Report on Official Delegation Trip

Kim Johnson, Monty Freeman, and Roger Nowadzky returned from their trip to Cherkasy. Several prospective projects between Iowa and Cherkasy were discussed. Read their official delegation report here.

Computers for High School 17

Sometimes longstanding and new relationships come together in ways that strengthen both. An example of this just happened in our sister state of Cherkasy, Ukraine. During one of the first visits to Cherkasy, volunteer Linda Hodges learned about a new organization, the Women’s Center, that had been established to help women meet the numerous challenges at this critical point in their nation’s history. Iowa Sister States organized a training seminar in Cherkasy to train women in the new computer skills they would need to find jobs in the information economy that was developing in Ukraine. This proved to be such a success that an English teacher from Cherkasy was brought to Iowa for an intensive training program that would enable her to keep offering this education to the large numbers of women that would need it on a continuing basis. Individuals and the Des Moines Area Community College donated 11 computers to the Women’s Center. ISS took responsibility for shipping them to Cherkasy. Not having enough space to accommodate them, the Women’s Center made a deal with School 17, a high school in the downtown area of Cherkasy. In exchange for these relatively new computers which would replace its outmoded ones, School 17 allowed the Women’s Center to continue its training programs in its computer labs. Over 350 women were trained during the period 2001 - 2003.

In 2002 and 2003, the US Department of State made two grants to Iowa Sister States to organize student-teacher exchanges between two high schools in Iowa and two in Cherkasy. (Details of this project are given below.) While the students and teachers were at School 17 in Cherkasy, they learned that the equipment donated earlier was now nearly worn out and no longer would support new versions of office software.

When they returned to Iowa, the teachers and students who participated in the exchange began a campaign to replace the outmoded computers at School 17. A contract was negotiated with suppliers in Cherkasy to provide, install and maintain Pentium 4 computers. School 17 agreed to continue its working relationship with the Women’s Center, allowing training classes to continue in its labs in the evenings.

Iowa Sister States agreed to match contributions from Iowans up to $2,000. The fundraisers generated $3,130. The total of $5,130 obtained new computers for the school and enabled it to continue education for its students and the Women’s Center program. Now that the new computers are in place, the Women’s Center plans not only to continue its beginners class, but to offer an advanced class in desktop publishing and a class for secretaries using the computer for normal business needs.

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High School Exchanges

In 2002 and 2003, Iowa Sister States received grants from the US Department of State to organize exchanges between Iowa and Cherkasy. In each community, two high schools would be chosen and from each, six students and three teachers would be selected. They would make a three-week visit to the sister state and be home hosted as they worked on a project related to the role of citizens in improving the quality of drinking water.

In the first year, Urbandale High School was paired with School 27 in Cherkasy and Central Academy in Des Moines was paired with School 17. The Ukrainians visited Iowa for three weeks in October 2001. They were home hosted by the students who would travel to Cherkasy in March 2002. Each student attended classes with his/her student host and participated in a series of special events including visiting Iowa State University’s agricultural center, touring the Des Moines Water Department, and attending a training program with a volunteer organization (Iowater) that tests drinking water. The students also attended football games, visited the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, and participated in an overnight camping event in a state park where they learned about conservation programs. They were also invited to participate in the student programs of the World Food Prize, which was held during the visit. They met with other students participating and with the laureates from previous years in the scientific symposia. Warm friendships resulted from the visit and the reports from the Ukrainian students described their visit to Iowa as “life changing.” They all cited the ability of Americans to influence their local governments in the decision–making process, a key goal of the exchange program.

In March 2002, the students and teachers from Iowa visited Cherkasy for their three-week stay. They also attended classes, visited the local water department, the waste water treatment facility and many sites of cultural and historical significance. The schools went all out for their visitors with special cultural programs and dances. A trip to the national capital, Kiev, included visits to museums, cathedrals and the national circus. The Iowans returned home with strong ties to their Ukrainian friends and a new appreciation for the history and culture of another country.

The program was renewed by the State Department for the 2002-2003 school year. This time the schools were Urbandale and Marshalltown High School. Lessons learned from the first exchanges led to improvements in the logistics and schedule of the visit. Again the focus was on how citizens can affect local decisions by governments regarding a community problem—in this case, drinking water. The students were invited again to participate in World Food Prize symposia (several presented papers) and social events. The return trip to Cherkasy in March of 2003 for the 18 Iowa participants was also successful. Their program in Cherkasy included a visit to the University at which the Iowans met with students studying English and held discussions with them so that the Ukrainians could hear the “Iowa accent.” The visit to Kiev this time included a visit to the ballet, an important cultural experience for the Iowans.

Regrettably, the grant was not renewed for the third year because of changing priorities at the State Department.

Members of both the Urbandale and Marshalltown High School delegations are studying ways to continue the exchanges. If you are interested in joining this group, please send a message to the ISS staff.

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Women’s Wellness

In October 2002, two Iowa women visited Cherkasy to work with the Women’s Center in offering a series of educational programs. Sandy Smith, LBSW, is the State Domestic Violence Hotline Coordinator and the Family Violence Center Volunteer Coordinator for the Children and Families of Iowa Family Violence Center in Des Moines. Penny Dickey, RN is Vice President for Patient Services at Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa in Des Moines. They spent a week in Cherkasy conducting seminars and programs under the sponsorship of the Women’s Center. They covered such topics as The Dynamics of Domestic Violence, Working with Domestic Abuse Perpetrators, working with Domestic Violence Women’s Groups, and Choosing Partners for Healthy Relationships. As in many countries, the problems of domestic violence are only recently being acknowledged in Ukraine. These seminars were attended by professional women, law enforcement, and the medical community. Feedback was very positive as participants realized that it was possible to find effective ways of dealing with this problem.

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