From 20th January to 3rd February job shadowing between Irpin’s and Donetsk’s volunteers took place. During the first week my humble self went to Irpin (small city near Kiev) to get acquainted with working environment of our colleagues living there. In the same time Malin went from Irpin to Donetsk. After one week we switched places and Ania from Donetsk went together with Malin to Irpin and Denitsa travelled with me to Donetsk. Purpose of this job shadowing was grasping the difference in working environments between cities and projects themselves. First of all Irpin is a small city near Kyiv, surounded with nature and Donetsk on the other hand, big city, capital of industrial region with lots of monumental buildings. The other aspecst, EVS projects and characteristics of organizations. In Donetsk we have 14 people focused on 4 different projects, e.g. “Bringing European awareness to Ukraine” or “Intergenerational dialogue”, while Irpin’s volunteers are only two girls working on Euroclub, classes with disabled kids and in sanatorium. Let’s get to know, what do they think about visiting other city and working with different people:
Denitsa Dimitrova
(place of EVS: Irpin, nationality: Bulgarian)
- What was most surprising for you in Donetsk?
You spend a lot time travelling! That’s something unusual for me. The other thing is that there is so many volunteers in here, which is nice. What is more, your job is more strict than ours, you have evaluations every weekend, also meetings with mentors are more regular. It’s hard for me to say if it’s better or worse, it’s just different.
2. How can you describe differences in working environments?
It’s normal to be different because the projects are quite dissimilar and engage different type of people. For example in Irpin we work predominantly with young people with special needs and given the fact that neither of us two speaks the local language well, most of the time conducting a conversation is the biggest challenge for us. The volunteers in Donetsk speak relatively good Russian so they can progress faster. Also working with adults, which you do in Donetsk but in Irpin we don’t, also requires different approaches and I like it this way because you have diversity in your schedule.
3.What do you have in Irpin, what you miss in Donetsk and what thing from Donetsk would you miss in Irpin?
Honey and milk straight from babushkas on the streets (which is not true, because we also have them – writer annotation). You also have more free time activities in Donetsk, such as cinemas, circus or stadium. However, we are close to Kiev so we can also find something. And of course doing shopping is so much easier in Donetsk.
4. Do you thing that job shadowing like this is useful practice?
In my opinion, yes. It’s not only beneficial for us, volunteers, but also for our organizations. Especially when you take into consideration, that your Debate Centre is working with volunteers for some time and we are first volunteers in Irpin.
Ania Szel?gowska
(city of EVS: Donetsk, nationality: Polish)
- What was most surprising for you in Irpin?
Living in a forest and with landlady. It was really something totally different going from big city like Donetsk to really peaceful and quiet environment of Irpin. I was really enjoying this serenity and walking to every workplace. Experience of living with landlady was also quite interesting, it gives an opportunity to know more about people’s attitude on everyday basis.
2. How can you describe differences in working environments?
In schools it’s pretty much the same as in Donetsk, however in church it was something new for me. I really liked handcrafts workshops with children and mutual language learning. As far as organization’s work is concerned there are a lot of differences. In Irpin they don’t have thing like ‘office day’, because it’s not needed at all. They also don’t hold any meeting on weekly basis, like our Donetsk’s movie clubs or Saturday presentations.
3. What do you have in Donetsk, what you miss in Irpin and what thing from Irpin would you miss in Donetsk?
Like I said, I will definitely miss the nature, which is in Irpin. Of course, you can find plenty of green places in Donetsk, but either they are some parks or you have to go outside the city to find a nice spot. And in Irpin you just open your door or window to breath with fresh air. On the other hand, I really miss having people around in Irpin. After short stay there, I appreciated our volunteers’ team even more than I did before.
4. Do you thing that job shadowing like this is useful practice?
Yes, in many aspects. Starting from organization work, through places in which you work and ending on train travels. For me time spent in train was really nice. We met people who were really interesting and I could practice my translator skills, as Malin doesn’t speak any Russian.
Malin Sanstr?m
(place of EVS: Irpin, nationality: Swedish)
- What was most surprising for you in Donetsk?
Well, as far as the city is concerned I have to admit that public transport. First of all, in Irpin I walk a lot, because the distances are not so big and here u have to use marshrutkas, buses or trolleys, which are always full or even too full and sometimes u can spend lots of time just waiting. Also it seems that everything is far away and you have to spend a lot of time just travelling. Secondly, the city itself is a little bit dirty and if there is no snow and no sunshine it looks a little bit depressing.
2.How can you describe differences in working environments?
Like I said, half of working time you have to spend in public transport. But basically kids and people who I was working with are pretty much the same.
3. What do you have in Irpin, what you miss in Donetsk and what thing from Donetsk would you miss in Irpin?
In Irpin we have lots of nature, trees surrounding us from everywhere and this is definitely what I miss in Donetsk. Basically, I prefer smaller cities and I don’t see myself doing my project in capital city of Donbas, however I really do miss people in Irpin. We don’t have opportunity to meet people our age there (because they do not speak English), so I am really glad that I can meet so many new volunteers here.
4. Do you thing that job shadowing like this is useful practice?
Yes, of course. It is nice opportunity to see another way of living, especially if there are such differences in working place. You can appreciate more things in your town, it broadens your mind and you catch more of Ukraine.
Wojciech Frydrych
(city of EVS: Donetsk, nationality: Polish)
For me, as an organizer of this project it was really great experience. Making this project itself gave me opportunity to improve my skills in organizing. I also strongly believe, that it will help our Hosting Organizations in process of networking and exchanging information and experience about EVS. Another great aspect of this job shadowing was travelling to and from Kiev, which gave me unique opportunity to make bond with Ukrainians, as people speaking different language always attract their attention. Furthermore, I could experience living in environment I couldn’t have experienced in Donetsk, by this I mean small city surrounded by nature. As far as job itself is concerned, one of the best parts was attending Polish classes in one of the schools. I was really surprised, because for most of children it was first contact with Polish native speaker. Another thing worth mentioning was taking part in Euroclub. This was really inspiring experience, watching kids coming to school on Saturday to broaden their mind in the topic of European values. To sum up, I strongly recommend such projects to other volunteers and organizations, because it is excellent way to cooperate on formal and informal level as well.
Wojtek