GLOW: Girls Leading Our World - in the Kherson oblast

Girls are a powerful force to be reckoned with when given the chance. And as I saw this weekend, Ukraine has some pretty amazing young women.


My friend Stephanie Somerman, a Peace Corps Community Development volunteer who lives near me, decided that the GLOW summer camp needed to be relived this fall. She, along with her Ukrainian counterpart (Alona) and a couple of her co-workers (Olya and Julia) - and several other volunteers from her town - organized and implemented a very memorable, successful weekend. Stephanie works with a social services center in Chaplinka, a small town in the oblast, which is where the camp was held. The director of the school at which we had the camp was such a gracious host and accommodated all of us with a lot of enthusiasm and positivity.

Meet Stephanie:


Nine of us Peace Corps volunteers traveled from other cities/towns/villages in the oblast (state) to Chaplinka, where the camp was held. Along with several of the volunteers came students in 9th-, 10th-, and 11th-grade. A Ukrainian volunteer, my good friend Olya, came along too, and she, along with Alona and Julia, were great assets - they translated a lot of what we couldn't, and set an example to the girls that the ideals we were delivering to the 17 teenagers were not necessarily "American" or "western" - they're concepts/issues that are very important all over the world. And every single girl in the world deserves to be given, at the bare minimum, the information that they got over the weekend. And of course, as at any camp, we gained many new perspectives from the girls in return.

Camp began on Friday evening - everyone arrived, ate dinner, and were ready for the introductions/rules/expectations and for How to Glow Lesson 1: Leadership.

We found out the girls' expectations/hopes about the following 2 days. They all wanted to practice their English, learn new information, take lots of photos, and make new friends. We also established rules - everyone signed the contract/poster. :)

Lesson 1: Leadership came next. I led that lesson and it went well; it was great to communicate with so many teenage girls about the importance of feeling capable of being a leader, whether it be on a small or large scale. The word "leader" isn't a big, scary word - it's a word that can be applied to every person on some level. That lesson included some great, creative skits!

The Quest followed - in teams, everyone had to go to a station, do a task, and get a puzzle piece. The team that completed their puzzle first won! Tasks included filling a cup with water using a spoon...

...and running a 3-legged race...

...and singing the Ukrainian national anthem.

Then came reflections (or as we called it at Hometown Europe, "roses and thorns") and sleep.

Olya's first time in a sleeping bag:

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Saturday, Maggie started the day with yoga. She didn't go incredibly easy on the girls; they got a pretty decent work-out.

After breakfast, Stephanie's counterpart Alona gave a lesson on project design and management. The girls gained information on how to successfully plan and execute a project. The lesson was all in Ukrainian so unfortunately I was only able to get about 20% of it (I learned Russian, and my whole town operates almost purely in Russian - it's hard to believe that a town 45 minutes away has so much Ukrainian speaking!) However, I clearly saw that the girls got a lot out of the lesson and had some great ideas!


Stephanie and Megan Trout co-presented on professionalism; any kind of project or future educational or career endeavor requires acting professional on some level. Steph and Megan had an entertaining skit on a good versus bad interview. Once I get ahold of a picture from that, I'm definitely adding it on here - it was quality stuff!

Then it was time for tie-dye! It was a first for everyone. It was pretty fun throwing in an element from a typical American camp. Some girls brought white T-shirts; those who didn't made bandannas. Some people made both!


Stephanie
Kaity and Shannon Our new friendJulia and Olya, 2 of the Ukrainian volunteers

Lunch was even better than expected - one of the many things that Alona did, with the help of two other women, was make sure that 40 people were fed at each meal. I'll never get tired of real borscht made by real Ukrainians.


How to GLOW lesson 2 was on body image and was led by Kaity and me. It is always a powerful topic to talk about with teenage girls, and a very important one. Among several activities, we included this video (the Dove Evolution commercial) and had a positive discussion afterward. Kaity concluded the lesson well: stop comparing yourself with someone who isn't real.




Stephanie's friend who is a psychologist (named Olya) gave a great lesson next on sexual health and dating and was able to answer a lot of anonymous, written questions that people weren't necessarily comfortable asking out loud or at home. Of course, everything in that room at that time was promised to stay confidential, so I'm going to just leave it at that. But I will say that Olya did a great job and was really approachable.


Team-building games included People to People and Bibbity Bobbity Boo.

By the way, the mayor dropped by!


And then!
The Kossaks came. A team of Kossaks (yes, real ones, naturally! :)) arrived and served the entire group a big pot of duck soup. It was awesome; they were so much fun and really friendly. It was really amazing of them to put so much effort into visiting the camp and providing dinner. I had two helpings of the stuff!


We finished the evening off with a film about human trafficking ("Lilya 4-Ever") - it's about a girl from Estonia who is promised a better life by her new romantic partner, Andrey. He woos her and invites her to Sweden, where they'll have a better life. However, he is conspiring the whole time to sell her as a sex slave once they get there. It's a very powerful film (even if you don't understand any Russian at all it's well worth watching) and it brought on a lot of interesting discussion. It was a segway into the next day's topic of human trafficking. And on a happier note, the girls also got to make friendship bracelets ("fenechky") during the movie!Anne, Maggie, and Beth explaining the bracelets
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Before we knew it, the final day crept up, and I overheard several girls say to each other that they weren't ready to leave. In just 2 short days, they'd already become friends - as one girl put it, "I came here alone but now I feel like I knew these girls for one hundred years." :) Other girls said, several times, that they had "many emotions" about the camp.

After Maggie's yoga and our breakfast (again cooked by the lovely Alona, who showed up bright and early to make sure everyone was fed), it was time for the lesson/discussion on human trafficking. In Ukraine, it is an incredibly huge problem with far too many victims, and it's not talked about nearly enough. There's a hotline (the number is 5-2-7) and can be called from any major cell phone provider for free; anyone can call it to report an incident related to trafficking, or inquire about the safety/legitimacy of a company/organization. In an earlier blog post of mine (from last spring), there's more detailed information about the 527 campaign.

Julia taught the lesson on counter-trafficking - the best tool for fighting this issue is simply spreading information to as many people as possible. A lot of people, specifically in villages and small towns, don't have the opportunity to hear much (if at all) about human trafficking, and aren't aware that it's a problem in Ukraine, or even in their own hometown.

Julia led this lesson and sparked a long discussion with quite a few questions - it all took over an hour, and everyone was interested and attentive the whole time. It was Julia's first lesson on CT and she did a great job.

The 3rd How to GLOW lesson was on self-esteem, led by Megan and Shannon. In included an activity of writing anonymous compliments on sheets of paper taped to everyone's backs, writing positive words about themselves, and listing different things that make them feel good about themselves. It was a great lesson and I'll bring the lesson to my school in my town (I used it today in one of my classes!) Self-respect is a vital topic for teenagers.

After lunch we had our closing ceremony and watched a slide show that Stephanie gave up a lot of sleep to put together and burn to discs for everyone. Every participant received a certificate... and Oreos as a bonus. :) How very American.

To read more about GLOW camps, and the camp for boys (TOBE), check out globeukraine.blogspot.com

Teachers' Day

My mother is an ESL teacher - I learned, very early on, the importance of education. As one of my friends put it recently, I even exist because of it. My mom married a man from Mecca who was once determined to live in the States long enough to get a grasp of English. Even though my entire life has been intertwined with education, never did I plan on taking on the role that my mother had. But now, I find myself doing the very thing that she has done for over 20 years (but in Ukraine.)

It was International Teachers' Day yesterday (here, at least - it was observed yesterday because it was the closest Friday to the actual date.) Despite the fact that, like I mentioned above, the mantra instilled in me is that "education is more valuable than anything else in the world," I had never even heard of Teachers' Day until moving to Ukraine. I've lived in Ukraine long enough to get to experience three Teachers' Days, each one being very memorable. Someday, I hope the holiday will be celebrated in the States like it is here.

Of course I can only speak for our particular school in our particular town: a lot of thought and preparation is put into this annual tradition.
If any other school in Ukraine does it like this school does, I can say that this holiday is duly celebrated. I felt so appreciated yesterday, thanks to my many students and my co-teachers. There's more chocolate in my apartment than a human could ever wish for.

Yes, I teach a full load of classes per week and work hard. Yes, I have 4 after-school English clubs. And, yes, I give grades. But with all that, I still don't deal with half of what my co-teachers have to handle on a daily basis. The bureaucracy behind (or, more like in the forefront of) a teaching career is something I'm more than okay with not experiencing first-hand. And I give so many props to the teachers here for everything they do.

So, really, yesterday was for them. I was just lucky enough to get to be a part of it.


I have 7 weeks left of teaching, so I suppose now is an okay time to say this (although I am far from ready to bid my farewells): thank you to all of the people (students, teachers, and staff) who have made my two years teaching in Ukraine such an unforgettable, valuable experience. I'll miss you.

Everyone: never, ever take for granted the people who teach you. And I've learned (from being a teacher) to never take for granted people who want to learn.

Some of my students performing the opening number of yesterday's concert:

The concert was attended by teachers, parents, students, and retired teachers.


A well-known song from the Soviet days - performed by 9th-graders:

A poetry reading by little kids that was too cute to be real:


Singing and dancing

С праздником, учителя! И спасибо вам, ученики!

Politics and protests

Walking down the main street (Khreschatik) of Kiev these days, one will find him/herself amid a loud cluster of musical notes blaring from two speakers from opposite sides of the street. The music will follow you for quite some distance, as its volume is overwhelming.

Along with the music, two clashing songs competing to drown out each other, there is consistent shouting, mainly from the side of the street with the fancier, larger protest set-up.

The side of the street (where the Khreschatik metro station is) boasts a small, one-table canvassing of Julia Tymoschenko loyalists, complete with their own large, black speaker.

Opposite these former-prime-minister fans sit/stand at least fifty protesters and twenty tables, decorated with slogans that only the visually impaired passerby has the opportunity to ignore. The message is loud and clear: Julia Tymoschenko is a criminal, an unfit leader to the nation.

I haven't lived in Ukraine long enough to have enough information - much less life experience here living under this government - to have a solidified stance regarding Tymoschenko. (But I do think I have an opinion on the matter due to stories from my co-workers - I'm not really in the mood to get "in trouble" with Peace Corps, so I will refrain from putting it into words on my public blog, even though I want to.)

Ukraine has been in major news media as of late (Wall Street Journal most recently), as many people may take notice of.

Where are these protests stemming from?

December 2010: Julia Tymoschenko reportedly misused over 400 million dollars.
August 5th: Julia Tymoschenko was arrested; she was said to have violated court rulings on multiple occasions.

Read this article.

So, opponents of Tymoschenko are basically like, "Dude, she's whack for doing all this," and pro-Julia citizens are like, "Have you SEEN what shady stuff the president has done during and before his term? HE'S the one who's whack."

And, finally, here is my video of the aforementioned current Khreschatik attractions - a protest against a protest, one might say.

Peace Corps Ukraine group 37

At the end of August, 98 Peace Corps volunteers gathered in a little town in western Ukraine (Slavske) for our close-of-service conference - I am so proud to be a part of this group! Group 37 has some amazing people, and I'm sure I'll be friends with a lot of them for life.

Shots of Slavske



Some of those friends I mentioned :)




A folk singing group surprised us on Independence Day (August 24th) by performing for us - so cool! It was the 20th year of independence of Ukraine, so it was very fitting to be in the west.




Me and my cluster (the group I trained with for the first 3 months in Ukraine) 2 years ago



Me and my cluster 2 weeks ago




Peace Corps Ukraine Group 37!



At the train station on our last day of COS conference