2006.08.06: August 6, 2006: Headlines: COS - Ukraine: Married Couples: Older Volunteers: Idaho State Journal: Peace Corps Volunteers Diane and Dave Phelps write their training in the Ukraine
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2006.08.06: August 6, 2006: Headlines: COS - Ukraine: Married Couples: Older Volunteers: Idaho State Journal: Diane and Dave Phelps write about how they decided to join the Peace Corps :
2006.08.06: August 6, 2006: Headlines: COS - Ukraine: Married Couples: Older Volunteers: Idaho State Journal: Peace Corps Volunteers Diane and Dave Phelps write their training in the Ukraine
Peace Corps Volunteers Diane and Dave Phelps write their training in the Ukraine
"Language training consisted of four to six hours a day of language classes, five days a week. Interspersed with that training, and on every Saturday, we received cross-cultural and technical training. Peace Corps is very interested in volunteers fitting well into the local society and both language and cross-cultural training aid in this integration. During training we also taught at local schools so that we could learn how Ukrainian schools operate and to help us fit in at our final site. This period was an extremely stressful one for us."
Peace Corps Volunteers Diane and Dave Phelps write their training in the Ukraine
Pocatellans head to Ukraine on Peace Corp Mission
Narrative by Dave Phelps
[Excerpt]
We left Pocatello on September 30, 2005 for Chicago and our orientation. On October 3, 2005, we flew to Kyiv, Ukraine, and began our life as Peace Corps trainees. Service in the Peace Corps is 27 months. The first three months of Peace Corps service is as a trainee, not a sworn in volunteer, then the next 24 months are as sworn volunteers.
Ukraine is always to be referred to as Ukraine, not “the Ukraine”. If someone uses “the” in front of Ukraine when they speak, it gives rise to the belief that Ukraine is still a part of the Soviet Union. By not using “the”, Ukraine is viewed as an independent nation, not tied to the old Soviet Union or with Russia today.
When all the trainees arrived in Ukraine, we spent one week at a facility called “Prolisok”, which is an old Russian sanatorium, about 15 miles outside of Kyiv. A sanatorium, in Soviet days, was a health and rest facility that many people used to break up their work life.
During the first three months we lived with a host family in Vasilkiv, Ukraine. Vasilkiv is about 20 miles south of Kyiv, but it takes about an hour on a marshrutka (mini-van). Our host mother in Vasilkiv was Tamara Primaak, a 74 year old retired school teacher. She had hosted previous trainees and had been selected to host us, her first married couple. Tamara does not speak any English, and since we did not speak any Russian, our time there was quite interesting. Tamara, Diane and I all had English/Russian dictionaries that we used. Diane and I carried our dictionaries with us all the time and had to use them to ask her basic questions. It was difficult, but we were able to communicate well enough to take care of daily necessities. When we moved from Tamara's flat, she reminded me that the first word I learned at her home was “topichky”, which is Russian for “slippers.” In Ukrainian homes you must take your shoes off and wear slippers when inside.
During our stay in Vasilkiv we spent our time studying language and received cross-cultural training. The language we were assigned was Russian. Trainees are trained in either Russian or Ukrainian, depending upon where the trainee will be sent. Most Ukrainian speaking volunteers are placed in the western part of the country and Russian speaking volunteers are placed in the eastern portion of the country. Most Ukrainians speak both Russian and Ukrainian, but the section of the country where they live dictates the predominant language as the every day language.
Language training consisted of four to six hours a day of language classes, five days a week. Interspersed with that training, and on every Saturday, we received cross-cultural and technical training. Peace Corps is very interested in volunteers fitting well into the local society and both language and cross-cultural training aid in this integration. During training we also taught at local schools so that we could learn how Ukrainian schools operate and to help us fit in at our final site. This period was an extremely stressful one for us.
During the training period, Peace Corps require trainees to do a community project. Our training cluster chose, for the Christmas season, to go to an orphanage and have a party and give gifts to the children there. Conducting that project was a very enjoyable time for us, to see the children light up when we played games with them like pin the tail on the donkey and musical chairs was great. Every child at the orphanage received some sort of gift, something that they do not always receive at Christmas.
At the end of the three month training, all volunteers are required to take a language proficiency test and score at a set minimum score. If they pass that test, then they will be sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers.
On December 22, 2005, Diane and I were sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers by the Peace Corps Ukraine Director, Karl Beck, and the United States Ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst, along with over 100 other people. Subsequent to our swearing in, Diane and I became a part of the SNAC (Senior Networking Action Committee) for Peace Corps Ukraine and I have been asked to be an assistant to the Security and Safety Coordinator for Peace Corps Ukraine.
Presently there are about 283 Peace Corps Volunteers in Ukraine located in all areas of the country. Peace Corps Volunteers are provided a living wage that approximately equals the wage of the people they work with and live in housing that is similar to working Ukrainians.
When this story was posted in August 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Idaho State Journal
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ukraine; Married Couples; Older Volunteers
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