05 - 09 December 2013: Transition to Service Conference

05 December – 09 December 2013

On Thursday, 05 December, I went with my cluster to thank the teachers who had worked with us at School #5 in Obukhiv. The Peace Corps gave us certificates to give to our teachers as thanks. After we thanked them, we were given gifts (chocolate) and talked to them about where we were going. After not long enough, we had to go to our last Russian class. We had a 2 hour class, where we learned several new sets of phrases – how to call for a taxi, how to talk to the landlord, and how to talk to our school. We practiced our phrases. After that, we had lunch, and had a short X/C session, where we went over how to deal with/communicate with our landlords, and how to continue on our own self-directed learning. After that, we cleaned the flat, and were free until Sunday at 9am. I walked back to the flat, did some more organizing, and had dinner with my host-family.

On Friday, 06 December, I was able to sleep in, as I didn’t have any classes. I ended up completely reorganizing how I had my things packed, but I was able to get even more things into Big Red, my large, red, rolling suitcase. That evening, I had dinner with my host-family. My host-mother went to watch the younger grandchild, so it was a very quiet evening.

On Saturday, 07 December, I also slept in late. I finished all of the packing that I could  (the things that I wasn’t going to use in the next 12 hours) and almost packed my smaller bags. I had several long video-chats with my parents, and was able to video-chat with my grandparents. After that, I had dinner with the whole family: borshch and noodles. As it was a special night, we all had a small amount of vodka and a very good torte. I hung-out with the family for a while. I read for a while before going to bed.

On Sunday, 08 December, I got up early, as I needed to be at my LCF’s flat at 9am, with all of my stuff. I finished packing my things, get dressed, had breakfast (scrambled eggs with sausage), and went to my LCF’s flat by car (my host-uncle drove me, my host-sister, and my stuff). There, we were picked up by a bus, which we loaded up with our stuff and went to Kyiv. In Kyiv, we drove to a university, as we were staying in their dorms. The transition to service conference was held in conference rooms in the building. First, we got the information-filled flash drive that we were promised will be amazing, got signed into our rooms, and signed two very important documents – the release of information (we can take your picture, and use what you create for TELF as  PCV) and the Oath itself – before we met our counterparts and had lunch.

My counterpart is very enthusiastic. She is about my parents age, and has lived in Olexandriya most of her life. I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. We listened to our CD talk about the Transition to service conference, and then we got to learn about Small Project Assistance Civic Program (SPA) and Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) Grants. We learned what they were, what the difference is, where they get their money, what they can do for us, and how to apply for them.

After that, we split into groups, our counterparts going to talk to our regional managers, while we listened to the final administrative details. We went over our registration details – what we need to do to get registered in Ukraine – with the person in charge of registering us. He has helped many cohorts of PCTs and PCVs get registered in Ukraine . We also went over our various stipends and money.

After that, we broke into regions, and met with our regional manager, to get specifics on our registration, among other stuff. We went over things like the cantina: Eat at or bring? Tickets: who and where? Peace Corps money: when and where? and banking: Who do we give the money for things to, and when? Then, our counterparts joined us, and we got to know all the counterparts. Then, the TEFL Lead Specialist (Russian) came in and talked to us. She explained that we need to teach a certain number of hours, and have a certain number of extra-curricular. She told us HOW to get those extra hours. After that, it was dinner time, and then we were free. I had dinner with my counterpart, and then went back to the room, where I got ready for the next day, and read before going to bed.

On Monday, 09 December, I got up early, had breakfast with everybody (LCFs, PCTs, and Counterparts), and went to the next training. We were divided by region, for our HIV/AIDS/PEPFAR training. Over three hours, we had many activities that helped us understand what HIV is, how it becomes AIDS, how it is transmitted, and why it is an issue in Ukraine. We also talked about how it is treated, as it can not be cured, only treated. Before lunch, we got our passports back (with a stamp that means that we are registered in the country, even if we don’t have the document to back it up (our Posvidka; which we get once we finish the registration process). During lunch, there was a book/English teacher supply sale. There is an organization that sells English-language books/supplies to English teachers in Ukraine. They have some really cool things. I saw several things that I wanted to buy (and likely will once I have the space to carry them), and I bought some back-issue journals with interesting articles and activities, as well as a guide to idioms. After lunch, we had an hour and a half of activities on what stigma and discrimination are and how to overcome them.

After that, the whole group got together to learn about the Free Kick Programme - a programme that combines HIV/AIDS awareness, HIV testing, and football; supported by the Elton John Foundation – and PEPFAR (US President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief), which is grant programme that puts on programmes to train people in talking about HIV/AIDS and discrimination. There’s a training programme in February, and my counterpart was thinking about doing it. After PEPFAR, we learned about the VAST small funds programme – money for grants for PEPFAR and trainings that help with the most-at-risk-populations for HIV/AIDS. We then had a coffee break, before learning about the partner organizations: Bibliomist, FLEX, Open World Programs, Education USA, Windows on America, and the Regional English Language Office (US Embassy).

After that, we had the CD’s meeting, where our CD talked about how important we are to the future of all the countries we serve, and how we are in Ukraine during an interesting time for the country. He went over the rules, the important rules, the ones that could mean immediate administrative separation from the Peace Corps if you do them: leaving the country without the CD’s approval, engaging in espionage of any sort, and doing illegal drugs. He also went over why we are important to Ukraine – we made a commitment to serve Ukraine, to help to build the future of Ukraine, and we bring with us hope and possibility to Ukraine. Then, we had a bit of a surprise. Because of the possibility of something happening overnight in Kyiv, we wore sworn in by our CD. I think that, while the pomp of the ceremony at the Embassy was very cool, being sworn in by the CD was more moving.

After the impromptu-swearing-in ceremony, we voted for our TAG and VAC reps, who will be responsible for collating what we PCVs think about PST and being a Volunteer in-country and letting PC-U admin know about what we think. We then picked up our requested medications, learned the schedule for the Embassy (as long as we were still going), and went to have dinner.

After dinner, I got ready for the next day, and left packing until then, as I would have several hours to get ready before we would depart for the central train station. I got a shower and read for a while before going to bed.