Ten days of fun and inspiration.

Skadovk enchanted us. It is a small and rather isolated town. Miles of steppes separate it from the nearest villages. But it is a cozy place to live in, with a long waterfront walkway and spacious parks. In summer, it is a vibrant community; the number of residents nearly triples due to holiday makers that come from many parts of Ukraine. This place is known for its shallow beaches, deemed perfect for family vacation with little kids. Nowhere else did I see an evening dancing club where only kids are charged an entrance fee, while grown-ups come in for free as their escorts.

Looking back, our task seemed next to impossible. We only had ten 3-hour sessions to deliver on rather challenging expectations stated in the program goals, such as "empower the development of the young generation of Ukrainians" and give them "more opportunities to change the course of history." We did not know how much English the kids would understand. We were not sure what resources we would have at the school. We had never met the team of local teachers we were going to work with. Last but not least, we had no experience in the methodology promoted by Global Office: game-centered learning that is supposed to be easy and fun. The demos during the training gave us some idea, but not enough to fill me with confidence and relieve my anxiety.

Here is what we discovered. 1) The school had all necessary resources -- including wi-fi, a multimedia projector, and even a sound system with microphones on par with conference rooms of Washington think tanks. 2) We met a team of skilled and dedicated teachers who had planned a diverse and entertaining program for the camp. They spared no effort to make it fun for the kids. 3) We discovered that the biggest treasure of the project were the kids themselves. They were intelligent, responsive, and enormously friendly.

Farewell Party

Like other international volunteers who we talked with, I understood the most important thing about this program. You just open up your heart to these kids, like they open their hearts to you. The rest adds on. That was the magic of inspiration we gave to one another. Which was exactly what the program anticipated. We played various games, we sang funny songs, we worked in teams while cooking and making sand sculptures. We traveled together to a "Window on America" library in Kherson that is supported by the U.S. Embassy. Together, we produced a video and painted a mural. My "cultural learning" conversations embraced a broad scope of themes from Columbus and George Washington to Mary Poppins with her "spoonful of sugar". We talked about American and Ukrainian schools, foods, and holidays. We chanted "Supercalifragilistickexpialidocious!"

We made bondings that will hopefully last for long. We hope to continue talking with those kids and their teachers remotely via Skype and other media during the school year.

In addition, here is a reflection written by my child and assistant, Jamie, who is 16. She begins 11th grade at Eleanor Roosevelt High School this fall.

Coloring the Sun Purple in Ukraine: A Reflection 

By Jamie Voytsekhovska

The motto of the GO Camp program is, "If you want to change the world, inspire a child." Volunteering at a GO camp and working with those kids has made the impact of that quote take root into my very soul. I realize that in America we live in a bubble of privilege, and we don't think much about it. This experience has helped me expand my worldview and learn more about myself and the world. I think I used to be a very cynical person and let the evils of 

the world drag me down, essentially letting them win as I grew discouraged and would feel that I couldn't do anything to make the world better. But after I worked with the kids in Skadovsk, I learned that we can truly change the world by educating and inspiring others. I was helping these kids expand their world, was showing them other cultures and how they are a part of a bigger world than they think. In turn, they taught me about the culture of Ukraine and allowed me to feel at home in this country where I was born. I have never felt closer to Ukraine than I have in the weeks when I worked and shared inspiration with those young Ukrainians.

I was instructed to only speak English around the kids, and pretend that I do not speak any Ukrainian or Russian. This was to make sure they step out of their comfort zone and make an effort to speak English in order to form a connection with me. So, this was good for their learning, but it also was setting a language barrier between me and them. This has taught me a profound lesson: the only thing that divides is what we allow to divide us.

I was able to form meaningful connections with students despite language barriers. We could find that we speak a common language of art or music, or perhaps we share the same struggles with fear of mistakes or perfectionism. Many children speak a common language of benevolent mischief. Another simple but important lesson that can and should be applied to the rest of the world: people are the same everywhere. We are all driven by the same desires: to be loved, learn, and improve ourselves. I could see the same types of personalities among those kids as I see in my own classes at school. From "class clown" personas to shy kids, people behave similarly, all driven by shared pursuit of happiness. Not only has this lesson helped me connect with more people, but it has helped me rid myself of the discord brought onto me by my bicultural identity.

Born in Ukraine and raised in America from age 6, I am often considered too Ukrainian to be American, and too American to be Ukrainian. Thus, I end with a sense of being alienated, and I find refuge in blending more deeply into American culture. This summer camp experience allowed me to apply both of my cultural identities to form bonds with the Ukrainian students. It has also made me realize that these two cultures do not have to be mutually exclusive.

Despite the similarity in human nature and personalities, I do see how the difference in cultures and the teaching styles of schools affect students' development as individuals and what values are ingrained into them. In American schools, children are taught their rights and responsibilities, and encouraged to be creative and think for themselves. In Ukrainian schools, there are specters of Soviet values of order and obedience lurking in the hallways - students are taught to memorize and do things correctly, above all. For example, one day in the camp the students were told to draw and present imaginary animals. These kids had an extremely hard time thinking outside the box. "Think of anything you want - a dragon, a sea monster, a unicorn." I told them. They settled on sea monster. Their sea monster was "a very big whale with shark teeth". "Does it have any magical powers? What does it do?" I asked, prompting them to think creatively. It did not have any magical powers, it was simply a very big whale with shark teeth. Compare this to American schools: I distinctly remember how I was coloring a picture in my first grade. I turned to the boy next to me, who had colored his sun purple and his sky green. "That's not how it's supposed to be!" I try to explain to him. His response was a shrug and an offhand comment - "But wouldn't it be cooler if it was?" The biggest difference between Ukrainian and American schools is this. In America, the sun is purple, or blue, or even green, if you want. But in Ukraine, the sun is always a perfect, yellow circle. I will continue to try to do my part to change that, and help the Ukrainian youth move this country forward towards prosperous creativity, to allow us all to thrive.