VENICE — As dangerous as Ukraine is because of the ongoing war with Russia, Venice resident Gary Hughes decided to answer an ad in his college alumni newsletter to teach there.
His job would be to teach English for three weeks during the summer. Hughes, who speaks no Ukrainian, said he made the decisions to go when he read the reason why these students need to be taught English.
Because, the newsletters said, these students will be the future leaders of Ukraine. And they needed his help.
“I went to college in Dubuque, Iowa at the Divine Word Seminary and their alumni association was requesting volunteers to help Ukrainian college students to complete an English proficiency summer course,” Hughes said. “Looking back, I had not been in contact with any of the people from the alumni association for over 55 years so it was really out of character to answer this request.”
A short time later, he decided to go and the 75-year-old from Venice was on the road to becoming a volunteer teacher in Ukraine.
The English Summer School Program of the Ukrainian Catholic University had 20 volunteer teachers from all over the world traveling to a small village outside of Lviv, Ukraine in June.
There were 120 Ukrainian college students participating in the program. Hughes has a masters and doctorate in counseling psychology. He was also a superintendent of schools in Midland, Michigan.
This program was strictly a volunteer effort with no expenses paid and no travel allowances for any of the volunteers.
Getting there was not easy. Their first flight was from Tampa to Zurich to Krakow, then a 10-hour bus ride to Ukraine with a two-hour wait at the border.
“This turned out not to be so bad because some of the teachers had a 10-hour wait at the border,” Hughes said.
There was only one volunteer teacher that could speak the language, but he missed the jet. This caused a problem when they tried to get a cab to Lviv, the city where the school was located.
“The cab driver drove in circles and could not find where we were going, but he did find us another cab,” Hughes said.
What Hughes found when he arrived at the school were sandbags at all the municipal buildings, boarded up windows and nightly sirens that warned of drone attacks.
“The fighting is in the east and south and Lviv is in the west so other than drones attacking an electrical grid, it was pretty safe. There was even an app to tell where the drones are that day,” Hughes said.
The studentsWith the help of these volunteer teachers, the students goal was to become more proficient in English and experience native English speakers. No student was allowed to speak Ukrainian, only English.
If they spoke another language, they were given a yellow card and then required to entertain with a song or dance when they had free time together in front of all the other students.
During the two-week summer school, students were able to enjoy life as normal as possible in a country fighting a war. Many of the students have friends and family serving in the military.
Several of these friends and family were casualties. Men older than 25 cannot leave the country in case they are needed in the military.
Yet life still continues and people go to work and students go to school. The military cemetery in their town is an ever-present reality for the 17- to 21-year-olds.
They still believe in a bright future for a new Ukraine after they “win the war.”
“The ESS students were curious about the United States,” Hughes said. “They wanted to know if all Americans carry guns and why are there so many shootings.”
Their opinions are well thought out based on information on the news. They also wanted to know about LGBTQ activities, racial interactions and also how the election will affect the Ukrainian war.
During their stay, all teachers developed new friendships and after the three weeks, found it hard to say goodbye to the students
“The positive spirit of the students and the people of Ukraine was overwhelming” Hughes said. “I would come back next summer again unless the war effort interferes...You fall in love with the kids and there were tears on both sides with all teachers and students.”
The students cannot leave and all travel is restricted. Their dreams are to go to New York and Miami and use their English someday.
“Many of the students admitting not sleeping at night and wondered about their future,” Hughes said.
Hughes was in contact with his wife on WhatsApp every day when the Wi-Fi was working. His trip back was long but uneventful.
One of the volunteer teachers from Iowa wrote a farewell message to the group and summed the experience.
“The volunteers were enriched by our experiences, sobered by the realities of living in a nation at war, inspired by the positive spirit of our students and the people of Ukraine, and we are all thankful for the gift of this opportunity,” it stated.
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