Jakov's day 4

On Thursday morning we moved to Vasylivka, a small town in the region of Zaporizhya where we met with pupils from a college. After that meeting we moved to Tokmak - a city south of Vasylivka. We met there with younger pupils from a high school. Bearing in mind our slogan  “Be Ukrainian, feel European” we started the meetings with a Euro-game. From my point of view it was really useful as we were able to get a feeling how much they knew about Europe and EU. During both meetings the pupils  had the possibility to win gifts provided they knew the answers. We were happy to learn that in both cities -Vasylivka and Tokmak kids had pretty good knowledge of Europe. In order to explain to them what Europe is all about the two of us told them an EU fairy-tale. In the school in Vasylivka we had an interesting discussion about differences between the European and the Ukrainian values. Most of us associated them with the Copenhagen criteria. It was very interesting to learn that pupils believed Ukrainian traditions were in conflict with European values. Moreover EU is considered to be a threat to the Ukrainian culture. Luckily we have succeeded to change this misperception - after the meetings teachers would come up to us to thank for showing their pupils a different perspective. 


We have also discussed the added value Ukraine could bring into the European Union and what is that Ukrainians should be proud of. We were happy to convince pupils that the European Football Championship next year will be a unique opportunity for Ukraine to present itself as a European, modern and multicultural country with very friendly and open-minded citizens. This is actually the Ukraine we got to know during our trip and we think that this picture is not well-known in Europe. 

I have the impression that every member of our group succeeded in two ways. On the one hand we provided our audiences with numerous ideas for their future. We have encouraged them to think about their future and to work hard for the changes they believe are indispensable for a happy, secure and prosperous Ukraine. We, the group, have all had extensive academic and volunteering (+internships and political involvement) background so we strongly advised them to join or set up students clubs and organizations. On the other hand each and every of us broadened their horizons. I have learnt a lot about Ukrainian problems, challenges student are facing and what would they expect from their government when it comes to Europe. 


Jakov