Kiev is beautiful! It was wonderful to see old friends and to revisit such a lovely, historical city. I was there for a few days in 1992, and it was both fun and a bit odd to wander semi-familiar streets.
Kiev has changed dramatically since I was there 13 years ago; in fact, my friends said the majority of change and development has occurred within the last 5-7 years. I truly did not recognize the central square, now named Independence Square. Five or six streets descend the surrounding hills and converge at the square; the thick stone buildings frame their entrance into the open air of the plaza. At one end of the square used to be a huge statue of V.I. Lenin. In the spring 1992, Lenin had already been removed but the base of his statue still stood, empty. In a box somewhere at home is a picture of me standing on that pedestal, fist raised upward and forward in a classic Lenin pose, with a policeman standing on one side, not sure if he should laugh or arrest me. Today, that space is dominated by a tall white column topped by a winged figure. No one I asked knew what the statue is named or exactly what it is supposed to represent. Lenin has been replaced by an unnamed and vague ambiguity that no one really understands. Rather a good description of life in the former Soviet Union, I would say.
The trip did provide me with the break from “bunny ears and rabbit tail” that I had been hoping for, at least somewhat. I did feel more “normal” than I’ve felt in quite awhile, going shopping in stores, not markets; finding familiar products; talking with sales staff who are courteous and helpful; eating salad with real lettuce, and not a single pickled vegetable for an entire week. That was delightful.
Some other PCVs told me that coming back the first time is the hardest. It wasn’t exactly easy, for a variety of reasons. The 13 hour train ride was long and boring, and throughout the trip I was nervously anticipating the border harassment I’d heard about. It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected, but it does tell you something that our passports were checked at each and every stop inside Moldova, but only one time in all of Ukraine, and that was at the border crossing. The Moldovan police system still maintains much of that Soviet mentality of control and intimidation. Each police check is an opportunity to find something “wrong”, which can often be quietly resolved on the spot for a small fee, which inevitable ends up in the underpaid policeman’s pocket. (Fortunately, I wasn’t harassed, but even if I had been I know fully well that my documents are all in order.)
One of the interesting quirky parts of Moldova is the break-away region of Transnistria, better known as Perestrovia in the local parlance. This is a thin strip of land between the Nistra River and Ukraine, with a majority population of ethnic Russians, that claims it is an independent state. Only no one in the world recognizes it as an independent state, not even Russia, who is believed to be heavily financing the region and is most definitely providing arms and military equipment. They print their own money, conduct their own elections, run their own border checks, the whole shebang. In the early days of the separatist movement there, a lot of headaches were created for people just trying to pass through. The official Moldovan border control refused to acknowledge that a train was leaving Moldova at the Transnistrian border because, well, it wasn’t leaving Moldova yet. But when you left the Transnistrian border into Ukraine, they wouldn’t stamp your passport either because they weren’t the official border control. So when you came back to Moldova, after passing through Transnistria and encountering the Moldovan border control, you would get harassed for not having the proper stamps in your passport. That little confusion seems to work better these days, but a brilliant little business venture the Transnistrians have going is they charge every passenger 7 lei to travel through the area. They likely make tens of thousands of lei every year from this fee alone. The region is a bizarre case of “If you build it, they will come” – if you say you are an independent country, eventually other countries, at least those immediately surrounding you, may start treating you like one.
I was glad to get back to Tvarditsa, to see my host family and catch up with friends. I had planned to meet with the English Club the following week, but the kids informed me that we would be meeting on Friday. It was nice to know that they had missed our get-togethers, too, and were anxious to resume our informal discussions. Jenny, those Highlight Magazines have been such a hit with them! Please send more, if you can. I wrote to the editor to ask if they could send any overstock, but haven’t heard a response.
The best news I heard upon my return was that our Model UN team did FANTASTIC at the national competition! I was sorry to miss the conference, as it coincided with my trip to Kiev, but a young woman named Galina accompanied our high schoolers on the 3 day trip to Chisinau. Our team represented Canada at the conference, and our 3 “Canadians” sat on the HIV/AIDS, Ecology and Drug Trafficking committees. They prepared a fabulous display about Canada, as well as resolutions for their respective committees reflecting Canada’s interests and concerns. Polina, on the HIV/AIDS committee, was awarded 3rd place for her excellent committee participation. Sasha, on the Ecology committee, received 2nd place on his committee. Their country presentation was awarded 5th place in the Country Fair, and Canada placed 4th overall as one of the best teams (out of 30) at the conference! We were all delighted, and so proud of them. While the enthusiasm is still high, we are hoping to start planning a local version of Model UN for next year.
Other work is slowly but surely developing. There is a USAID-funded project called Citizen Participation Project, awarding grants for community development activities that are based on local citizen participation. We’ve submitted 2 letters from Tvarditsa, and if the coordinating organization, IREX, is interested, they will send a trainer to help us develop a full-blown grant application. The first project is for the renovation and upgrading of a kindergarten. The second is for the renovation and/or possible relocation and upgrading of the 2 libraries (children’s library and village library are currently located in separate buildings), which includes the “Information Center”, with 3 computers, printer, fax and copier for the village. Both are interesting projects, and I hope we get some interest and assistance through the Citizen Participation Project.
I met this week with the director of one of the schools, Tatiana Vladimirovna, to discuss some of their needs in the lyceum – new furniture, new roof, etc. I will research some possible sponsoring agencies and hope to bring her some grant applications. Another PCV recently sent out a “success story” about a “Penny War” conducted in the school in her town. The children collected nearly 4000MDL (about $350) via classroom competitions to collect the most change. Incredible! I shared this with Tatiana, and as is the usual case, her response was “That’s great, but it won’t work here.” This attitude is prevalent all over Moldova, and is so damn frustrating! My strategy is one of slow but steady these days. I’ve introduced the idea, will share it with more and more people, and eventually, hopefully, someone will be willing to give it a try. Even if the adults are obstinate, I’m sure the kids will give it a crack! We are about set to hold elections for the Local Council of Children and Youth, a kind of youth Parlaiment. I’m hoping they’ll be a venue for developing local resources for development projects.
This week I’ll go to Ceadir-Lunga to meet with Emily and Ross about some seminars we want to conduct. Ross has put together an excellent beginning to a training series for small and initiative organizations, such as Developing Organizational Structure, Professional Etiquette, and more. His service ends later this year, and I’d love to continue his work and even expand it. Emily and I will add a seminar on Fundraising, and I am hoping to get Galina, a young woman in Tvarditsa, involved, with the possibility of mentoring her into taking over these trainings. She’s eager, enthusiastic, energetic, and very smart and capable. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much, or have too many expectations, but I can see that there are many possibilities and slowly but surely, progress may happen here.
Well, this was supposed to be an entry about my trip to Kiev, but has turned into an update on my life and work in Moldova. Perhaps that’s an excellent reflection on my trip – it helped me reenergize, and I am back at work with renewed interest and motivation. The ultimate point of a vacation, right?
Anka in Kyiv 