January 15, 2005

Work has been the most disappointing aspect of my Peace Corps experience. I came to Ukraine expecting the unexpected and that is certainly what I got.

Conversation, Winter 2002:

Random acquaintance: “So, you’re joining the Peace Corps. What are you going to do, teach English?”

Me: “No, I am going to be a consultant with NGO’s in Ukraine.”

Conversation, Fall 2005

Random acquaintance: “So, you just got back from Peace Corps. What did you do?”

Me: “Well, I started this English club…”

One of my most fulfilling experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer has been my conversational English club.

Last spring, after I had been in Ukraine for a year, I decided it was time to do some work. I contacted a former Peace Corps Ukraine volunteer who was then working for the United Nations HIV program in Kiev. I asked her if there were any projects I could help out with. She took me along to a meeting at Enay, an NGO that runs a support group for former intravenous drug users, and does other education and outreach work. (IV drug use is the most common way HIV is spread in Ukraine). I later met with some of the staff and volunteers at Enay. One volunteer, Yulia, asked if I would help her with her English language skills, which she wanted to improve before embarking on fundraising work for Enay. I agreed. (Yulia had a dramatic personal story that I admit captivated me. She had worked as a consultant for high profile US financial firms during the transition of Ukraine from communism to capitalism. She then suffered a head injury, which has affected her memory and therefore English language abilities). Well, our classes turned into a conversational English club for volunteers and clients of Enay. (Yulia did go on to write grants, but for a different NGO and in Russian).

My English club participants are enthusiastic and always thankful to me for my time. The primary challenge is meeting the variety of language abilities of the participants, which ranges from a few words to fluent. I have developed a routine where we start off with an easy warm up. Usually, we go around the circle and each person just has to say any word in English. Gradually, I add a few rules, such as a word that begins with a particular letter, or words in a given category. Then, we have a more advanced discussion, and those who are not fluent simply listen. Often, one person will translate into Russian for those whose English is not fluent. What keeps me going back to English club each week is the people.

I have met, for example, Vlad and his sister Helen. Vlad was a drug user until five years ago when his son was born and he stopped using. Note: unlike drug recovery programs in the west, Ukrainians simply quit cold turkey. Okay, the usually continue smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. Vlad has by now also stopped using nicotine and caffeine as well. Helen is a doctor in Kiev. They both studied English in school: they lived for a time in Siberia. They are both fluent in English, and I have learned so much about daily life in the Soviet Union and in independent Ukraine from both of them.

Besides my work with the English club, my renewed commitment to studying Russian, and my newest hobby: baking apple crisps, I am working with the an organization in Kiev, “Hesed,” a Jewish welfare agency, funded mostly through the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, commonly referred to in the states as “JDC,” and over here as “the Joint.”

When my first assignment closed in the fall, I had a few ideas about what I wanted to do, at that point with 8 months of my service to go. I looked into extending my secondary project, with Enay, an NGO working on HIV/AIDS issues, into a full time project. I also talked to a Peace Corps volunteer colleague about working with her organization, and working with a women’s business center in a small town in Crimea. However, Peace Corps had received an application from the Joint for a volunteer. The business lead specialist asked me if I would be interested. I was, of course, thrilled at the opportunity to become more involved with the Jewish community here. I had an interview with the deputy director, it seemed like a good fit, and we both agreed to work together.

My explorations with Enay ended in the conclusion that I would continue to do my English language conversation club, but that further work with them was an unrealistic expectation. And, while the idea of moving to a small town in Crimea seemed romantic in some ways, Peace Corps discouraged it. Many young women volunteers who are assigned to small towns in Crimea end up quite unhappy.

I began to meet with various directors and staff members of organizations in Kiev that receive funding from the Joint. The deputy director I had interviewed with was helpful in the process of narrowing down which projects I could be most successful with. But, he also decided that there was no place for me to work in their offices, and that I should instead work at the offices of the Jewish community center. So I did. But, then the JCC rearranged their staff and program, and now there is really no place for me to work now. So, my work week now consists of meeting with people which usually takes a couple of hours, And, doing whatever internet work I need to do from the Peace Corps office volunteer lounge. I am working with Hesed on developing local fundraising, and with Hillel on a few projects.

I have, throughout my time here, given thought to what I will do next. I have considered many options. I did consider pursing a graduate degree in Social Work for a time, inspired by my experience working in this community. However, I have decided to apply to the MA in Public Policy Administration program at both San Francisco State University and California State University at Sacramento. I take the GRE on February 1; wish me luck!