The Great Grant Saga

About a month ago, Jennifer's host parents asked me if I'd be interested in writing a grant for the city to purchase new trashcans. I said yes, I would be interested in such a project, and so I met with the Deputy Mayor of Bar. At our first meeting, he said Bar wanted to run a "Clean City" campaign and purchase new garbage cans throughout the city. I told him I would help write the grant for the project but I needed to know exactly how many garbage cans the city wanted, how much they cost to make and the price of installation. He said he'd let me know. He never did.

Two weeks after our first meeting, we met again. At this meeting, the Deputy Mayor said the city did not want trashcans. Instead, they wanted to run a city beautification campaign and plant new bushes, grass and flowers along the main street. He also said they wanted a playground for the central park. No trashcans? I asked, just to make sure. No trashcans, the Deputy Mayor confirmed. Bushes, grass, and flowers on Prolitarska Street and a playground in the central park? I asked. Exactly, he said. I told the Deputy Mayor that I would write the grant for this project but I needed to know the cost of bushes, grass and flowers. No problem, he said. And so I went to work writing a "Healthy Community" grant that focused on the renovation of Prolitarska Street, the erection of a playground in the central park and a series of enivronmental/healthy lifestyle trainings in the schools.

I submitted the first draft of the grant on monday. On tuesday, Jennifer and I met with the Mayor to discuss the project. At the meeting, the Mayor said, what? No trashcans?
In our last meeting the Deputy Mayor said you didn't want trashcans, we replied.
We want trashcans, he said. Then the Deputy Mayor came in and said, no, we don't want trashcans, we want a playground. We want to make a park along Prolitarska Street.
Not in the central park? Jennifer and I asked.
No, he said, along Prolitarska Street, next to the bank, where there are all the trees. We want to make a children's square. The Mayor had another appointment so he said, let's meet again tomorrow and talk. Jennifer and I agreed.

At nine o'clock this morning, we met not with the Mayor, and not with the Deputy Mayor, but with a woman named Larissa who is apparently "in charge" of this project for the city. Jennifer and I asked a teacher to come along and translate for us just to be sure everything was clear today. But things were far from clear.

We want to make a children's square, Larissa said. But we need you to give us money so we can pay someone to write a report and submit it to the City Council.
No, we said. We will not give you money to pay someone to write a report and submit it to the City Council. That is your job.
It's not enough money for us to make a Children's park, Larissa said.
It's enough money to buy a small playground structure, we said. But the grant can't pay for everything. The city must contribute labor.

We don't want to beautify Prolitarska Street, Larissa said. It's too expensive and it's not possible.
You don't want a city beautification campaign? We asked.
No, she said, that was your idea.
It was the Deputy Mayor's idea, we said. You were there at the meeting and you agreed that was what you wanted.

How much money can you give us? Larissa asked.
It depends on how much it costs to make this children's park, we said. We have to write a budget and submit it with the final draft of this grant.
How much money will we get? she asked again.
How much do bushes cost? We asked. How much does it cost to take out trees? How much does it cost to put in grass and woodchips? We have to know to make a budget, then we will know how much money we are requesting. The limit is $5,000, but we must account for every penny.
It's not enough money, Larissa said. We can't do anything.
We can do a lot, we said.

What do you want this project to be? We asked her.
A children's square with grass and benches, she said.
That's it, an area with grass and benches? we said.
Yes. It will be a place where children can rest, she said.
Without a playground? We asked.
Without a playground, she said. But with new trashcans.
You want this project to include trashcans? we said.
Yes, she said, it should be only about trashcans.
Only trashcans? we asked.
Yes, only trashcans there is not enough money for a children's square, she said.

We don't know how much money there is because you haven't created a budget of what you need, we said. We created a budget for this "Healthy Community" project we wrote. Let us share with you the project we created based upon our understanding of what you said you wanted.

The project has four objective, we said. Clean up Prolitarska Street and the central park by planting new bushes, grass and flowers and erecting the playground in the park. Train older students to teach environmental awareness and healthy living to students at the primary schools. Hold a community clean up day at the end of April. Designate areas of the city as 'school zones' and have to schools compete for the cleanest zone...

That is impossible, Larissa said, cutting us off. Prolitarska Street cannot be beautified with bushes and flowers.
It's what you said you wanted before, we said.
It's too expensive, she replied, and we want the Children's square.
The problem is you don't know what you want, we said. You need to know what you want in order for us to do this project together. We only have a few weeks before the final draft of this grant is due and you need to decide what you want to do and stick with it. Otherwise we will have to table this project until February.

Fine, Larissa said. Do the project like you've written it here.
But you said this project is impossible, we said. We can't submit a project in good faith if you say it is impossible. We want to work with you on a project that is possible for Bar.

Then Larissa took the budget from the draft grant we'd written and whisked it off to another room.
I don't know what she's doing with that, Jennifer said. It's all in English. They won't know what the numbers mean.

Larissa returned a few minutes later waving the budget in the air and said, It's too expensive. The city can't afford to contribute that much to a project. We want trashcans.
Well that will have to wait until the next round of grants in February, we said. And we will only help you with a project if you have clear, unchanging objectives.
It's just not enough money that we can get, Larissa said.
It's enough money, we said.

I left the meeting this morning fuming. I was furious and annoyed mostly because I was excited about the grant that I had written based upon the needs the Mayor had previously expressed. I've since calmed down. I still plan on submitting a final draft of the grant but instead of involving the city, it will be a small grant to sponsor a healthy lifestyles week in the schools. It will be good, even if it's not as extravagant as a new playground for the kids.

I could never be a business volunteer. I think it would drive me insanse. The most frustrating thing about this whole grant saga is that the city can't seem to see past the dollar sign. They can't make a decision about a project because they are so consumed by the idea of getting money. It's not enough, they say. It's just not enough. But, it is enough. It is enough to make small changes and improvements in the city. Rather than taking the perspective: I have this project I want to finance, they say: we need money, but we don't know why.

My job in Bar is to teach and work at the schools and that's my primary concern. I agreed to work with the city because they seemed genuinely interested in working towards the betterment of Bar. But I've since discovered that the city isn't actually interested in working at all. They are interested in people doing things for them. They want change, but they don't want to work for it or pay for it. They see themselves as having so many needs that it's like they are paralyzed when it comes to doing anything about them. Rather than taking small steps they say, 'It's not enough' and they do nothing.

The great grant saga isn't over yet. Jennifer's host mom was at the meetings this morning and apparently, after Jennifer and I left, she yelled at the Deputy Mayor and Larissa for being so impossible to work with. The Deputy Mayor then said, No, we are interested in this project, we just need this 10 page grant translated into Ukrainian so we can all be on the same page. So we'll see. I just don't know what will happen next. The city will probably change its mind 10 more times in the next week, and in the meantime, I'll be working on a smaller project focused on my students.

I know, it's been forever...

Nearly three weeks of school have passed and I have yet to post a single blog. My apologies. School started with much anticipated chaos. There was no schedule. There was no schedule for two weeks. Each morning, the teachers would have to come to school and find out if they had any classes. I was told that it was impossible to have a schedule before school started because some of our teachers also teach at another school and my school had to wait to find out the other school's schedule. Of course the other school was waiting on our schedule...so round and round we went.

It's nice to be back in school. I'm teaching four days a week. I teach 6th,7th,8th,9th and 11th forms. I was going to teach the 10th form but they were just too impossible for me to deal with and I told my coordinator that I wouldn't teach that class. In Ukraine, kids have the choice of leaving secondary school after the 9th form. They can go to a technical school and study a trade, to a college (though it's really more like community college) and work towards a degree or they can stay in the secondary school and try for a university after the 11th form. Last year there were three 9th form classes. I taught two of these 9th form classes and I liked them alright; but this year, only three of my students returned. The 10th form is made up entirely of students I didn't have from the "bad" 9th form class. I taught two lessons to them this year, in their 10th form class, and it was the most annoying two hours of my life. They wouldn't do anything. I asked them to open their books. Nothing. I asked them simple questions. They just stared. Or slept. Or played on their cell phones. I'm glad I don't have to teach them.

My favorite class is my 11th form. There are 15 girls in that class and three boys. The girls are really sweet and they try hard. They at least make me feel like I'm teaching them something. My second favorite class is my 7th form. The four obnoxious boys leave to be with another teacher when I come and I'm left with the sweetest, most earnest group of kids.

We are working with new textbooks this year. They are books I was able to purchase through the grant I wrote last year with Jennifer. The books are all in English and that has been a difficult transition for my kids. They are used to working with books that translate everything into Ukrainian and so it's been tough not to have what I call "the Ukrainian crutch". I observed the lessons of one of my collegues, Sasha, and I was shocked by how much Ukrainian he spoke in his class. No wonder the kids don't know English, the teachers speak so much Ukrainian to them!

Bar celebrated its birthday at the beginning of September. I don't know how old it is exactly, 600 and something. There was a big celebration in the town that day, and in the evening, a DJ from Vinnystia came and played music at a new restaurant in town. Everyone was all excited about the "big city DJ" coming to town. It was funny. Really, the DJ wasn't any better than someone spinning records in their friend's basement during a kegger.

I spent Bar's birthday with Anya and her family. She invited me to BBQ with her family at her house in the country. Anya's mother works and lives in Spain and she was back to visit her kids for the month. Anya's mother has been building a house on the outskirts of Bar for 10 years. Even after 10 years, it is only a shell of a house because Anya's uncle works on it only in his spare time. It was fun to meet Anya's mom and eat with her family. I met her aunts and uncles and cousins. Her family was a lot of fun and they made me miss my own relatives.

I don't know what else to report. Things are going good. I can't believe I've been in country for a year. The time went so fast and I know this next year will fly by too. The next group of TEFL volunteers will be arriving soon in country. I guess that makes me a veteran. I promise I will blog again soon!

First Bell

Here are pictures from the "First Bell" ceremony. The "school leavers", also known as the 11th formers, were wearing traditional school uniforms. (Sexy french maid numbers, yes?) The school stood in a square around the muddy field. There were songs and dances performed in the center of the square. The ceremony began with 11th formers escorting the first formers around the square and to benches situated along one side. The third picture shows 11th formers escorting 1st formers to the front where the director presented them with a folder of copy books, pencils and crayons. The 11th formers then each gave a first former a stuft animal as a gift for their first day of school. It was rather cute. The first formers were so terrified and they walked really slow. Often, they were practically being dragged around by the older students.

End of August Fun

Here are some pictures that I like to call "End of August Fun". The first is a picture of me and Dave watching the sunset in Crimea. The second is of Sky, me and Hailey on Independence Day in Kiev. The third picture is the beach we hung out at outside of Sevestople, and the fourth is of my rock jewlery.