Paul's Ukraine Peace Corps Journal: March 2016

3/10/16

Paul's Ukrainian Peace Corps Journal ll

To Everything There Is A Season...

After an English Club

Doing Better

Since my last blog, I have had some health problems. After the Christmas holidays, I was bitten by a dog behind my apartment where the trash bins are located. I am afraid that I was interrupting his lunch as I trudged through the snow on the sidewalk not far from the bins. I had to go to the Peace Corps medical office in Kiev to start rabies shots. About the same time I came down with a bad head cold that developed into a severe bronchitis infection, which I have been prone to since childhood. Luckily, my language tutor's husband Sergei was a doctor, and was able to help give me two of the rabies shots in my apartment (for which I am eternally grateful!). My doctor at the Peace Corps medical office gave me an antibiotic which helped to eventually clear up the bronchitis. It was an uncomfortable 5 or 6 weeks while I had to deal with these issues. I now have an electronic ultrasonic alarm that I can use if I have any further trouble with aggressive dogs. Unfortunately, there is not an animal control service in Kirovograd and there are many dogs who wander the streets and hang out where ever there may be food. Stuff happens...

Dog Alarm

Update on Projects

Humanitarian Aid - At long last the Big Box ll (10 ft. x 40 ft.!) from the Ukrainians of Colorado in Denver arrived in Odessa, and after passing through customs for several weeks was distributed to various needy organizations in Ukraine. The much needed aid included medications and medical supplies, pampers, clothing, stuffed animals, microscopes, books, wheelchairs and other items for wounded soldiers, disabled children and a wide variety of needy organizations and NGOs. Unfortunately there were some snafus with the distribution and some of the aid was sent to wrong locations - including some of the things that we anticipated here in Kirovograd and the surrounding region. As of this writing, we are still trying to backtrack to locate some of the items. The best laid plans of mice and men...

Rotary Club - the application for assistance for the homeless shelters has been sent to the International Rotary Club Committee in Lviv and we are awaiting their final approval before it will be posted on the International Rotary Club site to request funding from Rotaries worldwide. The application was completed (with many revisions) by Dmitry from the Rotary Club and Vitaliy from the homeless program. The aid requested includes, among others: building renovation items, the drilling of a well, supplies for the centers, a van for transportation of people and supplies, a tractor and farming equipment (for improved food sustainability), as well as chickens, cows and pigs! My role has been to help connect the organizations and assist with the English translation of the final version. I believe that the process has been a learning experience for all involved - including this PCV! Once the application funding request is online, I will let everyone know, and encourage interested parties to make a donation through their local Rotary towards the project.

Document Translation - One of the areas of expertise that I have been involved with with my site has been fine tuning English translations. This includes everything from grant applications, website translations, Rotary Club translations, ecological reports, letters from my site to various organizations, etc. This part of my service has been not only useful but very rewarding. In one sense it involves putting on my Sherlock Holmes hat, as much of the translation is not straight forward, but requires some unraveling and discussion. I work closely with 2 English speaking office colleagues, Stacy and Yulia, to translate documents, usually from Ukrainian into English. Frequently I start with a rough translation from Google Translate online, then massage the English into a more understandable form, with lots of back and forth interpretation among the 3 of us to ensure that we retain the meaning of the original document, while also making it understandable for English readers. So far we have finished updating 4 NGO websites - Flora, MAMA86, Territory of Success, and New Generation charitable organization, to include an English option for the activities listed on each site. This can be helpful not just for local persons reading about the organization's activities from the social media (such as Facebook and Vkontakte), but also for potential donors, many of whom are communicating in English and want to read about what the organization is doing. Recently we have also finished translating a long, somewhat complicated technical document about water purity issues in Ukraine. My counterpart Liudmyla used the English translation at an international meeting in Sweden of MAMA86 chapters (founded after the Chernobyl incident), which was very helpful for the conference participants who were English readers.

Stacy, Paul and Yulia - our hard working translation team!

English Clubs - the two English Clubs are a real source of inspiration for me as well as an excellent venue for cultural exchange. Recent topics have included Tolerance, Diversity, Relaxation, and Womens Day among others. The World Wise School program in New York that I mentioned in my previous blog, has been exchanging photos and letters with one of my English Clubs which has been awesome! We discuss the questions raised by the English class in New York, send answers to their questions as well as posing our own questions. When the English class students in NY see their photos and questions discussed in our English Club in Kirovograd, it makes the communication much more personal. We communicate 1-2 times each month, and both classes enjoy and learn from the cultural exchange.

English Club of 3/9/16 Discussing Women's Day

Enjoying practicing English and giving their opinions

All of the Club's ideas that will be sent to the English class in New York

Information gathered was sent to the World Wise Schools English Class in New York in January

English Club discussion of life in Kirovograd sent 1/16 to English class in NY

English Club at Kirovograd Public Library that meets weekly

Travel Update

I had originally planned on a trip to India after the holidays, but had to cancel it due to my bronchitis. Delhi, Agra and other sites in India have some of the highest recorded pollution levels in the world, which would have played havoc with my bronchitis. Instead, I went on a short trip to the cities of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk in the western part of Ukraine and the capitol Kiev, and had a great time. Here are a few photos from my trip: