Travel to Ukraine Official Blog

Energy Independence Globally

By Harry Stevens, RPCV Ukraine

“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your” world.

In 50 years since the founding of the Peace Corps in 1961, economic globalization has become a fact of life.

In the next 50 years, a networked form of political globalization will emerge from the bottom-up, not top-down.

Two decades ago, Ukraine was the largest of the Soviet republics to become “independent” of Russia, even though it is still “dependent” on it for oil.

Before the turn of the next century, there is athreat of chaos if we are still dependent on nearly depleted fossil fuels. Threats of depleted fossil fuels causing economic chaos, of more wars being fought over oil, and/or of global warming causing catastrophic climate change – together or separately are calls to action.

Nuclear proliferation, fuel depletion chaos, climate change (or global warming), oil wars, and terrorism are uniting diverse nations in calls for political action, in Kyoto more than a decade ago, then in Copenhagen in late 2009, and potentially now in Yalta in 2011. The difference this time is that Yalta in 2011 is taking a bottom-up approach — thus addressing only the climate change threat, ignoring the other threats of fossil fuel depletion chaos, oil dependency wars, nuclear weapons proliferation, and network-based terrorism.

Adopt this 40-year-old slogan:

Think globally, act locally

Small hydro and geothermal as well as small wind and rooftop solar sources of renewable energy, in combination with energy storage batteries, some in the form of pluggable hybrid (electric + gasoline/diesel or other fuel) cars, now offer a total energy independent solution for everyone globally to consider.

This becomes what might be called a bottom-up solution to the combined threats of global warming or climate change, eventual fossil fuel depletion, more oil wars in the meantime, network-based rather than nation-based terrorism, and proliferation of nuclear weapons along with nuclear power plants.

About a decade ago, Peace Corps volunteers, led by Peter Foley and Sandra Tacina, proposed secondary projects focused first upon seminars for attracting foreign investment in the free-trade zones of the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine. The first of five seminars was held in a city having abandoned building a nuclear power plant that was discovered to be located on a geological fault that would likely cause a future earthquake.

Upon completion of those seminars, we joined forces with an NGO called Ecology and Peace to sponsor what we called a dialogue ballot in newspapers that attracted a dozen of the nearly 100 participants in a bottom-up Yalta conference focused on “clean energy for Crimea.” That clean energy conference included breakout groups on solar energy, wind energy and energy conservation.

Now, in 2011 celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Peace Corps, again from the bottom-up in this largest Peace Corps country, a combination of current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and Returned PCVs (RPCVs) are organizing another “Yalta conference” to help launch an energy corps to support achieving the goal of energy independence globally. Initially forming within AmeriCorps in the US, this needs to be multinational.

Recently, in late 2009 the U.S. Congress authorized the doubling of the Peace Corps back to its largest previous size.  Now, some of us who urged that doubling have turned our attention to this symbolic three-part effort:

GLOBAL DECLARATION OF ENERGY INDEPENDENTS: Harvest our own renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, small hydro) to achieve energy independence and participate in grow-your-own & buy-local efforts.

ENERGY CORPS: initially within US Peace Corps (EC/PC) and AmeriCorps to become multi-national, among the eight current nuclear powers (US, Russia, China, France, Great Britain, India, Pakistan and Israel) and others who may be represented within our bottom-up Yalta Conference in 2011, within reunions of various groups (celebrating Peace Corps at 50 years, the US Declaration of Independence at 235 years, etc.) to adopt a “Global Declaration of ENERGY IndependenTS”. This is being pursued by EC/PC in the form of secondary projects, such as when Ukrainians met with PCVs, RPCVs and experts from the State of Washington in 2001.

EARTH YEAR 2010: Let Thomas Jefferson’s first once-every-ten-years peaceful revolution begin beside his DC statue at the Cherry Blossom Festival in April 2010, led by visiting Ukrainians – Tanya, Olga & Misha* – from Yalta recruiting participants for a 2011 Yalta Conference & Reunions from among those they meet in DC and elsewhere face-to-face and via Skype connections on the 2nd Saturdays of the 1st month of each quarter.

Check out the Movement!: http://co.net, http://ukraina.ning.com, http://PeaceCorpsconnect.org http://www.facebook.com/

Jenny Heintz, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer 2007-2009

In the summer of ‘08 and ‘09 I had the pleasure of teaching at and directing environmentally focused summer camps in Western and Southern Ukraine, for students 14-20 years old.  During the 8-day camp sessions we shared about environmental issues, waste management and project planning.  The students would then decide on a project to implement in a nearby town.

I have never been so impressed by young people as I was at these camps.  Usually, at the beginning of camp the students would be unsure of ever seeing any actual outcome or improvement from a project that they themselves were in-charge of.  However, by mid-way through the camp they were the ones teaching me about enthusiasm and leadership.

This past summer we came across a situation at camp that had never arisen before: The mayor of the village where we wanted to do our clean-up project did NOT want us cleaning up the town. There were several moments of frustration and arguing between the counselors, at the end of which we decided to ask the kids what they thought we should do.

We were nervous. We thought the kids might just give up when they heard the town administration was against the idea of a community clean-up project.  We were wrong. Within three seconds of announcing the problem to the students, six of them had volunteered to go talk to the mayor themselves.

I walked with the self-chosen “delegation” of students the 3 miles to the town administration building and knocked on the mayor’s door. The students (all of them around the age of 16) shocked me with their poise. They would not and did not take no for an answer.

The next day we implemented the project as originally planned.  Just as we were heading out for our celebration hike and barbeque the mayor pulled-up to our campsite in his truck. He had come to personally thank the students for their hard work and for their achievement. He could not believe how much trash we had picked up and was thoroughly impressed.

Ukraine may have its problems and may have a long way too go. But with students like the ones I came across all that needs to be done and to show them they CAN do things and progress will not be far behind.

Jenny Heintz, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer 2007-2009

Ivana Kupala, celebrated on July 6-7 in Ukraine, was originally a pagan festival and has now been adopted into the Christian Orthodox calendar. It is a summer festival that celebrates fertility and the hope for a good harvest.  The festival is celebrated the most in the Carpathian mountains with a large feast (often outdoors and over an open fire). On the day of Ivana Kupala each unmarried girl makes a head-wreath from wildflowers and wears it until the end of the night. At the end of the feast all the girls toss their wreaths into the river. Farther downstream the young men await the wreaths.  To whomever the wreath caught by a young man belongs is his true love.   Among other traditions is the fire-jumping ceremony. It is said that if a young girl and boy jump over the fire together without letting go of eachother’s hand their love will last forever.

Check out L’viv in you Pocket! There is a free PDF download with a map!

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DRUNK CREW

Peace Corps Volunteer Emily Kotay, Outside of her Village of Kozova, Ternopil's'ka Oblast

SEE: _{Emily Kotay*}

Kosova

Western Ukraine is a major agricultural area in Europe.  The country fields are beautiful to see, especially in spring and summer.  Visiting western Ukraine, one gets a feel for authentic, rural life.  Pictured here are fields of Canola blooming in the beginning of May 2008, near the town of Kozova, Ternopil’s’ka Oblast. (30 kM from Ternopil) A visitor is free to walk among the flowers and crops, enjoying the idyllic scenery!

EAT: _{Jenny Heintz*}

Старий Мілн (Starey Miln) “The Old Mill”

At Starey Miln, Ternopil Ukraine, you can experience some of the best food and best beer the country has to offer for a pretty good price.

The main event and my favorite main course at Starey Miln is soup in a bread bowl! This might be the most delicious thing on a cold Ukrainian afternoon.

You have a choice between the traditional red borsch (червоний борщ), green borsch (зелений борщ), and a soup called “solyanka” (солянка), all of which you can get in a normal bowl or a rather large bread bowl made out of only the best Ukrainian rye or “brown” bread. My personal favorite is the green borsch, which unlike its red counterpart, has no beets in it. It’s made of chetl which is a green I have not seen outside of Ukraine but looks and tastes similar to spinach.  This is a truly fantastic Ukrainian staple that my host mom used to make and Starey Miln replicates to a T.

Don’t forget to try your soup with a half liter of draft Микулинецьке (Mykulynetske), which is the Ternopilska Oblast micro brew!  Mikolenetske is available in light (світле), dark (темне), and honey (медове).

TRANSPORTATION:

Trains from L’viv to Ternopil run three times daily (3 hours ride) and from there you can take a short bus-ride (маршутка) to Kozova.  In addition overnight trains run from Prague to Ternopil and Kyiv to Ternopil every evening.

To Starey Miln from the train station: Turn right out of the station onto Khmel’nyts’koho Street and go 1/4 mile to Zbarazka St and turn right. Go through the tunnel and across the intersection. The restaurant is on the left hand corner at 1a Brodivscka Street.

*Emily Kotay and Jenny Heintz were Peace Corps Volunteers in Western Ukraine from 2007 to 2009.

Pochiav Monastery, Ternopil's'ka Ukraine, December 2007

Jenny Heintz,  Returned Peace Corps Volunteer

March 9, 2010

Here’s a Photo of the well-known Monastery Pochiav in Ternopi’l’ska Oblast (Western Ukraine).  Visitors come from all over Ukraine, Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe to see this Monastery and make pilgrimages in the Spring-time. We visited on a very cold but beautiful day. The tops of the Monastery were glistening in the sunlight.  I had to wear the black skirt they gave me as a rule  for entering the church but I was glad to have an extra layer on anyways.

Jenny Heintz, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer

March 9, 2010

Ukraine’s most valuable asset, despite its beautiful countryside and historic buildings, is still its people. And of all those people the best stories are told by and the most history is remembered by the babyca’s. The word babucya (babushka in Russian) literally means “grandmother” but can refer to any older women. The babucyas in Ukraine are the ones who bore the brunt of the hardship at the end of the Second World War and during the Soviet era, which is why most of these women can tell stories that are sure to captivate most anyone.

The babucyas continue to live their lives according to their code of survival; including ensuring that anyone in under their roof is well fed, if not over fed, comfortable, and warm. They always at the ready with a bowl of borsch or a hot cup of tea. They have a solution to everything and are caretakers of Ukraine.

They continue to voice their opinions by taking part voting during elections, volunteering at polling places, simply continuing to work hard and tell their stories, even when the weather might intimidate even the strongest person of a younger generation.

My host mom, or babucya, was a remarkable woman who had retired as the director of the school at which I worked about 5 years before.  She had traveled throughout most of Eastern Europe and always encouraged me to see the world. She took me in as if I was her daughter and made me feel welcome in the community.

My "Babuyca" (left) on her Birthday, August 2009