Revisiting Anna’s List

On September 1 thousands of schoolchildren across Ukraine poured into the streets to celebrate the most important holiday of their young lives, known here as the Day of Knowledge, which marks the beginning of a new school year. One of them is a girl named Anna Vakulenko, who in April 2004 impressed the staff and readers of The Day with her unchildlike questions.

In April 2004 The Day received a letter from Anna Vakulenko, an eighth-grader from the village of Mykhaylivka in Kirovohrad oblast. In her letter the 13-year-old schoolgirl asked a couple of dozen of her own questions in response to a question we asked children: “What do you find objectionable in the adult world?” in our column “Children Notice Everything.” Impressed by the profound thoughts and civic courage conveyed by her letters, the editors published Anna’s List on the front page of the Ukrainian-language issue of The Day. Naturally, most of Anna’s questions touched on her school and native village. Yet, as our readers pointed out in their letters, her list mirrors all of the problems affecting Ukraine and its society. For example, Anna asked:

“Why is it that only a handful of students in my class of 25 do their homework, while the rest cheat, and where will this lead them?”

“Why were classes cancelled for two weeks in preparation for a visit by a people’s deputy to our school?”

“Why were personal computers delivered to our school and village council, only to be left standing idle with the adults avoiding them as though they’re afraid of them?”

“Why were three shops opened near our school (the teachers call them the Bermuda Triangle), where students can freely buy cigarettes and alcohol at any time?”

“Why is the discotheque at the village’s House of Culture no place for a sober person?”

“Why are there no television programs for schoolchildren apart from ‘LG-Eureka’ and ‘Living Nature’?”

“Why can’t Dad think of any person with whom he could share The Day newspaper after reading it, even though our village of 2,000 has over 50 residents with university degrees?”

“Why does Dad give away his currant seedlings only to have more of them stolen during the night?”

“Why do officials brag about large future grain harvests, while fields intended for winter crops lie fallow around our village?”

“Why do speakers on television and radio praise Ukraine as Europe’s fastest-growing economy, while I notice fellow villagers wearing threadbare felt boots?”

“Why did I have to pay 18 hryvnias for an animal book in Ukrainian for my little brother?”

“Do I really have to start dreaming of life outside Ukraine at this early age?”

Anna’s List touched off a barrage of letters from scholars, public servants, students, and ordinary compassionate people, who tried to answer Anna’s questions and wished “the schoolgirl mature beyond her age” faith in the supremacy of goodness, wisdom, and all that is best in people. Some of these letters were published in The Day. Eventually, the stir created by Anna’s List turned into a cycle of incisive and heartfelt materials featuring both profound philosophical observations and naпve childlike reminiscences.

Anna’s List also touched a chord with local officials. The publication of the list was followed by visits to her native Mykhaylivka by representatives of the raion and oblast state administration, who asked Anna to show them the fallow fields. After visiting Anna and her family, The Day’s correspondents returned with a long interview, a number of photographs, one of which is shown below, and fond memories of their encounter with this ordinary but at the same time very extraordinary village family.

On September 1 Anna entered tenth grade. The day before, our correspondent called the girl to find out about her expectations of the new school year, about any changes that may have taken place in her life after the latest newspaper publication, and whether she would like to expand her list of questions.

Getting Anna on the phone was difficult. It turns out the girl is a big help on the busy household farm, which is why it is next to impossible to catch any member of the family at home during the day. Anna still reads a lot. She recently started Tolstoy’s War and Peace and finds the book fascinating. She is completely prepared for school: during the summer she read almost all the books, both Ukrainian and foreign, that will be covered in the tenth-grade curriculum. Discussing her expectations of the new year at school, Anna said: “This year I would like to find the time to think about what it takes to become a real, almost ideal personality, and turn myself into one, that is, to cultivate the positive traits in myself that are indispensable to an ideal personality, the traits that I am just developing in myself: willpower, patience. But most of all I would like to become a good person.” Anna still dreams of becoming a psychologist. She has already chosen a university to continue her education. Two years from now Anna will travel to Kyiv to test her knowledge in an admissions examination at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy National University.

According to Anna, neither her family nor she had any problems after the publications in The Day, except for the odd show of aggression or jealousy. One high school student threatened her if her publications resulted in the dismissal of their school principal. A classmate was surprised at the media interest in Anna, claiming that she would have given a much better interview.

Anna said the presidential elections were a milestone in her family’s life. The Vakulenko family was passionate in its support for Victor Yushchenko’s presidency. “That’s why we follow everything that is happening in the country with optimism. We realize, of course, that nothing will change overnight, but we believe that such changes will take place,” says Anna, who even accompanied her father to the presidential inauguration in Kyiv: “I liked the friendly atmosphere in Independence Square that day: nobody was shouting or arguing, and the people were positively minded.”

Anna accepted the offer to expand her list, but after reviewing her questions she decided that “this long list does not require any additions at the moment. A lot of questions are obvious. Incidentally, these questions will be relevant for a good many years. Solving these problems is not a matter of a couple of months. In the few months that the new team has been in power we have heard numerous complaints that nothing has changed and that the new government is no better than the old one. However, every person with an adequate sense of reality realizes that it is no simple task to change the established system of oligarchs and clans, all the more so as this criminal and profoundly immoral system does not stop at anything to ensure its survival. Granted, much depends on the government, but the implementation of the presidential and government program is also up to each and every one of us. Bringing these plans to life requires accord and understanding in society. A powerful state, a just society, and a decent life are part of our common goal. I hope and believe that we will have enough patience, resolve, and civic courage to build this kind of Ukraine. I sincerely believe that there will come a time when our country will make us proud.”

These are the thoughts that Anna Vakulenko, now a tenth-grader, shared with The Day’s readers. It appears that her youthful boldness has given way to an understanding that in waiting for improvements one should begin with self-improvement. Observing her fellow villagers, Anna pointed out a trend discernible in Ukrainian society: people are beginning to lose faith in the new government. Then there are people like the Vakulenkos, who are prepared both to wait patiently for improvements and to do their share to carry out the expected changes. That is why Anna does not want to continue her list of relevant questions, preferring to focus on self-improvement.