I was interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday and I can't seem to get this one question out of my head. What motivated me to join the Peace Corps? Well it is such a distant memory I am not so sure why. I had lots of reasons. I wanted a different life. One that meant something to me. I wanted to wake up everyday and be proud of what I was doing. I wanted to have some meaning in my life and fight for something that was worth fighting for. I wanted to volunteer on a full time basis and help people less fortunate. I guess the reason why it stuck with me is that the reporter was looking for something like "JFKs speach touched me when he gave it 50 years ago". Well that wasn't it for me. I am sure it was for some people. I haven't always wanted to join the Peace Corps. It wasn't a child hood dream for me. However, living in another country and learning a new language and culture was. I also have always had the desire to help out when I can. I really enjoyed working with children in New York but I don't do that here. It is difficult sometimes to be proud of what I am doing because quite frankly most of the things I will be proud of haven't happened yet.
It's almost been a year and I am finally working on projects with people in my community. I am writing a project with my counterpart to improve the way disadvantaged citizens receive information about changes in legislation and social security which will help them receive the benefits that are available to them. Together we will write a project that hopefully will be funded by USAID through the Peace Corps. Then we will work on the implementation after we receive the funding. It sounds like a lot of fun and I am excited to be a part of it.
Meanwhile, I am implementing a career development program with another counterpart of mine at the Unemployment Center. We start next Tuesday and I will be conducting the classes in Russian. I will be covering topics such as resume writing, cover letter writing, interviewing, public speaking, business etiquet, etc. We are focusing on women's empowerment and we will also cover topics such as HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and combatting human trafficking. The men in my town were pretty upset that the program is not open to them but right now more women are unemployed than men which might always be the case but it is time someone stood up for them. So men you will have to wait!
In addition, I am coordinating the efforts of our 50th anniversary celebration in Ukraine. Together with our creative team we are coming up with project ideas and promoting them throughout the PCV network here. We want to put together a documentary that encompasses what PCVs our doing now and what they have been doing in this country for the last 19 years. Unfortunately, Ukraine has only been a part of Peace Corps for 19 years. The projects are fun and exciting.
Not to stop there...I am also involved in an uber exciting campaign to stop human trafficking in Ukraine. The campaign is to raise awareness of the hotline number assigned to Ukraine which is 527. Anyone can dial this number from their cell phones for free if they are at risk of being trafficking, are in the midst of being trafficking or after they break away. Even if you think someone else is you can dial this number and you will get trained professionals who can help. We are all very excited about this. We are still in our brainstorming session but things are coming together quickly. We already have an organization that will provide some funding for us!
I believe that covers some of the big projects I am involved in now. That is a little update of the goings on! There haven't been many cultural exchanges with me and Ukrainians lately. I spent a lot of time away from site the past two months. I had a few vacations and then I was in Chernigiv for language refresher and then Kiev for almost two weeks attending working group and committee meetings. I am quite the joiner here. I just really want to be a part of as many volunteer projects as I can that make me happy. I am excited about a lot of what other volunteers are doing and if there are things that I can do in collaboration with others that is even better. Now that things are coming along at site I am even more busy but that took a while to put into place. If I could do it all over again I would worry much less about "doing things" andI would have focused more on my relationships with people. I can hear it now...Peace Corps staff telling me "I told you so..."!
Kim! You should be so proud of everything that you are accomplishing. It is so amazing that you wanted to work on a human trafficking project, tried to get involved here, and are now really doing it. That really says something about you. I can't believe that you have been there a year already! Time really flies. Keep writing! xoxo Liz Riordan
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