Tuesday, August 31, 2010
5 Things You Should Know Before Joining the Peace Corps
I appreciated this article for it's directness and readability.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Georgia
A perk of being a Peace Corps volunteer is having nearly a European government's quota of vacation days. I decided to take advantage of this and fly to Georgia for a week with a friend. I can't do justice by writing as to how wonderful of a week this was and how impressed I'm with the country. Having a similar modern history to Ukraine's, it was a revelation to see how different Georgia is from Ukrainian society. Georgians seem much more open to tourism and have invested in projects and infrastructure to support visitors. There's so much to see and do there too, as it has been nicknamed "The Switzerland of the Caucasus" for it's dynamic and varying landscapes. The few times I've tried to read more in-depth articles about Georgia I've quickly lost focus. I did however get through this one in The Economist.
Enjoying legit Pad Thai in Tbilisi.
Kazbegi, a popular hiking sport along the Russian Military Highway.
Mt. Kazbek
Trinity Church in Gergheti below Kazbek
Mkheti
US investment in Georgia before the financial collapse.
Sighnagi, entrance to wine country
Stalin statue outside his hometown of Gori.
ABC it's easy as 123
Alas, summer really is coming to an end and I think it's fair to say that I'm camped-out. Before this summer I wasn't sure if I really was a camp person. Sure, I enjoyed going growing up but being responsible for one, being enthusiastic at all times, and being the first to volunteer for "Funky Chicken" or general humiliation weren't known strengths of mine. I still have a ways to go in regard to peppiness, but camps in Ukraine were a great time and a much needed break from the general apathy I feel from my students at site.
The final camp of this summer was ABC, a Ukrainian-run two week extravaganza in the heart of Kharkiv. ABC, in it's second year, is the brainchild of Anya B. and Alya B., two women in their young twenties from Mykolaiv. To simplify the story, they attended camps over the past years founded by IOC, taking on leadership roles at camps and conferences meant to encourage youth to be active in their communities. IOC, International Outreach Coalition, began by Peace Corps volunteers in Ukraine a few years ago. Since then, they've spread into other post-Soviet countries, offering camps that focus on community engagement and civil society building. In Ukraine there are dozens of camps related to IOC, ABC is one of the newer additions.
ABC was staffed by a dozen or so Ukrainians and the same number of Americans (all Peace Corps volunteers). The ninety or so campers had three lessons every day: Project Planning, Cultural Studies, Art/Theatre/Music. I helped with project planning, not necessarily the sexiest of topics. During the first week, my teaching partner and I discussed the basics of project management and the campers in groups performed small-scale projects around the camp such as trash clean-up, a music party, and a First Aid lesson. With the second week, campers decided to either continue project planning towards a larger, semester long project or focus on leadership. From talking to people that live in the Kharkiv region, some of these larger projects have really taken off since the end of camp (seminars, charity concerts).
Campers were divided into teams. I lead "Orange Boom" along with lovely Rita, a university linguistics student. In our teams, we created chants, talked about team-building, played, and took part in challenges such as egg-drops and silent races.
Much to my uneasiness, we had several dress-up days including Team Color, Backwards, Sharing Cultures, Soviet Union, and Hippie. I hate hippies. I think their generation ultimately sold out and I hate how as a Peace Corps volunteer I'm associated with them. I tried not to make a "dress-up day" a political item, swallowed my pride, and showed my team spirit.
One discussion I had from time to time with American volunteers at the camp is that we forget how big of a deal this is for the campers. As volunteers, we hop from camp to camp doing similar activities. As Americans, we're used to brainstorming, working as a team, being silly, and rewarding creativity. For most of Ukrainian youth, these are foreign concepts that can totally alter a very structured process of going about life. I tend not to be sentimental with such experiences because I've had so many and had so many people come in and out of my life. But for these kids, to tell us that these were their favorite two weeks, that they love us, and to spring a bear hug on us are earth moving.
I'm glad that I'll be taking a larger role in next year's camp along with one of my closest PCV friends, Sam. Together we'll work with the Ukrainian staff to make sure ABC continues and becomes more sustainable.
Here is "This Land is Your Land" rewritten by the music class:
American girls on "Hippy Day"
If I ever attempt at a political career in the US, this image would destroy any chance of running. 
Another benefit of attending ABC is that I got to see a lot of Kharkiv. Kharkiv was a large industrial center during Soviet times, in fact it was the first Soviet capital. In the East versus West debates, Kharkiv is often stereotyped as being still very Soviet. This is one of the reasons why ABC was brought to this city. To be honest, I found the people quite warm and the city cosmopolitan. Bonus, it's Cincinnati's Sister City. On an afternoon off I stopped by the Malyshev Tractor Factory, one of the largest in the world. Back in the day, it produced tanks and tractors for the Soviet Union. The region of the city around it is a perfect example of pre-war socialist planning.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Currently Reading
Top 10 Political Memoirs
Sarah Palin's new memoir is hardly the first to stir controversy
Radio Free Europe, Freedom of Speech, and Liberty
The Soviet Union didn't collapse because of Reagan or Thatcher or Star Wars. It collapsed, says P.J. O'Rourke, because of Bulgarian blue jeans...
…extraordinary collection of color photographs taken between 1909 and 1912. In those years, photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) undertook a photographic survey of the Russian Empire with the support of Tsar Nicholas II.
People of the Imperial Russia
One photographer from Europe moved to St. Petesburg in the middle of the 19th century. At that time there weren't photo studios there and he began to make commercial photography and take pics of Russian people who lived in the city.
Rejuvenate Cities
In a long paper, Reon Brand of Philips Design presents a holistic approach to systemically transform cities into places that positively contribute to human personal development, social harmony and diversity.
Georgia: Georgia's Mental Revolution
Seven years after the Rose revolution, Georgia has come a long way
The Real Reason for Germany's Industrial Expansion?
Did Germany experience rapid industrial expansion in the 19th century due to an absence of copyright law? A German historian argues that the massive proliferation of books, and thus knowledge, laid the foundation for the country's industrial might.
Terra Infirma: The Rise and Fall of Quicksand
The fourth-graders were unanimous: Quicksand doesn't scare them, not one bit.
The Top 50 Music Videos of the 1990s
They were still a young art form when the 1990s began, but by the end of the decade music videos and video directors were arguably at their commercial and artistic peak.
Interview with Malcom X
Alex Haley interviews the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s number two – Malcolm X – in a Harlem restaurant.
Beyond City Limits
The age of nations is over. The new urban age has begun.
Urbanized: A documentary film by Gary Hustwit:
Hustwit finally announced the third film in his design trilogy, which will be about the design of cities.
America: Land of Loners? Americans, plugged in and on the move, are confiding in their pets, their computers, and their spouses. What they need is to rediscover the value of friendship.
Like most Americans, I like to feel engaged and productive. Give me a project to work on. I am happy. Let me develop a strategy for that goal. I feel energized.
Sarah Palin's new memoir is hardly the first to stir controversy
Radio Free Europe, Freedom of Speech, and Liberty
The Soviet Union didn't collapse because of Reagan or Thatcher or Star Wars. It collapsed, says P.J. O'Rourke, because of Bulgarian blue jeans...
Peace Corps Partners with the Department of State to Tackle Energy and Climate Issues at the Grassroots Level
Russia in color, a century ago…extraordinary collection of color photographs taken between 1909 and 1912. In those years, photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) undertook a photographic survey of the Russian Empire with the support of Tsar Nicholas II.
People of the Imperial Russia
One photographer from Europe moved to St. Petesburg in the middle of the 19th century. At that time there weren't photo studios there and he began to make commercial photography and take pics of Russian people who lived in the city.
Rejuvenate Cities
In a long paper, Reon Brand of Philips Design presents a holistic approach to systemically transform cities into places that positively contribute to human personal development, social harmony and diversity.
Georgia: Georgia's Mental Revolution
Seven years after the Rose revolution, Georgia has come a long way
What Is It About 20-Somethings?
A psychological theory emerges to explain why young Americans are taking a while to grow up.
Title Unknown (Volunteer Blog)
Last week, I built a seat for my toilet.
Beautiful Poverty
And the poverty makes for great photography. Poverty has texture.
A psychological theory emerges to explain why young Americans are taking a while to grow up.
Title Unknown (Volunteer Blog)
Last week, I built a seat for my toilet.
Beautiful Poverty
And the poverty makes for great photography. Poverty has texture.
The Real Reason for Germany's Industrial Expansion?
Did Germany experience rapid industrial expansion in the 19th century due to an absence of copyright law? A German historian argues that the massive proliferation of books, and thus knowledge, laid the foundation for the country's industrial might.
Terra Infirma: The Rise and Fall of Quicksand
The fourth-graders were unanimous: Quicksand doesn't scare them, not one bit.
The Top 50 Music Videos of the 1990s
They were still a young art form when the 1990s began, but by the end of the decade music videos and video directors were arguably at their commercial and artistic peak.
Interview with Malcom X
Alex Haley interviews the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s number two – Malcolm X – in a Harlem restaurant.
Beyond City Limits
The age of nations is over. The new urban age has begun.
Urbanized: A documentary film by Gary Hustwit:
Hustwit finally announced the third film in his design trilogy, which will be about the design of cities.
America: Land of Loners? Americans, plugged in and on the move, are confiding in their pets, their computers, and their spouses. What they need is to rediscover the value of friendship.
Why Do Foreigners Like Fanta So Much? A brief global history of sweet fizz.
The Georgia Syndrome Two years after a disastrous war, Tbilisi is booming, but Georgians remain on edge, for one overriding reason: They're not sure Barack Obama loves them enough.
Pebbles- Seen and Unseen (Volunteer Blog)Like most Americans, I like to feel engaged and productive. Give me a project to work on. I am happy. Let me develop a strategy for that goal. I feel energized.
Happy Independence Day
August 24th is Ukraine's Independence Day, celebrated in varying degrees across the country. I'm hoping there's a lot of party planning for next year because it'll be Ukraine's 20th birthday. From the sounds of it, there's not much going on in my village on the actual day (only the big cities got fireworks this year). On Saturday, there was a celebration in the center of town. I was really surprised by how well it was run. All the "townships" were invited to take part in a competition of Ukrainian pride. Each "township" had a table showcasing crafts from their village and took part in a talent show of singing traditional songs or retelling fairytales. The korovai was judged too, a twisted bread that looks like a cake used as a sign of friendship and presented at all major milestones such as weddings, as well as straw dolls and varenikies. I'll let the photos say the rest.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Countdown to School: 8 days!
My summer travels came to an end last week and I'm glad to be home at my site. This summer went by so fast, I hope the year's momentum will continue with just as many positive experiences. Arriving with a little over a week before school begins, I'm trying to organize my materials and revise the curriculum while being outside as much as possible. Right now, there's a cool front moving through that makes being inside the apartment a waste of my day. Because of this, updating my blog isn't a priority and instead I'm moving tote bags of materials across the street to a patch of grass that I've claimed as my work-area (much to my neighbors' disapproval).
When I came home last week and went to the post office I was stoked to find another large box of books waiting for me courtesy of The Creative Company. I'll try to get through as many of them this week as I can, a tacked on mental obligation I'm more than happy to complete. However, my main reading aspiration for today is to read Shiloh, which I haven't read since the third grade. I remember exactly where I finished reading that book when I was nine years old, tearing up a little towards the final pages. I hope reading it fifteen years later I'll have a similar reaction. Along with the box of books, I got a package from my friend Mia that included this:
Thanks Mia for keeping me relevant! Care packages are the best.
I came across this article this morning in the Kyiv Post. Personally, I think it's a tad choppy and I take offense to being part of the "Posh Corps."
Peace Corps volunteers Michael Walter (left) and Margaret Hankamp look on as fellow volunteer Kate Schimmer speaks at a swearing-in ceremony on June 17 in Kyiv. Oleksiy Boyko Ukraine is home to the world’s largest contingency of U.S. Peace Corps volunteers.
They are jokingly referred to as the “Posh Corps,” but they also could be called ambassadors of peace. They carry cell phones, have running water in their homes and a McDonald’s restaurant is usually not far away.
They’re U.S. Peace Corps volunteers in Ukraine, lucky enough perhaps not to dig irrigation ditches like counterparts do in less fortunate parts of the globe. Ukraine is hosting a Peace Corps contingent that is more than 300-members strong, the world’s largest group among 74 countries where the U.S. sponsored volunteers are serving.
The latest batch of them, 72 in total, recently came to Kyiv after 11 weeks of intensive in-country cross-cultural and language training. This group consists of community and youth development volunteers. They are now deployed to various parts of Ukraine, where they will spend the next two years integrating into their assigned communities.
These volunteers work primarily with non-governmental organizations in partnership with municipal governments and businesses. They work with secondary schools, technical schools and agencies involved in sports and youth to promote healthy lifestyles, civic activity, environmental awareness, information technology and entrepreneurship skills.
U.S. President John F. Kennedy hands a pen to his brother-in-law, R. Sargent Shriver, after signing legislation at the White House giving the Peace Corps permanent status, on Sept. 22, 1961. Nearly 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps since, serving in 139 countries, making a difference every day. (AP Photo)
Kate Schimmer, 23, an American volunteer, is a biomedical engineering graduate of New Orleans’ Tulane University. She will teach computer design, safe Internet usage and business computer skills in Solotvyn, a village of 4,000 people in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.
Schimmer’s group is part of an effort to help bring the two nations closer together and achieve better understanding. The U.S.-Ukraine partnership began when U.S. President George Bush Sr. signed a bilateral agreement with Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk in 1992.
The Peace Corps’ original inspiration came from U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who called on Americans to support his “New Frontier” slogan of greater social and economic progress worldwide.
In 1960, as a U.S. senator and presidential candidate, Kennedy made a stop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was greeted by more than 10,000 people at the state university there. Kennedy challenged them: How many of them, he asked, would be willing to serve their country and the cause of peace by living and working in the developing world?
From that inspiration, Kennedy started a federal government agency in 1961 (www.peacecorps.gov), devoted to world peace and economic development. Not everyone has welcomed the program and, in fact, some nations have banned Peace Corps volunteers.
On Christmas Day in 2002, the Russian Foreign Ministry stopped renewing and providing visas to U.S. Peace Corps volunteers. The Federal Security Service (FSB), successor to the Soviet KGB spy agency, accused some of the volunteers of spying.
“Among them are persons who were collecting information on the social, political and economic situation in Russian regions, on officials of governmental bodies and departments, on the course of elections and so on,” FSB head Nikolai Patrushev said then.
The U.S. Embassy in Russia dismissed the charges as “groundless.”
The relationship is different and far more fruitful in welcoming Ukraine.
Since 1992, some 2,300 volunteers have served in more than 1,200 communities as teachers, management consultants, environmentalists and youth development specialists. More than 1 million Ukrainian citizens have received training in 18 years. Some volunteers even return to Ukraine or stay behind to keep working.
This group has volunteers from small towns like Skowhegan, Maine, and large cities like New York City. The younger ones, like Schimmer, are mostly recent graduates taking two years off before entering graduate school or the corporate world, while others are retired – the oldest is 79 – who are seeking an encore career.
“We’re not here to take away jobs,” said Douglass Teschner, the Peace Corps Ukraine country director, a former volunteer in Morocco. “Our teachers work side by side with Ukrainian teachers and jointly develop more progressive English teaching skills. We strengthen the Education Ministry’s curriculum with native speakers while developing the long-term capacity of teachers.”
Only about a third of applicants are accepted as volunteers. More drop out during training.
In Ukraine, volunteers receive a monthly living allowance of Hr 1,372 paid for by U.S. taxpayers. It’s enough to live on, but more importantly, they don’t live much better than many Ukrainians in their midst. Additionally, they often live with host families who accelerate the language and cultural learning process. Expenses related to home stay are also paid for by the U.S. government.
Unlike in the 1990s and early 2000s when Ukraine volunteers were mostly sent to urban centers, today the vast majority get sent to underdeveloped rural towns.
“Volunteers are most needed in the rural areas, because rural residents don’t have the same advantages as those living in larger cities, plus they can make a bigger difference there,” said Iryna Byelayeva of the Family, Youth and Sport Ministry, one of three government bodies involved with providing volunteers with work sites.
The receptiveness of Byelayeva’s and other ministries has kept the demand high for volunteers.
“I get shivers down my spine every time I meet volunteers. Their can-do attitude and belief in their work makes me want to drop everything and join them,” Byelayeva said. “The Americans see opportunity and solutions to problems where we just see obstacles.”
The Peace Corps is part of what U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls “smart power,” an attempt to revive a positive view of America’s standing in the world. Consequently, the Peace Corps is getting more attention in President Barack Obama’s administration – and more cash. On June 30, its budget was upped by 11.5 percent in 2011, to $446 million.
“I see the Peace Corps mission as a very important element of ‘smart power’,” said James Pettit, former deputy chief of mission of the United States in Ukraine. “I consider each volunteer an individual ambassador of the U.S.”
Staying put
When Bostonian Daniel Burke taught conversational English and American Studies in Sumy in 1997-1999, Leonid Kuchma was president and Pavlo Lazarenko was prime minister.
Thirteen years later, Burke teaches 6th and 7th graders language arts reading and cultural studies at the U.S. State Department-funded Kyiv International School.
“Back then we stuck out more, many [Ukrainians] never met foreigners, let alone Americans,” Burke said. “Culturally it was about telling them that not everyone lived like the people shown on the Dynasty show. Government officials wanted to meet me; radio and TV stations wanted to interview us.”
Volunteers who did business consulting have entered the private sector. They include Rich Caproni (1996-1998), who is the chief financial officer of the Viasat satellite TV service company in Kyiv.
Courtney Zukoski consulted and taught in Simferopol and Zaporizhya in 1996-1998. She is now the director of academic and corporate social responsibility programs for Microsoft Ukraine.
Zukoski, a Virginian, said she volunteered for the long term benefits that no multinational corporation could offer her after earning a Master of Business Administration.
“I wanted hands-on regional business experience, foreign language skills, and a launching pad for continued international career opportunities, all the while having the opportunity to do something good for the world.”
In the non-profit world, Joseph Bednarek now is the educations programs manager and director of the International Research and Exchanges Board, which provides leadership and innovative programs to improve the quality of education.
Bednarek, from Indiana, taught English in Chervonohrad of Lviv Oblast in 1999-2001 after graduating from Georgetown University. Afterwards, he went to graduate school in Harvard but returned to Ukraine in 2007 after graduating because he wanted to “be a part of whatever was coming out of the Orange Revolution.”
One highly visible former volunteer in Ukraine is Jorge Zukoski, who served from 1996-1998 and is currently chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, a business association.
The returned volunteers the Kyiv Post spoke with said many choose to work in Ukraine because they believe Ukraine is changing and can continue to change for the better.
Bednarek and Courtney Zukoski, Jorge Zukoski’s wife, said Ukraine feels like Europe, and that Ukrainians feel their country is a part of Europe.
“I think that mentality and, of course, the actual geographic proximity, helps to make Ukraine not feel as remote as other countries where volunteers have served, and thus makes living and working here for many years a much more attractive proposition,” Bednarek said.
Staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at rachkevych@kyivpost.com.
When I came home last week and went to the post office I was stoked to find another large box of books waiting for me courtesy of The Creative Company. I'll try to get through as many of them this week as I can, a tacked on mental obligation I'm more than happy to complete. However, my main reading aspiration for today is to read Shiloh, which I haven't read since the third grade. I remember exactly where I finished reading that book when I was nine years old, tearing up a little towards the final pages. I hope reading it fifteen years later I'll have a similar reaction. Along with the box of books, I got a package from my friend Mia that included this:
Thanks Mia for keeping me relevant! Care packages are the best.
I came across this article this morning in the Kyiv Post. Personally, I think it's a tad choppy and I take offense to being part of the "Posh Corps."
Ambassadors Of Peace
Aug 19 at 22:44 | Mark RachkevychThey are jokingly referred to as the “Posh Corps,” but they also could be called ambassadors of peace. They carry cell phones, have running water in their homes and a McDonald’s restaurant is usually not far away.
They’re U.S. Peace Corps volunteers in Ukraine, lucky enough perhaps not to dig irrigation ditches like counterparts do in less fortunate parts of the globe. Ukraine is hosting a Peace Corps contingent that is more than 300-members strong, the world’s largest group among 74 countries where the U.S. sponsored volunteers are serving.
The latest batch of them, 72 in total, recently came to Kyiv after 11 weeks of intensive in-country cross-cultural and language training. This group consists of community and youth development volunteers. They are now deployed to various parts of Ukraine, where they will spend the next two years integrating into their assigned communities.
These volunteers work primarily with non-governmental organizations in partnership with municipal governments and businesses. They work with secondary schools, technical schools and agencies involved in sports and youth to promote healthy lifestyles, civic activity, environmental awareness, information technology and entrepreneurship skills.
U.S. President John F. Kennedy hands a pen to his brother-in-law, R. Sargent Shriver, after signing legislation at the White House giving the Peace Corps permanent status, on Sept. 22, 1961. Nearly 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps since, serving in 139 countries, making a difference every day. (AP Photo)
Kate Schimmer, 23, an American volunteer, is a biomedical engineering graduate of New Orleans’ Tulane University. She will teach computer design, safe Internet usage and business computer skills in Solotvyn, a village of 4,000 people in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.
Schimmer’s group is part of an effort to help bring the two nations closer together and achieve better understanding. The U.S.-Ukraine partnership began when U.S. President George Bush Sr. signed a bilateral agreement with Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk in 1992.
The Peace Corps’ original inspiration came from U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who called on Americans to support his “New Frontier” slogan of greater social and economic progress worldwide.
In 1960, as a U.S. senator and presidential candidate, Kennedy made a stop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was greeted by more than 10,000 people at the state university there. Kennedy challenged them: How many of them, he asked, would be willing to serve their country and the cause of peace by living and working in the developing world?
From that inspiration, Kennedy started a federal government agency in 1961 (www.peacecorps.gov), devoted to world peace and economic development. Not everyone has welcomed the program and, in fact, some nations have banned Peace Corps volunteers.
On Christmas Day in 2002, the Russian Foreign Ministry stopped renewing and providing visas to U.S. Peace Corps volunteers. The Federal Security Service (FSB), successor to the Soviet KGB spy agency, accused some of the volunteers of spying.
“Among them are persons who were collecting information on the social, political and economic situation in Russian regions, on officials of governmental bodies and departments, on the course of elections and so on,” FSB head Nikolai Patrushev said then.
The U.S. Embassy in Russia dismissed the charges as “groundless.”
The relationship is different and far more fruitful in welcoming Ukraine.
Since 1992, some 2,300 volunteers have served in more than 1,200 communities as teachers, management consultants, environmentalists and youth development specialists. More than 1 million Ukrainian citizens have received training in 18 years. Some volunteers even return to Ukraine or stay behind to keep working.
This group has volunteers from small towns like Skowhegan, Maine, and large cities like New York City. The younger ones, like Schimmer, are mostly recent graduates taking two years off before entering graduate school or the corporate world, while others are retired – the oldest is 79 – who are seeking an encore career.
“We’re not here to take away jobs,” said Douglass Teschner, the Peace Corps Ukraine country director, a former volunteer in Morocco. “Our teachers work side by side with Ukrainian teachers and jointly develop more progressive English teaching skills. We strengthen the Education Ministry’s curriculum with native speakers while developing the long-term capacity of teachers.”
Only about a third of applicants are accepted as volunteers. More drop out during training.
In Ukraine, volunteers receive a monthly living allowance of Hr 1,372 paid for by U.S. taxpayers. It’s enough to live on, but more importantly, they don’t live much better than many Ukrainians in their midst. Additionally, they often live with host families who accelerate the language and cultural learning process. Expenses related to home stay are also paid for by the U.S. government.
Unlike in the 1990s and early 2000s when Ukraine volunteers were mostly sent to urban centers, today the vast majority get sent to underdeveloped rural towns.
“Volunteers are most needed in the rural areas, because rural residents don’t have the same advantages as those living in larger cities, plus they can make a bigger difference there,” said Iryna Byelayeva of the Family, Youth and Sport Ministry, one of three government bodies involved with providing volunteers with work sites.
The receptiveness of Byelayeva’s and other ministries has kept the demand high for volunteers.
“I get shivers down my spine every time I meet volunteers. Their can-do attitude and belief in their work makes me want to drop everything and join them,” Byelayeva said. “The Americans see opportunity and solutions to problems where we just see obstacles.”
The Peace Corps is part of what U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls “smart power,” an attempt to revive a positive view of America’s standing in the world. Consequently, the Peace Corps is getting more attention in President Barack Obama’s administration – and more cash. On June 30, its budget was upped by 11.5 percent in 2011, to $446 million.
“I see the Peace Corps mission as a very important element of ‘smart power’,” said James Pettit, former deputy chief of mission of the United States in Ukraine. “I consider each volunteer an individual ambassador of the U.S.”
Staying put
When Bostonian Daniel Burke taught conversational English and American Studies in Sumy in 1997-1999, Leonid Kuchma was president and Pavlo Lazarenko was prime minister.
Thirteen years later, Burke teaches 6th and 7th graders language arts reading and cultural studies at the U.S. State Department-funded Kyiv International School.
“Back then we stuck out more, many [Ukrainians] never met foreigners, let alone Americans,” Burke said. “Culturally it was about telling them that not everyone lived like the people shown on the Dynasty show. Government officials wanted to meet me; radio and TV stations wanted to interview us.”
Volunteers who did business consulting have entered the private sector. They include Rich Caproni (1996-1998), who is the chief financial officer of the Viasat satellite TV service company in Kyiv.
Courtney Zukoski consulted and taught in Simferopol and Zaporizhya in 1996-1998. She is now the director of academic and corporate social responsibility programs for Microsoft Ukraine.
Zukoski, a Virginian, said she volunteered for the long term benefits that no multinational corporation could offer her after earning a Master of Business Administration.
“I wanted hands-on regional business experience, foreign language skills, and a launching pad for continued international career opportunities, all the while having the opportunity to do something good for the world.”
In the non-profit world, Joseph Bednarek now is the educations programs manager and director of the International Research and Exchanges Board, which provides leadership and innovative programs to improve the quality of education.
Bednarek, from Indiana, taught English in Chervonohrad of Lviv Oblast in 1999-2001 after graduating from Georgetown University. Afterwards, he went to graduate school in Harvard but returned to Ukraine in 2007 after graduating because he wanted to “be a part of whatever was coming out of the Orange Revolution.”
One highly visible former volunteer in Ukraine is Jorge Zukoski, who served from 1996-1998 and is currently chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, a business association.
The returned volunteers the Kyiv Post spoke with said many choose to work in Ukraine because they believe Ukraine is changing and can continue to change for the better.
Bednarek and Courtney Zukoski, Jorge Zukoski’s wife, said Ukraine feels like Europe, and that Ukrainians feel their country is a part of Europe.
“I think that mentality and, of course, the actual geographic proximity, helps to make Ukraine not feel as remote as other countries where volunteers have served, and thus makes living and working here for many years a much more attractive proposition,” Bednarek said.
Staff writer Mark Rachkevych can be reached at rachkevych@kyivpost.com.
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