approval to be placed on the international website for potential donors worldwide.  It could then take a number of months to secure the funding (again, not a sure thing) and implement the project.  The great thing is that so far most of the work has been done by the Rotary, New Generations and Flora.  My involvement has been to help "connect the dots" (remember this expression from a previous blog - good, you are catching on!), help with polishing the English on the documents and applications, providing some suggestions for monitoring and evaluation activities, and gentle "pushing" to help move things along, given everyone's busy schedules.  It appears as if Vitaliy is learning a lot about how to present the importance of his shelters to a funder, Dmitry is learning how to do an International grant which his Rotary Club had not done before, and Flora is learning how to keep things going.  

So even if the grant is not approved, the basics are in place for them to pursue other avenues and they won't be starting from ground zero. This is the sustainabilty issue that Peace Corps strives for and that my CD manager Marat hammers into my head (well, maybe with a soft hammer...).  If the proposal goes on line I will be giving you updates.  If approved, it will be a pretty big deal for the homeless shelters here in the Kirovograd area.

 One of the homeless shelters

Lena, journalist, with Vitaliy, homeless shelter director

So, What are these "Other" Activities?
One of the most enjoyable "other" activities that I have for the slow periods, is trying to translate from Ukrainian into English the websites of the 3 NGOs (non governmental organizations, for those wondering about a pop quiz!) that I work with.  As another refresher (you guys will pass the exam even if it is not "True or False" only, Ha!) the 3 NGOs that I work with are: Flora (my sponsoring agency that focuses on children's issues, especially children's rights); MAMA86 (that is a spinoff from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that focuses on water purity/women's civic engagement issues); and Territory of Success (that works on legal representation for at risk groups such as internally displaced (IDPs) and homeless persons, as well as voting and anti-corruption issues).  This is not as easy as it seems, especially when my skills in Ukrainian or Russian are still very limited.  I use both my fellow colleagues in the office as well as Google or Yandex translate to help put the website into rough (I mean really rough!) written English and them try to massage it into understandable English while still preserving the intent from the original version.  It is both art and science with a bit of Harry Potter magic thrown in for good measure, ha!  

Another activity that I continue to be involved with are 2 English Clubs at the local Kirovograd library in the "Windows on America" section sponsored by Peace Corps and US AID.  The English Clubs that I work with, we have had subjects as varied as music from America and Ukraine, Abraham Lincoln, Volunteering, American folk dancing (with help from a recent PCV Marya), and the meaning of Ukrainian Independence Day.  Recently, as people return from vacations, etc. the club participation has swelled to between 20-30 people.  As you all know by now, (assuming that you have read my previous blogs) Peace Corps is not a political organization and that we focus on civic development/training and cultural exchange. The clubs are an excellent place to get reticent Ukrainians to practice their English. Sometimes it is with some difficulty that PCVs have to steer the discussion from politics back to the purpose of the English Clubs and the goal of Peace Corps.  

This is a difficult time in Ukraine's history.  On the one hand, the war in the east has at least stopped for the moment, important changes are taking place, their is an increased sense of national pride and the country is about to undergo democratic local elections.  On the other hand, there is still for some people a nostalgia for the past and anger at foreign governments (including our own), an unsteady economy, and slow progress against corruption.  This became most apparent during the Club discussion on the importance of Ukrainian Independence Day, when a number of us wore our vyshyvankas (traditional Ukrainian shirts).  During these times we PCVs try to remain positive, focus on what we are doing and try to provide good examples ourselves - as we steer the discussions back to the discussion theme and not engage in politics.  

Help Each Other
Another essential thing is for PCVs to help each other whenever possible.  My fellow PCV Phil and I have covered for each other for Club meetings, etc.  This weekend I hope to work with him and his teacher friend Olena as a judge at a local school grammar competition here in town.  I am also meeting soon with fellow PCV Chelsea to discuss the idea of doing some training at her youth center on issues of civic engagement, etc. and possibly coordinating between our respective NGOs.  I just came back a few days ago from a one day visit with Megan, another PCV in a town that is a 2 hour bus ride from Kirovograd.  She took me to her school (which was up and running on a Saturday!).

Olena and Phil, PCV 

Independence day in Kirovograd

Cultural Experiences
I have had a chance to experience some very satisfying Ukrainian culture here in Kirovograd and nearby Uman.  Here a few over the past couple of months:

History Museum  in Kirovograd 

Beautiful park in city of Uman

Sculpted garden in Uman

Wedding Chapel in Uman

Wedding music in Uman

Hare Krishna, music and dancing in Maidan Square in Kirovograd

Artist exhibition at Kirovograd Art Museum

One of his paintings for sale - I think it looks like a Cossack

Philharmonia  Concert on Ukrainian folk dancing

      

Beautiful staircase

Cossack dancers in Philharmonia

Dancers in Philharmonia

Big Box Update

As I had reported previously, the Big Box of humanitarian aid from Ukrainians in Denver was received in May in Odessa and distributed to needy organizations all over Ukraine.  A second box (Big Box ll) is currently being organized organized and will hopefully ship to Odessa in late October.  There are several needy Kirovograd organizations that will receive items in the upcoming shipment.  I have put one of the local NGOs in touch with the Ukrainian group in Denver and the director of "Heart of Mother" Ludmila has already posted information in the local Denver website.  It is my hope that she can be the ongoing contact with the Denver group for future needs and shipments, long after I have returned to the US.

  

Kirovograd "Heart of Mother"

This blog is my personal journal and is not meant in any way to represent Peace Corps view or policies.