Summer with Volunteers was the “Best Experience of his Life”
When Russia invaded Ukraine early in 2022, our Poland host partner knew the wider Siedlce community would soon welcome refugees who would flee their homeland. Within weeks, Global Volunteers mobilized to help community organizations prepare and host women and children who arrived from areas under attack. By summer, children’s camps were being offered throughout Poland to give kids relief from the conflict. Working with community partners, Global Volunteers doubled the number of summer camps we typically offer to accommodate the immediate needs of Ukrainian families. And, our volunteers responded in great numbers – along with Polish students – who came together with Ukrainian children to create a space of “normalcy” in a most traumatic time.
As the school year ended in Poland this spring, Wiktor, a high school student, told the Global Volunteers in his classroom he wasn’t quite ready to stop practicing English. When he learned a new team would soon arrive for the Ukrainian-Polish summer camps, he was determined to keep learning. He found that after committing to a one-week English camp, he “couldn’t stop participating,” and wanted to help Global Volunteers serve others students in his community.
“Working with American volunteers each day encouraged me to keep learning more,” says Wiktor. “During the school year, my English teacher announced that we would have extra English lessons with volunteers from the U.S. over summer. I decided to participate in the summer camps because my dream is to live in the U.S., he explained. “I thought to myself, ‘It will be cool to have friends from there.'”
Soon after the first camp began, he offered to help a volunteer create a video from photos of the classes. “I thought, why not, I’ll give it a try.” The students and volunteers greatly enjoyed the video, which encouraged Wiktor to continue serving in additional ways by helping the Ukrainian and Polish translators.
Olga Storozhenko, a Ukrainian translator who fled the war and has settled in Poland observed: “Wiktor is a wonderful young man; smart and very helpful. He has not only helped with translation, but also helped volunteers prepare classes and activities for children. They all loved him and were happy to see him every day.”
“I learned more about the organization (Global Volunteers) from my teacher, and I was encouraged to work harder,” Wiktor asserted.
He attended two more summer camps – assisting the volunteers with games, translations and more video assignments. “I wanted the children to have the opportunity to improve their English, through learning and playing. In that way, I think the community benefited from my English skills in various ways. I can say my language ability increased, especially when it comes to speaking, and this was useful to the students. For example, they were able to talk to the volunteers and learn new vocabulary and phrases.” After volunteering for the first four weeks of camp, Wiktor was hired by Global Volunteers to finish out the work of a Ukrainian translator who was able to return home.
Wiktor’s eagerness to help also caught the early attention of Global Volunteers Team Leader Karen Wark. “His desire to be of service to both the children and the volunteers was infectious, and he inspired all of us. We all felt very grateful for the opportunity to serve with him.”
How did Wiktor assess the opportunity to assist Polish and Ukrainian children? “I think the local community gained the volunteers’ and students’ appreciation by looking at their hospitality and the hard work they put in to give them a warm welcome. English has helped Ukrainian refugees communicate with others and allowed them to make new friends.” He said in all, participating in the summer camps “was the best experience of my life.”
Inspired by Wiktor’s example, another Polish student, Weronica, offered her assistance at the summer camps as a translator’s assistant. She said working for two months with the English-speaking volunteers helped her overcome her hesitancy to speak the language.
“The most important thing that I learned was to not be afraid of talking and trying. Even when I didn’t know how to translate some words, instead of checking them online, I tried to describe what I was trying to express.” In that way, she said, she was able to expand her vocabulary and feels more confident with English now in the new school year. Recalling two previous summers as a participant in the Global Volunteers English language camps at Reymontowka, she wanted to provide the same opportunity to other students – particularly those who traveled from war-torn Ukrainian towns and villages. “I still have a lot of great memories and friends from that time,” she said.
“Volunteers’ work is to talk to the kids. Not only teach them English like in school but just listen to them,” Weronica continued. “They show interest in their lives. They care. I think the volunteers helped those kids to forget about war in their country for a second. Also, it showed them that knowing another languages while ‘traveling’ is really important.”
Both Weronica and Wiktor said their service gave them confidence in ways they hadn’t anticipated.
“I feel much better talking on my English lessons in school now, said Weronica. “I finally feel freedom while talking. I don’t have to think about what I want to say and translate it in my head before speaking.”
Wiktor agrees: “It was so cool to help and learn at the same time.”
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