preparing for work - 09.14.08

well the last couple weeks have been a good end to both summer vacation and the summer heat. the weather has started to cool off at night (even down to the 50s i’m guessing), and with that, everyone has started to return from their august vacations, even if it’s only mentally as in my case.

elnur and i spent the first week of September at a peace corps training in kyiv. the topic was social enterprises, ways that non-profits can start businesses to support their social programs here in Ukraine. there are a few peculiarities because of Ukrainian law, but the overall idea is very much consistent with everywhere else around the world.

as we were told, many countries came to aid Ukraine in the early 90s, providing funding for a huge variety of activities. however, this led to a culture of dependence on the part of Ukrainian ngo’s always looking for the next grant or project for which funding was available. now, as donors are either moving their money to other parts of the world or becoming more stringent with their requirements, Ukrainian ngo’s are facing a true test of sustainability. they need to be able to bring in money through membership fees, fees for products or service, fundraising, or through private business channels associated with their missions.

one idea that we’ve been throwing around is a partnership with the local credit union. here in Ukraine, credit is much harder to find than in the us. as an example, if a farmer comes to the credit union and asks for a loan to either start a cooperative with colleagues or buy new equipment, the credit union may give the loan at 36% interest per year or higher. this is also a similar rate that a bank may give to an entrepreneur hoping to start their own small business around the country, based primarily on factors such as the current inflation rate, the need to continue making a profit, and generally regardless of past credit history (which is sparse in many cases anyway).

to help with at least part of this equation, the idea is that the business center, which now has 5 years of experience helping entrepreneurs with various issues in starting up their businesses, can partner with the credit union to help reduce the overall risk of the business venture. perspektiva can help the farmer/entrepreneur create a solid business plan to present to the credit union, which will reward the entrepreneur for their planning with a reduced interest rate to help with their business idea. additionally, as the entrepreneur pays back the loan, a small percentage of that loan will also go to perspektiva for their initial consulting services and help with reducing the overall risk of the project. this money can then finance the social programs that perspektiva also wants to do around the county.

in this way, the entrepreneur is rewarded for their initial work in thinking through some of the risks for the business, perspektiva is rewarded for helping create a solid business which can pay back its loans, and the credit union can still make their 20% profit for its members but also reduce risk and potentially grow their pool of members. this is just one of the project ideas that we will be working on going forward, but things are definitely moving now that the weather is getting cooler.

after getting back from kyiv, i had a chance to talk to the first volunteer that was assigned to sovietsky four years ago. he was on a break from work and decided to visit Ukraine for a couple weeks, spending a few days back here in crimea. it was pretty neat being able to hear how much progress has occurred just in the couple years since he has left. there is now a “supermarket” that did not previously exist, more people are using scooters around town now instead of walking or riding their bikes, and young people that he knew have now gotten married and started families. it was a good visit for a couple days, and i’m sure i’ll come up with some more questions for him as we get started working over the next couple weeks.

these couple weeks wrapped up with my first visit to zaparozha this past weekend to spend some time with lauren (about 7 hours by train from sovietskyi). she’s been working there for a month now, and really seems to be settling in as the only American teacher there and making some great friends. we did some shopping for things that i can’t find here in sovietskyi, walked around the city a lot, visited the museum on the island in the middle of the Dnieper river (a very, very well done museum that tells the story of the Cossacks, highly recommended!), and had a very Ukrainian picnic on the rocks by the river. one of her fellow teachers also invited us to check out the local soccer team with her husband, husband’s brother, and brother’s girlfriend, although they lost 3-2 to the current first place holders of the Ukrainian premier league (great game with the winning goal scored in the 90^th minute!). we were also going to try to meet up with another volunteer who was in town helping with the American councils flex program testing (a program that provides a study abroad opportunity in the us for 9^th and 10^th graders of different countries), but unfortunately we did not manage to meet up with her.

on my way back to sovietskyi, i also managed to meet some volunteers from an older group during my couple hours in dzankoy to change trains. they have had different experiences from me as they primarily work in schools as English teachers and after school programs, but it is always good to hear from people with two years of experience already under their belt. mainly though, as i sat there listening to them talk about their plans when they get back to the states, it started me thinking about the things that i have already changed since i have been here (and how people might give me a strange look for some of them back in the us). here are some of the ones that i came up with…

- the obvious physical changes include a new form of air conditioning (the ubiquitous buzz cut) and rolling up my jeans to mid-calf when it is hot outside (generally, kids are the only ones wearing shorts, although it is becoming more accepted in my town)

- since no one really speaks english at my site and i am speaking Russian most of the time, Russian phrases are almost always in my head not matter what language the conversation is taking place in. this causes me to mistranslate back into English, or as lauren so eloquently put it…”you sound like one of my conversation club students trying to speak English” J

- i neatly fold my plastic bags to save them in a drawer in the kitchen (they cost money at the stores), and i always have at least one with me in case i need to buy something

- i will go out of my way to stand in the shade, no matter where the conversation first starts to take place. i also automatically point out where the best shade will be for a car that needs to be parked.

- the extra ten minutes that it takes to heat water on the stove is just a normal part of my morning ritual now (it is kind of amazing how little water a person really needs to take a good shower)

- i’ve actually told someone not to buy a package of coffee at one store because there was a better price at another one down the street, for a whopping 50 kopeks difference (or about 10 cents). the scary thing is that they listened to me, and even thanked me later.

- my shoes are always taken off at the door, which of course also helps not have to vacuum the carpets as much

- when coming home, the first thing i do is to immediately change into my “lounging around” clothes. this helps me not have to do as much laundry in the bathtub later on.

- and lastly, i always have a roll of toilet paper with me because there’s a generally understood “everyone brings their own” rule

i know there are more things that i’ve already forgotten, but i’ll have to add to the list as i think of them…

pictured above

1) me, lauren, lauren's coworker natasha, and natasha's husband denis at the soccer game in zaporozhe,

2) celebrating sovietskyi's 210th birthday

starting fresh – 08.21.2008

i realize that i’ve been pretty bad about keeping up with the blog for the last couple months. a lot has been happening over here, and similarly to working in dc, it’s been hard to come home and try to sit in front of a computer and collect my thoughts. it is really amazing how tired a person’s brain can get from trying to both understand and then communicate in another language throughout the day. despite that, i think i am finally at the point where i can feel that i’ve successfully passed the first stage of this journey and am starting to get more and more settled. i’ll try to summarize the high points here, and then keep up with the blog every couple weeks like i planned to do before.

basically, the last few months have been about wrapping up the last bit of training in chernihiv and starting life in my new site in crimea. i’m not sure i realized it then, but being able to look back now at those first three months in chernihiv, i can see that they are going to mean a lot more to me as time passes. when else in your life are you going to be surrounded, not only by so many Americans who have come halfway around the world to try life in a new country, but also by the incredible support of people that started out as total strangers speaking an unknown language and became so much more. although the pictures i took show a lot of proud, smiling faces around the square in chernihiv that final day, there were tears on many of those same faces when it came time for our group to say goodbye and head off to our new sites (my host mom included). i am very much looking forward to having the language skills to be able to tell them how wonderful a host family they really were.

as for my new town of sovietskyi, crimea, i am not sure that i could have asked for a much better situation. i am the third volunteer in town (all with the same organization), so everyone generally understands that i might do some things that they consider pretty strange (like always putting my bag on the floor instead of on the chair beside me, or smiling and saying hi to basically everyone on the street). my counterpart already knows the vast majority of the information that peace corps passes on since he is going through this for the third time, so he feels free enough to joke around with me and most other people (not that i could ever relate to that, of course). and my primary organization, the business promotion center ‘perspektiva’, would like to do some interesting projects over the next couple years, including some of the following possible ideas

- write a strategic plan for the organization to address its need for long-term sustainability

- work with the hospital to develop a rayon wide tuberculosis testing process

- start school newspapers around the rayon, especially in some of the smaller villages, that can help students develop a variety of skills (ie. computer, journalism, civic action, carry on school & cultural traditions, etc)

- support the creation of a rayon-wide strategic plan

- help the central library and a local youth club with their ideas for the future (ie. media center, increase in foreign literature, other ways to expose the youth of sovietskyi to new possibilities, etc)

- and a few others, especially after finalizing the new priorities of the organization

So although the last few months have been a lot of fun, they have also been fairly busy trying to understand the needs and priorities of my new community, and adapting to the overall pace of life here. in that time, i have lived with a new host family who helped me get acclimated to town, started playing soccer with the local men’s team (i made it here just in time for the last game of the spring season, and the new season just started last weekend), started making friends with the kids who play soccer almost every day near my new apartment, headed to the beach at feodosiya, visited the old fortress at sudak (and the beach close by at novy svet), attended two crazy birthday parties and a tatar wedding, spent a few days with lauren and her family in yalta, met the volunteer who only lives in a town about 20 minutes away from me, and headed to kyiv for a 4 day project management and design training with my counterpart. not to mention that i have moved into my own apartment and am now living on my own for the first time in five years. oh, and did i mention that i have had some amazing Russian practice because only a couple people speak much English around here :)

overall, i am very much looking forward to the next stage of the adventure. work is starting to sort itself out, lauren is enjoying her first week in zaparozha, i’m figuring out the process of regular internet access, and a lot of the little everyday challenges have already been conquered (washing clothes by hand, ordering meat and cheese from the deli counter in a foreign language and in grams and kilos instead of pounds, asking for directions and actually understanding the answers, etc) . the language still causes the most difficulty by far, but that should get easier once i have a tutor in September. after that, we’ll see where the road leads…

while i am updating everyone on my life here in Ukraine, i also wanted to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to the following people back in the states for things that have happened since my last post. just to let you know that someone halfway around the world is thinking about you, and i look forward to catching up more over the phone soon…

- to my sister, who not only got rewarded and promoted for her hard work, but is now living it up on her own for the first time!

- to kevin and emily for making the big decision to head to houston in another month… all the best in preparing for the defense and then the move!

- to piya and ryan for their big day and starting their life together!

- and of course, to lauren and david for their first and newest addition to the family! (i got the announcement in the mail a few days ago, and i see you’re already brainwashing the little guy with the VT shirt :) )

i hope everyone else is doing well, and i’m looking forward to replying to emails and catching up soon!