In this photo, Ukraine as an independent country was 10 years old. These students were 14 and 15 years old. I was teaching English as a Foreign Language in the Peace Corps and we were studying the governments of English-speaking countries. Our key questions were: How did these governments develop? What is the history and context that informs their development? What is the structure of the government? Who has decision-making roles in the governments? How are the roles in the government filled? How are decisions made? And when we were studying America’s government, we wrestled with understanding “democracy” when these students were in the midst of a developing democracy. What does it mean to have a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” (Lincoln, Gettysburg Address)? Who is included in the decision-making processes? Who has power? And one of their exercises was to create and send a letter to the President of the United States, George W. Bush. They had to learn the format of a formal letter in American culture, learn the appropriate language and salutations, craft their interests, translate them into English, and type the letter. We printed it and mailed it to the President of the United States. And then, one day, this very large envelope came back for us, from the U.S. to Oleksandria, Kirovoghrad Oblast (now Kropyvnytskyi), Ukraine, addressed to my students… from the President of the United States of America.
Looking in my students’ eyes in the photo, I think I can see their emotions.
What did they learn? Where are they now? What does it mean to be Ukrainian? Maybe they will tell us…
