I got on the overnight train to Kyiv at 10 pm hoping for what I hope for every time I get on an overnight train in Ukraine. I hoped that the other people in my area were already asleep, that they weren’t a bunch of men already into their first of several bottles of vodka or beer, that they wouldn’t want to talk. I reached my berth to find 3 guys sitting there very much awake. They told me that they had been keeping my seat warm, thanks. The guy with the berth above me stayed sitting on my bench. I pulled out an Economist that I had gotten from another volunteer and was about to begin reading when the guy asked me what my magazine was about. I told him economics and politics. I began reading again when he saw that it was in English and stated the obvious that I must know English. The usual conversation about where I was actually from and what I was doing here ensued. He turned out to be a teacher of Computer Science who had just finished his studies. He was interested in hearing my impressions of Ukraine. He told me about his plans to have a monthly “American” themed party with his friends where they played only American hip-hop, drank from big red cups, and played beer pong, just like the movies. He told me what a challenge it had been to find large red cups. He had ordered them from a special supplier. I eventually went back to reading and he interrupted me for what he promised was his last question before he went to sleep. What did I dislike the most about Ukraine? The roads chimed one of the guys from the other side. Yes, those could use some improvement, I said and continued to think about his question. He took my silence as reluctance to tell him what I truly thought. This was somewhat true. Since arriving in Ukraine, I have been asked that question and others like it countless times and have several sidestepping answers down pat, “There aren’t things that I dislike about Ukraine, there are just things that are different from America that I must get used to,” “America isn’t better than Ukraine, it’s just different,” “I really like living in Ukraine,” etc. This guy, however, seemed genuinely interested, young, educated, and resilient enough to take a real critique. As I continued to think about what really was my biggest gripe, he decided to make the question a bit more positive, “What one thing about Ukraine would you change if you could?” I liked his spirit. I finally answered that the most difficult and frustrating thing about my work in his country had been getting people, both teachers and students, to warm up to the idea of doing things that they don’t have to do, aren’t going to get grades for, aren’t going to be paid for, just because it is something interesting, educational, beneficial to their minds or bodies or communities. In short, the apathy that pervades this country. My new friend immediately agreed and described his work as a member of the student government at his university. He had also experienced serious difficulty trying to get peers and faculty behind new events and programs that the council attempted to initiate.
It seems to me that overcoming this apathy stands as one of Ukraine’s biggest challenges if it is to succeed in joining the ranks of other European nations as many people in the country and outside hope. I have yet to figure out how best this can be achieved. Despite brining new resources, materials, equipment, and ideas to my school, it remains a struggle to get people to take advantage of the new opportunities, the new doors in educational and personal development, that such things can bring if one is willing to put in the effort to use them. Even when the benefits are clear and demonstrated, it is still too much effort. The answer most likely in part lies in higher salaries that are consistently paid for everyone. If all of the teachers and students at my school didn’t have to rush home everyday to plant, weed, and gather the food that allows them to survive, I’m sure there would be more people interested in attending a journalism club. But for such a monumental thing as higher salaries for teachers to occur, a change in the government must be made. And once again, we come back to apathy. If most of the country believes, as they do, that their vote does not matter, that there are no candidates worth voting for, and that no changes can ever be made in the country, then there most certainly won’t be any changes and certainly not any that result in higher salaried teachers. “Development” efforts in a country like Ukraine must work to break this cycle somewhere along the way. While programs that train youth in leadership and community action are a great way to attempt to change this mentality in the country’s youth, the majority of the most driven and active young adults that participate in programs such as these are also the ones that are looking for ways to get out of Ukraine, first for education, then for permanent jobs… Needless to say, I’m still working on the solution to this one.
