by
Cherie Zahora
From July 5 to 17 a LifeNets delegation of Dan
and Cindy Harper and Ken and Cherie Zahora
taught English and helped with a day camp in
Vinogradov, Ukraine,
for the second year. We learned several lessons
last year, not only about curriculum, but about
culture, schedules and the children themselves.
The Genki English
Program
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Unlike last year, this year Victor Kubik was
with us the first week, which was a huge plus as
he speaks Ukrainian fluently. We only had to
ask, "Now what's happening?" And we got answers.
He translated the daily Christian living
classes, which followed the theme of the week of
creation.
This year two classes were taught
simultaneously in adjacent buildings. Ken and I
taught 18 to 20 beginners with the Genki program
of pictures, video, gestures and song. Dan and
Cindy Harper taught the next level of 20
children, who had a smattering of English
already. They learned additional vocabulary,
conversation and even delved into pronouns. We
came armed with very clearly outlined curriculum
maps prepared by Cindy.
Each day we arrived at the
Light of
Love Mission that Vasyl and Irina Polichko
began more than a decade ago. Our day began at
10 a.m., when we were all treated to tea, bread
and cheese to start. Then came the 90-minute
lesson. The lesson began with a warm-up song,
review of the previous day's lesson, then new
vocabulary using pictures, computer, song and
lots of physical action. Games to reinforce the
lesson were also used, and the children glued
picture words into notebooks. Ukrainian children
really enjoy singing, so they really soaked up
the Genki lessons.
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As the children became comfortable with the
songs and with us, they were excited to lead the
warm-up sessions and the closing each day. They
were becoming very confident "teachers." The
children then had free time to jump on the
trampoline, play volleyball, badminton, Ping
Pong, swing, bounce or kick balls around. They
also had 30 to 40 minutes of Christian living
class with lots of singing. Then it was time for
lunch with more free time, then off to an
excursion that included some type of swimming in
a river or lake. We interacted with the children
in all these activities, encouraging them to use
the English they were learning.
The children, many of whom come from
difficult family backgrounds, are growing in
many ways. They are calmer than last year. We
could tell all the patience and hard work of
surrogate "parents" Vasya and Maria is paying
off. All of the love they receive from the
Polichkos is showing results intheir lives. We
were surprised how much English they remembered
from last year. The seven boys that live with
Vasya and Maria Tomaschuk also receive two hours
of tutoring in English a week.
It was a real plus to have Ken, Dan and
Cindy return as the children had already
developed a relationship with them. As the week
wore on, the warmth and smiles of the new kids
increased. The children love the attention and
want to please. The boys reminded Cindy and me
to fasten our seatbelts. The children began to
put forth the effort to converse with us in
casual settings using the phrases they have
mastered. "What's your name?" "How are you?"
"What's the weather like?"
Young Angelica leads
the class in warm-up exercises
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Yuri, age 7, had difficulty at first fitting
into the group. The first two days he did not
attend class, but played alone in the yard. Ken
invited him to join us and he sat in the back of
the class, but did not participate. As the days
wore on, he moved closer to the front and was
totally engaged. He joined in with the other
children, and even played the games with them.
The socialization and acceptance motivated his
participation.
LifeNets was able to supply four new
robust computers to the ESL program and the
Rosetta Stone English-language software was
networked to these to create a lab for English
lessons. This program is very interactive, using
headphones and microphone to listen, look and
speak. The children could not wait to try out
these lessons, even before Dan totally had it
all installed. One of the boys had difficulty
speaking the word women and the computer would
not accept his pronunciation. He listened
carefully and repeated the single word almost 20
times, but he did not give up.
The next day one of our students ran to me
in the yard and beckoned me to come with him.
Vladislav had sent him to get me, so he could
show me that he had scored 100 percent on his
lesson. I snapped his picture, and he was very
proud of this achievement. We can't wait to see
how the students progress with this new tool in
the next year.
Some of the children come from the
immediate neighborhood and love to stay at the
mission as long as they can. They go there to
sing, pray, work in the kitchen and enjoy the
warm company of the Polichkos. They wash dishes,
serve the other children their meals and mop the
floors at the end of the day.
The mission provides light in so many ways:
food, shelter, Christian foundation, love and
hope for a brighter future.
We are happy to announce a new United Church of God
in Russian: God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of
Hope for All Mankind. 
We have expanded the reach of Internet keyword
advertusung of the Good News magazine to
include Iceland. As a result we have recently added
14 subscribers in this Scandinavian nation. 
