Volunteering in Ukraine

Tim Podolsky

In the summer of 2005, I had a unique opportunity to participate in the inaugural Ukrainian-English exchange program known as Camp Tabir Zustrich. As a Ukrainian-Canadian, who teaches English as a Second Language, this was not only an opportunity to further my job skills, but it was also an opportunity to learn more about my heritage and at the same time give back to my ancestral country. I was on of four English teachers, who taught during this exchange. Our goal was to develop English conversational skills, over a two-week period. It was a challenging experience, but at the same time it was also very rewarding.

During the classes, we focused mostly on basic English skills. After a few days of walking around the camp and trying desperately to express myself in Ukrainian, it was not hard to isolate the expressions and language skills that are most important for a beginner. We focused on greetings and goodbyes, requests, expressing agreement, asking permission, extending invitations, and giving directions. For myself, as a learner of Ukrainian, it seemed imperative to know how to introduce myself, how to say "hello" and "goodbye", how to say "please" and "thank you", how to say "yes" and "no", how to ask for something, and most importantly how to say "I don't understand Ukrainian".

With the lower level students, the teachers started by teaching vocabulary; numbers, colours, body parts, days of the week, months, food groups, and telling time were considered to be the most important. The teachers also focused on grammatical skills such as parts of speech, verb tenses, and question formation. Because some of the lower level classes contained students that were a little bit younger, whenever possible, we tried to reinforce the learning through games, songs, role-playing, and creative writing. For example, we played various forms of bingo, scrabble, and an assortment of other word games. We conducted scavenger hunts and story writing contests, we listened to songs that were adapted as cloze tests, we role-played being in a restaurant and ordering food, and we held a drama event, in which each class was responsible for presenting a play of their choice.

With the upper-intermediate and advanced classes, the emphasis was on conversation at a higher level. Students did not need to focus on basic vocabulary and grammar, because their English abilities were quite strong. We discussed issues that included art, ethics, music, romance, sports, and culture. The students were incredibly well read and very knowledgeable about the world in general, and it was a pleasure to hear their unique opinions about many of these topics. We read from the newspaper, we played games like jeopardy and twenty questions, we did some impromptu speeches, and we worked on informal conversation management strategies, so that they could communicate more effectively with their Canadian counterparts.

I had a wonderful two weeks teaching a class of very mature Ukrainian teenagers. They were very keen to participate in all of the activities that had been organized for them, and they were always eager to help, when called upon to do so. I was very impressed by these young people, and I am very thankful that I was able to participate in the Camp Zustrich exchange. It was a unique experience, and it has inspired me in many ways. I have always felt that I am too old and far-gone to learn the Ukrainian language, and I have avoided it because I could not envision myself being able to learn it. Within a very short time period, I learned quite a few useful expressions, and I have recently enrolled in a local Ukrainian language studies course, so that I can one day return to Ukraine and practice with some of the people that I met during this exchange.

Project "Liubov - Love"

(A Canadian project assisting poor youth in Ukraine, especially in orphanages, homes for street kids and schools)

A project under the auspices of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, Inc .

139 Machray Ave. Winnipeg, Mb., Canada R2W 0Z2

Phone: (204) 586-7089 e-mail: yereniuk@cc.umanitoba.ca

Fall/Winter 2005 Campaign (#12)

Dec. 9, 2005

Dear Friend of Poor Children In Ukraine,

  The newest campaign to assist poor children and youth in Ukraine is initiated for the fall/winter period of 2005. As we greet this season of the year, we know the special needs of children wherever they may live in the world. Collection XII is geared towards supplying the children with fall clothing and footwear for the months of October to December. We all know how this clothing is needed by our youth here in Canada....and yet in Ukraine there is even a stronger need, especially in orphanages and the homes for street kids.

Please make a donation, small or large, to support "Project Liubov-Love". We hope to donate these materials to some 200 children in Ukraine. Last year our fall/winter campaign raised $1245 for the poor children. Can we count on your assistance now? For your convenience, please use the below donation form. All donations will receive income tax receipts for 2005. Again thanks for your support.

Since 2001, and in our first four years of existence, some $50,000 has been raised for the poor youth in Ukraine and another $20,000 worth of in-kind gifts has been donated. This has truly been a tremendous response and produced great benefits to the youth in the various orphanages and homes for street kids.

Let's keep on giving,

Prof. Roman Yereniuk,

PLL Co-ordinator

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Please accept my donation to the Fall/Winter 2005 Campaign for Poor children in Ukraine in the sum of (please check one):

_____ $25 _____ $50 _____ $75 _____ $100 or $_____ another amount.

Name and Surname: ____________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________

  ___________________________________ _______________________

Please make cheque payable to the Canada Ukraine Fdn., c/o Project "Liubov-Love"

for an income tax receipt. Thank you very much!

CAMP - TABIR "ZUSTRICH" II - 2006

A CANADA-UKRAINE YOUTH EXCHANGE AND EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

(Program of three weeks: two weeks in a Carpathian camp and one week touring Ukraine)

July 2- 23, 2006

Coordinator: Prof. Roman Yereniuk

139 Machray Ave. Winnipeg R2W 0Z2 Ph. 204 586-7089

email yereniuk@cc.umanitoba .ca

Camp-Tabir "Zustrich" (CTZ) is a unique opportunity for youth aged 13 to 17 to travel to Ukraine to experience the Ukrainian language and culture through an immersion "zustrich - encounter" with youth from Ukraine.

Program:

•  An intensive approach to conversational Ukrainian for Ukrainian Canadians youth by qualified teachers from Ukraine and conversational ESL English for Ukraine's students (3 hours per day for two weeks)

•  Workshops in Ukrainian culture and crafts by Ukrainian artisans and specialists

•  Ukrainian workshops by qualified Ukrainian instructors

•  Evening recreational programs - vatra, singing, sports, walking tours, dances, etc

•  Travel in Ukraine - week three - Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano Frankivsk, Ternopil, Pochayiv, and Yaremche.

Age Limits: 13 - 17 years

Size of group: 25 Ukrainian Canadian youth and 40 youth from Ukraine (this number will include students from orphanages and with poverty backgrounds)

Ukraine's Partner: Persha Lastiwka School in Ivano Frankivsk

Funding: app. $ 3000 to $ 3200 - from Winnipeg (for departure from other cities, the costs will be adjusted). Fundraising will be done to offset some of these costs.

Searching for 25 excited, energetic and dynamic Ukrainian Canadian students.

Are you interested?????

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I am interested in attending Camp Zustrich-Encounter II. Please send me more information:

Name: _________________________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________________

Tel. ___ ___________ email________________________Age as of July 1, 2006____

Please forward to Camp-Tabir Zustrich, c/o Prof. Roman Yereniuk, 139 Machray Ave. Winnipeg R2W 0Z2 or phone 204 586-7089 email yereniuk@cc.umanitoba.ca