Have you ever thought about what «volunteering» is? We’re sure that yes. In recent years, Ukrainians have actively gained volunteer experience in its various manifestations. Ancient Greek philosopher Plato wrote that taking care of the happiness of others can be found. About the search for happiness, dreams and my own experience with Zhytomyr.Travel was shared by volunteer, traveler and historian Mykola Pisenko
«Initially, he did everything he could for the Maidan, for the ATO: dry borschs and knitting masking netting. With some time he learned about the project «Building Ukraine Together». It essence is that there is a team of volunteers from all over Ukraine who are going to Donbass together. There it was necessary to rebuild the destroyed houses, which were hit by bombs and shells. In 2016 I went to Donetsk region, to Konstantinovka, and spent about a week there»
«Such trips are very charging, and a lot of interesting things happen there. I paid attention to the fact that was shown about Donbass on television. There are different people there, but my attitude towards Donbass has changed, it is easier to see everything with your own eyes. When you are on this place, Donbass became more native. Every year I go at least twice from 2016»
«The project started ftom Donbass and now is implemented nearly in every region.In Zhytomyr region it was in Malin, this year it will be in Chyzhivka, Novograd-Volyn district. The essence of the project is to bury a city and build a community there, or a public space. And most importantly – to break down the wall of stereotypes standing between people, to create something new, innovative»
«In the project «Let’s Build Ukraine Together» volunteers work for free, and they are covered with accommodation, food and the way there and back. They work in the first half of the day, and in the second excursion programs, lectures. That the volunteer person not only invested, but also gained. The project is developing very powerfully and dynamically. They work mainly from May to September-October. There are more than 20 different camps a year. This is called «camp» because sometimes we live in tents, sometimes in the simplest room, sometimes it’s the gym of the school – karimat, sleeping bags of 20 people in one room»
«Volunteers are an environment of like-minded people who have no consumption mindset. There is an understanding that you are your own change, your own country – take it and do it. This is basic. New meetings- always cool. Thanks to the project, I have friends, friends in every center, every area. You go somewhere and you say, «Community, guy! I will come to Lutsk, can you spend the night with someone?» And you have at once the answer. These are the positives. And in Zhytomyr, volotnerchikov – «Burchik» (ed. – «BUR» abbreviation from the name of the project «Let’s Build Ukraine Together»). It is not very much here yet, but there is such a community 3 and with me in this project (ed. – Let’s Build Ukraine Together), there were people of different ages, with different experiences. There were those who were 27-28 years old who knew a lot about different programs. They also acted as lecturers – just sharing their experiences. It was there that I learned about the European Volunteer Service project under Erasmus +. It was 2016 peak, I graduated from our University of ZhDU (ed. – Ivan Franko Zhytomyr State University), Faculty of History. I did not want to go to the magistracy, then found a program and went to Turkey for two months»
«It was very interesting in Turkey. For some part of the day we worked on cleaning the beaches. The fact is that turtles lay eggs on the shore, and the polluted beach is too dangerous for newborn turtles to die in piles of debris. Then we went to schools, universities, kindergartens and talked about ecology and the importance of turtles in the global ecosystem»
«EVS covers travel, lodging, meals, international insurance for a year – all paid for. Pocket money is still being issued, which is mainly spent on traveling in Turkey. Usually hitchhiking, but it was very cool. But the biggest plus is English. There are no other volunteers in Ukraine, and when you get up, you go to the kitchen for 3 things to cook, but you don’t know what the fork is called in English…(Laughs). You want to ask for a fork and you think it sounds like English. Then you googgle, search, memorize and then talk normally. Cool, when you come with real A2, and in two months the level rises to B2. The best thing for me is when you have a dream in English. It just widens the mind, makes a small bomb in the head. Yes! «Yes» If you are a student and just starting to study, volunteering is a good way to gain skills and experience. No employer will take on without experience, and volunteering is a free job, but a good opportunity to acquire skills. For example, I learned to work with a chainsaw for a while»
«I had another volunteer experience – I helped at concerts. It’s a cool experience when you’re involved in a process of 50-70,000 people, and it’s cool to be a part of it. You essentially work for seven or eight hours, volunteer, communicate with people, repeat the same information thousands of times: «Please have a second fan zone, go there». It’s like a small thing, but it has to be repeated thousands of times … People have to be explained, because they are lost in the crowd. It’s a little difficult, but then you get your own – you dance, you listen to a concert, you get a photo session. These are kind of «volunteer buns». I was filmed in the video «Not Your War». The team did not want to spend a lot of money on professional actors, and they gathered volunteers in the extras. We were fed with roasters, we got tea. We were pleased, of course, because we talked to Vakarchuk personally about political and topics and just about life»
«You can volunteer at any age. In 2016 in Konstantinovka I met with the camp organizer Sofia Pylypenko, with whom I still communicate. At the time, she was 14, and she invited volunteers, found a place to stay, what facilities to do, agreed with the local authority, found out exactly what they could do to help … The oldest volunteer I know was 54 years»
«Young people usually volunteer because they see some opportunities or changes for themselves. The older the person gets, the more he gets addicted to the routine, the everyday life, and some changes are perceived by him as critical. Although different programs offer different possibilities: EVS is valid for people aged 18 to 30, there is no age restriction on the BUR. The European Building Camps project is now being launched – the same as BUR but abroad. The money for the trip is not covered, but they provide you with accommodation and food. The south is working, and this may be a reconstruction of any cathedral or archaeological site. During the two weeks in the first part of the day people work, and in the second go to a neighboring city or a neighboring country for a tour. There are no age restrictions. A friend of mine who worked as a camp leader told me there were people up to 60 years old. But really, European seniors and Ukrainians are different people. They were separated by a curtain, and may be different. For example, it is difficult for me to get my mom to go for a walk in Kiev, and in Turkey I met women from Germany, somewhere in their 60s, who walk around the mountains with trekking sticks and a backpack»
«Has volunteering changed my life? I would say that it changed my outlook, and thanks to a change in outlook, I began to travel a lot – I visited Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Turkey»
«I have lived and worked in Mykolaiv for a year and I understand that the mentality of Zhytomyr and the mentality of Nikolaev are two different worlds. Zhytomyr is your own, my people, people here are more responsible, more proactive, like me … Everyone is dissatisfied there, and a trip in a minibus without a quarrel is not a trip. Although it is possible that in Zhytomyr I simply pay less attention to it or do not see it at all, because I often cycle by bike. As for me, I see what changes have occurred in Zhytomyr and they are positive. I have seen people living in different cities of Ukraine, having toured all the oblasts, and I can say with certainty that Zhytomyr is more progressive than most cities for sure»
«In Zhytomyr there is a proactive community, but it is spread in Kyiv,Lviv and the others.I have many Zhytomyr friends living in Nyvky, and we joke that Nyvky is the official representative of Zhytomyr in Kyiv»
«When friends from Kiev come to the person, and she says: «Well, what to show here? Global and everything. Yes, you have to like, talk about the city! I am a historian, I do excursions from time to time, after that people change their mind about Zhytomyr. I have friends from Rivne and after my excursions they said that they love Zhytomyr more than Rivne»
«I have my own route through Zhytomyr, and at each point I not only tell the story, but also show what they did, where the reconstruction took place. But along with the progress, I’m talking about people I call «Zhytomyr» who can steal the bridge’s illumination system, hammer break a stop, tear off a piece of artificially to break down trees or cover the stadium for themselves at the cottage. Unfortunately, this is a manifestation of the mentality. Sorry for the allegory, but it’s like picking up a primitive person and giving them a phone and throwing it away. And these people do not fully understand innovation, so they have such an«initial» reaction to these changes»
«I would like to do some project for senior people. We have many kindergartens, mugs for children, but there are also many people who do not know what to do in retirement. If people move, they will live longer … I have a lot to share, to do good to people. This is even one of my shortcomings – more to do other than myself. I have donated blood 13 times. For the first time it happened by accident, and then it was «seated»
«Volunteering is everyone’s choice, but it gives me a sense of being touched by changes in society as if you were investing something. I invest, and because of my prism of positive, optimistic and faith in the good, I think that somewhere will be given and will be a «butterfly effect». Information on volunteering opportunities should be disseminated. Many people have their own definition of the word, such as «do something for free, to give me a T-shirt». I think it would be helpful if the experience of volunteering was mandatory. In some countries in Europe or in the US, separate hours are allocated for training, and then this is taken into account in the assessment. It is necessary to convey the positive aspects of volunteering that a person will accept or will not accept. And even if it doesn’t take approx. Needless to say, this is not bad, we should not push. It means that the person has other values»
«Some time ago I would say that I am most inspired by people. I will say so now, but now I would split the time: 50% for people and 50% for loneliness. I like to read, to be alone. I am from a large family, once this was not enough, so it is more appreciated now. And yet inspiring are the journeys where you can combine the first and the second. I when I get bored and I understand that I need to gather energy, I take my backpack and go somewhere. So he found an organization that deals with alloys, went rafting on the Dniester, then hitchhiked himself to the Gulf of Bakot. I came from there inspired, charged. My remedy for frustration is to throw myself at work. You can intellectual, you can physical, you can ride a bike»
«There are cities I love very much. Of course, Zhytomyr is out of competition. There is an environment of Zhytomyr, which is always and everywhere «warm» for Zhytomyr, and I belong to it. And I also really love Kamianets-Podilskyi. There is a good historical component, a good «visual» – a fortress, canyons, Bakota. This is a very budget city – for 50-60 UAH you can eat, you can find a hostel for 100 UAH. There is a sense of progressiveness, the cultural sector and tourism are developing. So this is my favorite city»
«Now there is a bunch of opportunities in the world, in Ukraine…The only problem people have is mental poverty when they think, «Oh, it’s expensive, it’s complicated». It is also necessary to write a letter of motivation or application form for the whole ten minutes, and it is not possible at this time to turn the instagram. Participation in volunteer programs gives personal development, communication with other people, opportunity to participate in discussions. In the diversity of human thoughts, as you discuss, you will find your segment, your opinion. Volunteering has everything: travel, inspiration, physical work, emotional contribution, and spiritual work. There’s a wonderful atmosphere!»
«Dreams? Yes, there are! Invent a mean of individual flight. (Smiles). In fact, many of my dreams have already came true, but I want to have a personal business – a snail farm, for example. In fact, it is not enough just to dream. For dreams to come true, you need to communicate with people as much as possible. When you create your own social capital, turn it into positive things. … The main thing is to believe and do!»
