One cannot live without a dream.

Unknown author

One cannot live without a dream. I remember walking around the halls of Metropolitan Museum and coming across a large fountain with a pool. People usually throw coins into the water making a wish. I tossed a dime and the main thought that shot through my mind at that moment was, “My life would never be the same”. Like words of a trivial song, but these seven short words speak volumes about my present-day life. Here is my imaginary journal under the title “Two Years After” which contains only real events.
February 20-21, 2004. I am in Kyiv again, attending the seminar on Critical Thinking Through Reading and Writing, trying to absorb all that is new and useful for me and my work. I see familiar faces: my roommate from the summer 2002 Maryna Pervova, and also Nadia, Iryna…How happy I am to meet them all! We work in small groups and I enjoy communicating with my new acquaintances from various regions of Ukraine, TEA and PIE alumni of different years. They are so much devoted to their work. I wish they were my colleagues at school; then I would never feel as a lonely warrior in the battlefield.
March 11, 2004. For some people it was a terrible day of the infamous terrorist act in Madrid. I learned about it only in the evening, when I came back home from Lviv. I was invited to the ceremony of awarding Regional Finalists of the TEA Program. I congratulated Alla Sahaidak, the teacher from the neighbouring school, and wished her to become a National Finalist. After my short speech, Marta Pereima, a representative of the American Embassy, came up to me and thanked me for my words. I did not expect that, so I was pleasantly surprised.
It was an unforgettable day; again new and old friends, sharing their ideas and impressions. Such encounters are always so inspiring for me! It was too painful to find out later on the bitter truth: cruelty and narrow-mindedness still exist in this world.
Visiting America made me think about eternal things. Every human being is unique: the color and shape of eyes, the hue of hair, peculiarities of one’s voice and smile—everything due to the pattern of genes no one else in the world possesses. The life of any human creature is priceless. I am looking at the yellowish piece of petrified wood I brought to Ukraine from Montana. My host family gave me this wood and it instantly reminded me of my student Viktor Soroka, who has a decent collection of minerals. I teach him English at home, as he cannot attend school. He is always in his wheelchair and likes to look through dictionaries, atlases, books and collections. He has never played football or tennis. Viktor can draw and copy maps perfectly well, imitating any intricate pattern with the minutest strokes. When I showed him a big map of New York, he asked me about the location of Battery Park and Twin Towers. He raised his hand, with fingers spread, over the spot where the World Trade Center stood, as if guarding it, and I thought, “His effort is not enough to stop the cruelty of the world.” But at the same time under this small hand, no wider than a maple leaf, there is a vast ocean of pain and compassion. This hand is hammering against our sleeping consciousness trying to awaken it.
Maybe my efforts as a teacher and TEA alumna are not enough to improve the world around me, but I am not going to stop. I feel that I can influence people, even authorities with their sleeping souls. Definitely, I could not do that before visiting the US.
March 31, 2004. My husband underwent heart surgery in Lviv Regional Hospital. Ordinary treatment did not bring any relief, so his heart valve had to be corrected. Thanks God, the operation was successful, but I was desperate when I heard the sum of money that we had to pay for it. Miraculously enough, I managed to do the seemingly impossible thing: to raise the necessary sum of money in a very short time. I wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been for my studying in America and the knowledge about fundraising I acquired there. By the way, the surgeon who saved my husband’s life also improved his skills studying in the US. Five years ago having such a diagnosis implied that the patient had to agree to have an artificial valve implanted. Thank you, Liubomyr Volodymyrovych! Thank you, America!
May 5, 2004. An ordinary school day. But not quite so. We have our dress rehearsal before our tomorrow’s meeting with Ann McAllen and Michel Pollard, PAS Fellows. My students are looking forward to this meeting; it had to be postponed because of my husband’s operation. I met Ann and Michel for the first time almost a year ago in Kyiv, at the two-day seminar organized by Alumni Resource Center. They are wonderful presenters and I really enjoyed Ann’s presentation on Young Learners’ Activities and Michel’s workshop on Creative Writing Skills. So, I invited them to our small town.
May 6, 2004. At last. The train was late for more than an hour and my imagination tortured me with pictures of some misadventure. But here they are: Ann and Michel. I cannot believe it but it is real. We come to our District Methodological Advising Center where the teachers are already waiting for us. Michel made a presentation on Oral Practice at the English Lesson and Ann spoke about English for young learners. Actually, it was a workshop and our teachers got involved into the process of studying as if they were students. At the end of this meeting, our teachers got issues of “Forum” and several books as the prize offered by our guests. For our small district, this visit was a tremendous event. I felt happy when I saw sincere smiles blooming on faces of our teachers of English.
Then it was our American friends’ turn to feel astonished: they saw the snow-capped Carpathians, the white color contrasting with the fresh green of early spring; they drank water from the purest river in Europe, the Limnytsia. Here, in the village of Yasen, Ann and Michel visited the museum of Ivan Vagilevych who belonged to the Rus’ka Triytsia (one of the authors of “Mermaid of the Dnister”). They also saw the old mill and visited the local church. On our way to Yasen we passed the village of Nebyliv, the birthplace of Vasyl Yeleniak and Ivan Pylypiv, two courageous men who were the first Ukrainian emigrants to Canada.
May 7, 2004. I bring Ann and Michel to our Rozhniativ Secondary School. An ordinary school, but not quite ordinary today, as we meet our American friends. My students dramatize scenes from their school life, recite poems, and sing songs in English. Then we play games under the guidance of Ann and Michel.
Our principal greets American guests. I feel her support, though many people acted on the principle ‘Not in my back yard’ while I was organizing this meeting, which turned out to be a success. Even more, it was a kind of a revolution for our quiet district center.
May 8, 2004. I got connected to the Internet! Now I can communicate with the whole world. I had asked our principal to join to the World Wide Web many times but she refused pointing out financial difficulties. Now I have the Internet at home and it is a real breakthrough for me. First of all I will send e-mails to Ann McAllen and Maryna Pervova.
May 9, 2004. It works! Maryna responded me: she has become a Regional Finalist of the PIE Program. I am so glad for her! It is a pity we cannot meet with other alumni often enough to make our cooperation more effective. I do visit conferences and seminars and they certainly are a great source of inspiration and new ideas for me but during the school year, it is not always an easy thing to do. Our school works six days a week and I must arrange substitution for my lessons whenever I want to go to the seminar. If only Alumni Resource Center could organize more meetings and conferences in summer or during winter vacations!
I also received e-mail from Ann McAllen. She writes, “Dear Galyna, you are doing a great job which requires a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Maybe you are unaware of the fact but I must tell you that you are a kind of person who inspires people around.” I appreciate these words more than any expensive present.
May 15, 2004. Students and teachers of our school looked with genuine interest at the photos sent by Ann and Michel. They recognized themselves, reciting poems, singing songs, communicating during the break. More pictures will be sent through e-mail on my computer. Long live the Internet!
May 22, 2004. “Americans Arrived in Rozhniativ”—this is the title of the article published in our local paper “News of Pidhirya”. Another article will be published in the Bulletin of School Exchange Programs. Well, the school year is ending on a high note. However, I realize that there is a lot of work to do. We are short of teaching materials and equipment. The principal promised to open an optional course for Computer Assisted Language Learning (we can use REWARD InterN@tive, Window on Britain and other courses). It means that we will have access to the computer class at least once a week. Obviously, it’s not enough, however. The situation would improve greatly if I won the grant for creating Teacher Resource Center. I have already submitted the materials for this grant. I know that this contest is highly competitive but still I hope to become a winner, as one cannot live without a dream…
I reread my imaginary journal. What else could I add to it? Maybe only this: to be continued…

Galyna Koshulap (Kozhushko)

I wrote this essay in June 2004.