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.