Sr. Mary Ellen Green FaceTimes with Yuliana Krupa.
by Mary Ellen Green, OP
Yuliana Krupa is 35 years old, single, and works in a bank in the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, where she lives on the 27th floor of an apartment building. She has one brother, Jaroslav, who works in information technology in Munich, Germany. Her parents are retired and live near Odessa, Ukraine.
Every Friday morning at 8 a.m. (Central), I connect with Yuliana via FaceTime. It is 4 p.m. in Kyiv, and she is finishing a week of work and looking forward to the weekend. This conversation is one of the highlights of my week. Through the miracle of modern technology, Yuliana and I are able to have a normal conversation as if we were sitting in a room together. The topics of our conversation are like those of my own everyday life: religion, politics, food, transportation, traditions, etc. At the end of the hour, we both reluctantly say goodbye and wish each other well as we return to our ordinary lives.
For me, it is remarkable that people like Yuliana do, in fact, live normal lives amid the horrendous war that is taking place all around her. She is hopeful that soon it will pass, and she and her family and friends will be able to live in peace once again. In the meantime, she is grateful for the opportunity to perfect her English so that her post-war job opportunities will be enhanced.
Our friendship has been made possible through a program called ENGin, a nonprofit organization changing the world one conversation at a time. They connect English-speaking volunteers ages 14 and older with motivated young Ukrainians age 9 to 35 for online speaking practice and cross-cultural exchange. Through simple, weekly videochat conversations, volunteers like me make a huge impact by helping young people break the language barrier, offering friendship and emotional support, and introducing them to a new culture.
Their vision is creative and simple: ENGin helps Ukrainian youth connect with the global community by empowering them to speak fluent, conversational English. Our work breaks down borders to catalyze Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and longer-term economic and social development. Our one-of-a-kind model is human centered, personalized, and authentic. Through one-on-one conversation, we facilitate mutually beneficial relationships between students and volunteers, creating a cycle of growth and understanding. We do this on an unprecedented scale—40,000 participants and counting. We’re bridging cultures and fostering a more interconnected, empathetic world.
Check out their website at ENGinprogram.org and consider volunteering for this worthy cause.
