Teaching as a Volunteer at the Ukrainian Catholic University
Teaching for a semester or a full academic year at the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) is a challenging and rewarding experience for a volunteer coming from the West. Ukrainians are very interested in Western ideas and people from the West, but at the same time they have their own traditions and culture to share with visitors. Because Ukraine is still a society in transition from communism to capitalism, volunteers may face certain material discomforts or hardships. But they may also receive spiritual and emotional benefits.
Workload for a volunteer teacher
The volunteer teacher from the West, under the direction of UCU's English Department, will typically have 3 to 5 groups of students, with 10 to 15 students per group, to teach during the semester. The groups meet 2 or 3 times a week for an hour and a half, so the teacher can expect to be in class an average of about 4 or 5 hours a day. Out of class preparation can take about that much time, sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on the teacher.
Flexibility is perhaps the most important virtue demanded of the volunteer teacher at UCU. The English Department provides general teaching materials and support, but the teacher should be willing to adapt to the needs of different students. Some will be at a higher level than the teacher was expecting, some at a lower. Also, teaching schedules can change during the semester, often due to the arrival of a visiting professor who will teach an accelerated course over a month or two. Also, the volunteer may be asked to travel to or from the seminary campus to teach, which will take up an hour or more of the teacher's day in travel time.
Ukrainian Psychology and Attitude
It is important to remember that Ukrainians are coming from a vastly different cultural background. Over four decades of communist rule and a decade of transitional capitalism have had various effects. Older Ukrainians became used to certain, often questionable, generally accepted standards. Because of the instability of life in Ukraine today, younger Ukrainians are often uncertain what will be happening the next week or even the next day. Though UCU tries to ensure a consistent schedule and dependable, high standards, it will be helpful if foreign staff can understand the outside forces that the administration is working against.
For example, though Ukrainian society may seem to allow tardiness in many situations, UCU tries to make certain that classes start (and stop!) on time, allowing students structured breaks during and between classes.
Housing Options
UCU provides housing for visiting teachers, though sometimes with varying levels of creature comforts. The newly remodeled dormitory for some students and visiting faculty is located close to the city campus and is comfortable for the average Westerner. But this dormitory has very limited space and often guests must stay at a private apartment, sometimes on their own, or in some circumstances a landlord or landlady (who probably knows little or no English) will live somewhere on the premises.
Though the UCU dormitory has water throughout the day, the rationing of water is a common situation throughout Lviv. Many apartments have running water twice per day for three hours on each occasion. Hot water may be heated in a small tank or on the stove. This is little more than an inconvenience for visitors but requires planning of basic needs such as showers and laundry. (See Health and Safety section below for more on water.)
Climate
Lviv can get very cold in the winter (down to 0 Fahrenheit or, in extreme situations, even below) and warm in summer (very rarely reaching 90 F, more usually in the 80s). Consequently, volunteers should bring appropriate street clothes. Usually private apartments are well-heated in the winter, but sweaters, long-sleeve shirts, warm pants, etc., are desirable for other situations. As air-conditioning has no significant presence in Ukraine, comfortable clothes for summer inside wear are also necessary for those who plan to stay in this season.
Health and Safety
Some prospective volunteers may wonder about living conditions in Ukraine. They are rigorous and challenging. Volunteers should arrange for whatever vaccinations their health providers recommend (perhaps none). We encourage volunteers to be as prepared as possible. Upon entry into Ukraine, volunteers will be required to purchase local health insurance for the duration of their stay. Due to the variable quality of Ukrainian health care, volunteers would be well-advised to take all necessary precautions.
Tap water is not recommended for drinking, so boiled or filtered water is best. Your hosts are (probably) aware of the need to boil water but if you want to bring a water filter you should do so. Also, bottled water can be purchased at most "produkty" shops and outdoor markets in Lviv. A few volunteers in the past have experienced minor stomach ailments (perhaps as a result of drinking tap water or eating the fruits and vegetables that have not been thoroughly washed). Volunteers may also experience sore throats, common colds, etc.
UCU has a special staff member assigned to help out foreign staff in whatever way possible. Should medical or dental care be required, this staff member will arrange it.
Though the economic situation in Ukraine is difficult, the visitor need not take any unusual precautions on the street as far as personal safety goes. As in any big city, the visitor in Lviv should keep money and valuables in a safe place, lock the apartment door when going out, and so on. Crowded transport, however, is often home for pickpockets and other petty thieves, so it's a good idea to be particularly observant in these situations.
Leisure Life
Lviv has an Opera and Ballet House, a number of theatres where plays or musical performances are held, restaurants and cafes. All of this is very inexpensive ($4 for the opera, $5 for a nice restaurant meal). It also has lovely parks for walking in. Just going for a nice walk is still a popular leisure activity in western Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Catholic University also has a number of activities going on, though the visitor who does not speak Ukrainian will need to be creative and remember that English is not the country's native language. Many students and staff, however, are glad to be able to practice speaking English, and many are fluent. Native English-speaking missionaries, Peace Corps volunteers, and others are also found in Lviv.
Travel Costs and Options
Round-trip bookings to Lviv are about $1,000 from New York, $1,100 from Chicago, and a visa to Ukraine costs $75 (but better to get the multi-entry visa for $150). More adventurous volunteers can fly in to Warsaw or Budapest and then take a bus or a train, thereby saving some money, though this, obviously, takes longer and provides other challenges.
Travel within Ukraine is inexpensive. An overnight train ride to Kyiv costs about $20 and travel to closer cities is less. If you ask at UCU, you can often find "a friend of a friend" of someone who can put you up for a night in Kyiv or other cities you may be going to. Ukrainians are very hospitable: "when a guest is in your house, it's as if God is in your house."
Benefits to the Volunteer
An UCU volunteer will not return from Ukraine with material abundance. UCU gives a stipend which should adequately cover housing, food and basic needs.
The potential cultural and spiritual benefits of a volunteer experience at UCU, however, are considerable. Though a great part of Ukrainian society was secularized by communist propaganda, many staff and students of UCU, nevertheless, come from very traditional Ukrainian Catholic families. By participating in the life of the UCU community, the Western visitor can learn what a Catholic culture looks like: celebrating holy days, observing the fasts, public displays of religious devotion, and so on. Visitors can also learn about the spirituality of the Christian East and the specific culture of the Ukrainian people.
By learning about post-Soviet Ukraine, with all its problems and challenges, the visitor will learn more about himself, and will come to understand his own culture, and even his religious beliefs, in a different way.
For further information please contact:
Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation,
2247 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622-4828
773-235-8462 fax: 773-235-8464,
e-mail: volunteers@ucef.org
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