"It Was Very Cool To Be Part of Something Bigger Than Myself" Report about LifeNets Ukraine Summer 2011 Mission by Natasha Kubik
This
past July I was extremely blessed to get the opportunity to travel to
the most beautiful country, Ukraine, with the bluest skies you could
ever imagine, miles and miles of bright yellow sunflower
The five
of us left John F. Kennedy airport on July third and arrived in Budapest
on the fourth. We could not have had a
If any of you know how my travels went when I went to India, our trip to Ukraine was very smooth with very little stress. It was probably because of Tato’s third “mode.” My Tato has three modes: funny mode, which he is in most of the time; panic mode, which only happened every other day when he “lost” his IPOD, which we all knew was just buried in the bottom of his black bag; and then there was his serious mode, which is what he was in when we traveled. His serious mode was still kind of funny, but he did always get us to where we needed to go. On July fifth, we arrived in Chop by train and then took an hour van ride to Vynohradiv. Driving through the countryside, I saw my Tato like I had never seen him before. It was like he was back in his homeland speaking the language he spoke as a child. It was like he was a little boy again. When we arrived at the school, we were greeted with open arms by Vasil Senior, and his wife Irina, Vasil Junior and his wife Marika, while the children played in the courtyard. Looking back, my memory of the kids and their faces were all a blur to me in the beginning, because I had not learned to connect their names with their faces yet. They brought us inside and they had a delicious soup and haluski lunch ready for us. The food in Ukraine and at the school was absolutely amazing!!!!
We taught for two hours a day. The first hour Tato would teach his lesson and then for the second hour we broke up into smaller groups and got to teach our own class. I got the youngest group, which was perfect; because that is the age group I work best with. Having little children looking up to me as I taught them English was the most amazing feeling ever. Every word I taught them in English they would teach me in Ukrainian. I could tell they really liked reciprocating. Their favorite class was the class on colors. We first went though all the colors and what items matched the colors. Then we played a lollipop game, where I held up a lollipop; by taking turns, if they told me what color it was, then they got to keep it. No one wanted the brown lollipop, because as soon as I held it up the room went quiet. I thought it was funny. My favorite class was the day that they successfully went through all the flash cards and got them all correct. To celebrate we got to draw with markers, stickers and paper tattoos. They each gave me a picture and then kept one for themselves. I will cherish those pictures forever.
Now I may be a bit bias, but my favorite day was July seventh. My twenty-first birthday! In America this is the day when you can legally buy and drink alcohol. This means nothing in Ukraine, because they give it to them at birth…kidding! Well, to all of those people who cannot remember their twenty-first birthday, I had the most memorable one ever. In the morning the kids sang Many Years (Happy Birthday) in Ukrainian. It was so special. In the afternoon, we went to a cow field, played dodge ball and ate ice cream. It was a very memorable birthday. From
just my short three weeks there, I observed that as a whole, Ukrainians
live very rough lives, but are the hardest working people you would ever
meet. Most work all day from seven to seven at their very low paying
jobs or if they even get paid at all, to then come home to work on their
small household farms and gardens until dark. Ukrainians rarely smile
at you and when I asked why, I was told that it is because they are
always working and what is there to smile about when working so hard.
Ukrainians have very big hearts. They have a lot of compassion and care
for people. Togetherness is very important to them, especially during
meal times. There was a feast every time we sat down to eat and no one
was running off to soccer practice or work like in America. I did not
see one fast food restaurant the entire time we were there. They care
way too much about sitting down to eat rather then to just eat on the
go. The last thing I noticed was that they are also very generous.
Even though they have very little, they would give you the shirt off
their back or the slippers right off their feet, and someone actually
did give me their slippers right off their feet! Traveling to another country is like stepping into a different world, a world of the unknown. Whether I am in Ukraine, Hungary, India, or even England, I have learned there are major customs and traditions that are very different than America and each experience has been different for me. On any international trip, I have learned that when negative situations occur, I just keep a positive mindset and keep a common thought that everything will ultimately be okay and that it is only temporary. The differences in cultures are really interesting to me. I like to make notes of what different societies, customs and traditions are and why. I enjoy trying new things and thinking about the differences. Spending time with those beautiful kids was truly an honor. I thought I was going to Ukraine to teach the children English, when in reality they taught me so much more. I pray for each one of them daily, that God watch over them, protect them, give them wisdom, strength and a love for life. We were just a small part of a greater plan and it was very cool to be part of something bigger than myself. To Him be all the glory! Peace,
Love, and God Bless, (Natasha H. Kubik)
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