Ukraine Exchange

Hello,

There's one day until we leave for Ukraine and I'm spending some time at Community Y with Dan, finishing some things up before we leave tomorrow. It seems surreal that after all the meetings, planning and fundraising the time has actually come that we are going to Ukraine. We have heard many stories and fond memories from people who have travelled there, and we're very excited to go and experience it for ourselves! I'm thrilled to be able to make this trip as part of the YMCA and to travel with two people as remarkable as Ben and Dan. I think what I am most looking forward to is meeting YMCA people from other parts of the world, and spending time with the families and YMCA members from Ukraine. Also, I think it will be a great experience to have two Ukrainian youth travel back to Canada with us at the beginning of July. The two youth who will be returning with us this year are Vika and Natalia, two girls who have been volunteering at Volyn YMCA since 2006. We will be meeting and spending time with them when we are in Ukraine, and they will stay with our families and work at our camps when they are in Canada. For the first week of July they will be working with me and Eau Claire YMCA doing day camps, for the second week they will be working at Riveredge doing day camps, and for the last two weeks of July they will be working with Ben out at Camp Chief Hector doing residence camps. This will be a great opportunity for both parties to learn and share our knowledge and experience with eachother. I feel that this type of grass-roots, hands-on work is very effective and allows for strong relationships and bridges to be built between people.