Kudos for American Friends!

Photos: Books we will buy, Iryna & Anton with Toledo postcards, Ira & Elena with The New American Bible, some members holding US flags, Stacie & Alina with cards from Wayne State.

The English Club spent almost two hours applauding American friends today. Some members had to leave, but their kudos were heartfelt. First they applauded the donations to the English-language book collection, sent through the Peace Corps Partnership Grant. "Tak, $900 for books! What a good and generous gift," Anton the poet said. The Starobilsk Weekly wrote an article about it, which I have yet to see. We still have another $400 to go, I told them. Iryna, the library director, indicated, with Anton's translating help, that she has faith in America! I almost broke into "The Star Spangled Banner," but resisted the temptation.

Then the English Club applauded the Bibliomist project, funded by the Bill Gates Foundation to bring computers and internet access to Ukraine libraries. We talked about why the library needs computers and why internet access is important. We drafted a support letter: We support Bibliomist. Don't forget Starobilsk Library. We may be Lugansk oblast, but we are part of the world! We talked about a free press (a hot issue with journalists here now), freedom of speech, and how internet access helps us get information.

That led into a discussion of July 4th and Independence Day: some American history (with help from PCV Stacie) and some Ukrainian history. It was a chance to talk about independence and freedom. There was some hesitation, but Anton led a good discussion, partly in Russian, partly in English.

Then I opened my bag and brought out a surprise: Letters that Prof. Laura Kline's Russian class at Wayne State University had sent in April (which I just received), with lots of Easter wishes to go around. I fanned them out like a deck of cards and we played a "pick a card" game. We took turns reading the notes. I suggested they write notes back and bring them to our next meeting. This is harder than it sounds, but I reassured them we can go over them together.

Finally, we opened another box of books from Toledo. Yeah Toledo! The library got more great books, including one called "The New American Bible" and another called "The Shack," which two young women browsed through and asked to take out, very excited to have the books. In addition, to everyone's delight, the box contained American flags and momentoes from Toledo, Ohio, including post cards and mouse pads, and even a Mary Kay cosmetic for me. Lots of interest in the latter, a personal touch that means so much!

This magic box turned into a fantastic Independence Day gift that tied together our myriad exercises and themes for the day. Sometimes I wonder how a session will all work out, but this one flowed seamlessly from one activity and topic to another.

And so, from the library and the English Club, thank you America, thank you Toledo, thank you Laura's Wayne State University Russian class, thank you friends who are making gifts. Please keep them coming and help us reach our $900 goal. And most of all, Happy 4th of July from Starobilsk!