The Borderland Chronicles

Three weekends ago I was invited by Vladimir Berezin, a local environmental journalist and editor of Konstantinovka’s Province Newspaper, to speak to other regional journalists about the importance of incorporating digital storytelling and social media into their work, as well as environmental journalism in America.

The group of about 15, comprised of journalists from Konstantinovka, Kramatorsk, Donetsk, Makeevka, Dobrpolya and other cities, were a great audience, listening attentively as I spoke about writing for the web and utilizing Twitter. And they hung in there with me when I started in with what little I knew about environmental journalism, which really amounted to what I deemed to be some of the biggest stories of the past few years and how they were covered.

It got interesting during the second hour of my time there. After opening the floor up to questions, we began discussing how best to cover the many environmental issues facing the region – trash, mine waste, water contamination.

Of course, it’s impossible to discuss such a thing without also bringing politics into the mix, since everything here seems to be intertwined. And so another thirty minutes or so was spent talking about media rights in Ukraine, which took a big hit in January when the Constitutional Court of Ukraine passed a law banning the disclosure of information about public officials without their consent, and the government’s crackdown on free speech.

Anyway, I met a lot of good people that day who do good work and who are genuinely interested in making a difference in their community. Working as a journalist here – at any level – isn’t easy. I hope what I had to say inspired them to continue their work.

Posted in Donetsk, Journalism, Media, Politics, Russian, Technology, Ukraine |

The Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported this week on a project that will bring new and innovative technologies to secondary schools throughout Ukraine.

The Open World project, which Ukraine officially rolled out yesterday, will be implemented in 704 schools around the country, including schools in rural areas.

The Interfax-Ukraine story lacks significant details regarding what exactly the program will entail, but any help rural schools can get is a step forward for education in Ukraine.

Many schools here lack what most would consider bare necessities – blackboards, chalk sticks, projectors, computers, Internet and even books enough for an entire class. In some 12 classrooms at a nearby village school, where I taught for 10 months, four were without chalkboards and all were without chalk sticks. Students actually went to local quarries to find pieces of calcium carbonate to use in their place.

Whatever the program provides to the secondary schools involved will no doubt be a big help. And hopefully in the not so distant future the rest of Ukraine’s public schools will receive the same assistance.

Posted in School, Teaching, Technology, Ukraine |

Ukraine Vice-Premier and Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov said Tuesday that the first “Ukrainian Express” high-speed Hyundai trains will begin running May 15, 2012, with tickets available May 1, news agency Interfax-Ukraine reported.

The announcement was made in London at the Inside Ukraine conference organized by the Economist Magazine with the support of the Foundation for Effective Governance.

In December 2010, the State Rail Transport Administration Ukrzaliznytsia and the Hyundai Corporation signed a contract to supply 10 high-speed trains to Ukraine in order to transport guests visiting the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. Kiev, Lviv, Kharkiv and Donetsk will all host matches in Ukraine.

Two of the high-speed trains are expected to be delivered to Ukrzaliznytsia by late February to early March 2012. The remaining eight trains should arrive in Ukraine in early May 2012.

The trains will be equipped with comfortable high-backed seats, televisions, spacious lavatories and even wheelchair access, which is absent from most of Ukraine’s currently operating trains.

A look at the trains’ designs can be seen over at tochka.net.

Posted in Donetsk, Football, Kiev, Sports, Technology, Travel, Ukraine |

On the train from Kyiv to Konstantinovka last night I sat next to a talkative babushka who was fascinated by my MacBook. She asked what it could be used for, and I explained to her – in Russian – what the Internet is.

“I know the Internet,” she said. “My grandchildren watch it often. It has a lot of guns from America. And lots of violence.”

What I imagine she believed the Internet to be was a place where her grandchildren play interactive bang-’em-shoot-’em-up games like World Of Warcraft. So I told her it could be used for many things, like disseminating information to people around the world. When I told her I speak to my parents using the Internet, and that I could see them on the screen while doing so, she shook heard head in amazement and made a clicking noise with her mouth.

A moment after a man came by and asked if we’d like to purchase an electric massager. The small white device resembled a vibrating dildo and was slightly longer than my forefinger. The babushka shooed him away after he tried to show how it works on her backside.

“No need for that,” the babushka said, shaking her head in disapproval. “Now, tell me about your life in America.”

Posted in Babushkas, Culture, Russian, Technology, Travel, Ukraine |

This past weekend, friends of mine brought to my attention an interesting NPR radio segment and web story (“Texting, Skype Alter The Peace Corps Experience“) that relates directly to my current life situation. If you’re reading this, you know that I am a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Ukraine and, of course, that I have Internet access, email and a blog. The following excerpt highlights the premise of the article:

Until fairly recently, joining the Peace Corps usually meant living in a remote location and leaving behind your family, friends and way of life. But improved technology is changing how volunteers serve — and how they keep in touch with home.

Each Peace Corps Volunteer has a different experience. As mentioned, however, until recently, the lack of necessary infrastructure in countries occupied by the governmental organization kept volunteers living in a more primitive manner. My uncle, for example, who served in Ecuador in the late 90s, living in a remote village, castrating sheep with Swiss Army Knives and his teeth, had no local Internet access. I vaguely remember him being able to send an email once every month of two, but it was done from Quito and only after a more than eight-hour bus ride into the city. He relied heavily on the old methods of communication. For the two years he was in South America, we corresponded mostly through handwritten letters and the occasional collect call made from a public telephone.

Fast forward 12 years. Now, I am able to communicate with my friends and family back home in a multitude of ways, including email, text message, through Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, even via video chat – Skype – the very thing I remember as a child thinking only James Bond-type characters and international persons of great significance were able to do. The benefits of such technologies are vast and obvious, so I’ll save my breath and your time.

Impaired by the elation brought on by having such technologies available, what aren’t so obvious to PCVs are the negative aspects of spending so much time using them. The NPR piece touches on just one, from Peace Corps’ Rwanda country director, John Reddy:

“If a volunteer is telling their family they’re having a bad day or a bad week, and then the family member calls Peace Corps Washington and Peace Corps Washington calls me … I have to find the volunteer and see what the problem was,” he says.

What the story doesn’t delve into are the consequences of living a wired life amongst a community that is mostly ignorant to such technologies. Prior to coming to Ukraine, I had nearly every new technological device known to man. So, I’m not here to knock them, because I love them as much as the next geek. As a journalist, it was important for me to have 24-hour access to news and information, to be able to connect with coworkers, sources and editors when I needed. But here, if I hide behind my MacBook or the screen of my smartphone, I’ll miss something valuable, some culturally significant tidbit that could help me assimilate further into the community. And isn’t that what Peace Corps is all about?

In Ukraine, it’s important to put in your time with the people. It is a culture that values face time and small talk. Here, traditions outrank technology. Technology might make that small talk interesting, and it certainly will help you hold onto your American way of life – as much as you can – but like the Peace Corps days of old, getting your hands dirty with the locals is still the best way to make friends, stay sane and get the most out of your experience.

Posted in Communication, Culture, Media, Peace Corps, Technology, Ukraine |