Ukraine-US Exchange: On the Road to Europe

A ceremony commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Fulbright Academic Exchange Program in Ukraine took place in Kyiv in October. The program is aimed at strengthening contacts between Ukrainian and US research centers, individual scientists, writers, sociologists, etc. According to the program manager, Dr. Martha Bohachevsky-Chomiak ten years is not that long a period, but there are decades bringing about changes that can be compared to those achieved over centuries. However, few people living that long can appreciate this. For Ukraine the past decade has been a period of numerous and extremely spectacular, dramatic changes and opportunities. Quite a few opportunities have been missed, but many have been used. The Fulbright Program has become another link through which Ukraine can participate in the world community. This program is not just a means facilitating professional growth. Most importantly, it tries to implement an almost idealized concept of the researcher as a citizen of the universe, as an individual trying to step over the geographic boundaries of his existence, update his outlook and aspirations, and assess his position among fellow humanbeings and values.

Fulbright is the first exchange program between Ukraine and the United States. Since its inception dozens of others have been launched, including the Future Leader Exchange School Program, Higher School Students Exchange Program, Young Teachers On-the-Job Training Exchange Program, Muskie Postgraduate Scholarship, to mention but a few.

The US Embassy will traditionally mark International Education Week, on November 18-22. There will be round tables, reports, discussions, sharing program participation experiences, and the Ukraine-US space bridge with Ukrainian program graduates on the one end and Colorado students on the other. The US audience will include Colorado Congressman Bob Scheifer as cochairman of the Parliamentary Group of Congressmen working to strengthen US-Ukrainian strategic partnership.

This time The Day offers an interview with Marta Pereyma, deputy cultural attachО of the US Embassy in Ukraine responsible for bilateral humanitarian and educational programs financed by the Department of State.

Marta, would you please give us an overview of the exchange programs and their objectives?

There is a broad range of educational exchange programs in Ukraine, meant for high school and college/university students, postgraduates, professors, schoolteachers, principals, and researchers wishing to take advanced training courses in the United States. All our programs are geared to develop the humanities and social sciences, rather than the technical and fundamental ones. We thought this over for a long time and chose what was most closely connected with the construction of civil society. Therefore, we focused on precisely those fields. Of course, we realize that such exchange programs are needed not only there.

Among our scholarship students have been many noted figures, such as Oksana Zabuzhko, Yury Andrukhovych, Yaroslav Isayevych, and Mykola Riabchuk who are quite popular in the United States. Antonina Berezovenko, on returning to Ukraine, received an invitation from Columbia University. At present, she teaches Ukrainian and language policy there. Ihor Ostrovsky teaches physics at Florida State University. Our program graduates are often invited to international conferences (e.g., Natalia Vysotska, Olha Vorobiova, Oleksiy Haran, Yaroslav Hrytsak, Tamara Denysova, Svitlana Zhabotynska...). Kiev-Mohyla Presi dent Vyacheslav Briukhovetsky is visiting the United States under our program to carry out an important project, collecting material for his book on financing higher education and studying US experience. Let me stress that he went there not because he is president of that university, but because he has an excellent project in America, because he passed muster during the interview, and because he speaks good English.

Every year Congress allocates some $25 million for our ten educational programs. In ten years of independence 25,000 Ukrainians have visited the United States under various programs, including 10,000 under educational programs (for we also have business, military, sector management, and other such programs). Last year, 3,100 Ukrainians flew to the United States under our programs. Ambassador Pascual feels very proud of these statistics.

How can one join Ukrainian- US exchanges with the aid of your programs?

Our exchange programs are subject to open but complex multistage competitive selection procedures. The questionnaires include not only dry CV data, but primarily a clear statement of the purpose of the visit. In other words, the applicant must make perfectly clear the kind of socially important work to be carried out in the United States.

Among the most important questions the applicant must answer is his/her project of stay in America, what the applicant intends to do at US educational establishments or research centers, and what will be the effect of such newly acquired knowledge and skill on the development of Ukrainian scholarship and civil society. It is extremely important for us to see that the best representatives of your people, painstakingly selected by us, return home and work for the benefit of their country.

The final decision on the winners of the contest, proceeding from data in the questionnaires, interviews, and our recommendations, is made by the State Department’s Bureau of Education and Culture in Washington, jointly with partner organizations and universities or other institutions where the Ukrainians thus selected will undergo training.

Is it only through such programs that Ukrainians can undergo training at US institutions of learning and research centers?

No. Apart from the exchange programs, we support free consulting centers for students and researchers wishing to study or undergo on-the-job training in the United States. At these centers everyone can receive comprehensive information about our programs and US university curricula and scholarships; here one can also get in touch with a particular institution of learning. The centers are modern equipped, with Internet access and databases relating to US university practicing scholarships for foreign students. As a rule, our universities are interested in having student from other countries. 420 such students have flown to America this year.

Do you practice follow-ups on your graduates returning from the United States?

Yes, we try to uphold cooperation with people returning home after on-the-job training in the United States. We are well aware that it will be extremely difficult to carry out political, economic, educational, and other reforms unless there is a critical mass of individuals understanding what a democracy is all about and are prepared to help it through their own work. We practice different methods. We provide our graduates with grants so they can get actively involved with various educational establishments, conferences in and outside Ukraine, thus fostering scientific contacts between Ukraine, Europe, and the United States.

We have been talking exchange programs but never mentioned American participants.

Right, there is another aspect of the project, allowing Americans to communicate with Ukrainians, learning more about this country and its people from Ukrainian visitors. We all know that the Americans are not well informed about Ukraine. If you ask an American in the street about Ukraine, he or she will at best mention Chornobyl and high-level corruption. Our programs will allow Americans to learn about contemporary Ukraine and its best representatives.

Americans also visit Ukraine and it’s particularly true of US teachers of history; they work at Ukrainian schools in various regions, cities, and towns, communicating with colleagues, parents, and local communities. Many later say that their stay in Ukraine has had an impact on their world outlook and changed their views on domestic problems. One of them said, “I’m 50 and I never thought I’d experience something that would change my life; I saw how people lived elsewhere, in Ukraine. Now I see the world with different eyes. They have worries and problems similar to ours, but they have fewer ways by far to solve them. Yet they can make good use of what they have. I mean their teachers in particular; they work without adequate teaching aids, computers, other equipment, even textbooks. For me they have become a living example and proof that man can show an excellent performance under the direst of conditions. They teach their students so much! I was honored to visit Ukraine.” Interestingly, quite a few Americans, after visiting Ukraine once, are willing to visit again as teachers, consultants, and so on.

A lot of US taxpayer money is spent on your exchange programs. Just how effective they prove?

US money channeled into Ukrainian education is provided by Congress, meaning that yes, it’s US taxpayer money. So our attitude is very cautious. Different commissions often visit Ukraine to assess our performance and its effect on the formation of a civil society in Ukraine. Ukrainians may be unaware of this, but your life and education are changing before our very eyes; nongovernmental organizations are set up and new teaching methods introduced. To a degree this is due to the efforts of our graduates. We keep track of their attainments and send annual reports to the United States, defending our programs’ budget.

Martha, how long have you been in Ukraine? Have you noticed any changes in our life?

I have lived here for three and a half years, not too long, although I first visited Ukraine back in 1975. Staggering transformations have occurred since then and quite a few things have changed over the past couple of years. I know that there are many people taking these changes the hard way, we can see this at every step. On the other hand, I am happy to be working with these programs and with these people doing something new and badly needed by your country, helping fundamental changes that are taking place. Although a lot of Ukrainians do not seem to notice them.

— P.S.: Martha Pereyma was born in Buffalo where her Ukrainian parents settled after World War II. She has been keenly aware of her Ukrainian origin since an early age. In fact, she led a double life, going to American school during the week and to a Ukrainian study school every weekend. She was a member of the Plast Ukrainian youth organization. She received her bachelor’s degree in political science in Buffalo, then moved to Ottawa in Canada where she got her master’s degree. Her thesis was on church-state relationships in Eastern Europe, focusing on the Greek Catholic Church. Her project coordinator was the late Bohdan Bocurkiw, a noted scholar, and she is still proud to mention his name. She has remained a Plast devotee and been in charge of Plast summer camps. Through with academic study, she worked at various US exhibits in the Soviet Union for several years and visited many Ukrainian cities. She is currently on the US embassy staff in Kyiv.