The Ukraine Speaks English project was a response to the full-scale invasion. When schools were closed, and the country’s education was put on hold, there had to be something sustainable and supportive: learning had to continue.
In March 2022, at our request, Daryna Sizhuk from the Cambridge Center sent emails to foreign schools asking them to provide free online lessons for Ukrainian students. On the other side of the world and a monitor in a small town above the Arctic Circle, David Falconer, a Canadian school principal, followed the events in Ukraine. He empathized and wondered how to support Ukrainian families. The answer to our email was evident to him:
“At the meetings, the children asked me if I knew what was happening in their country, if I loved Ukraine… These simple questions mean: “We are suffering a lot, and we wonder if anyone outside of Ukraine cares.” And I told them: “Yes, many people care. I care!”
At first, David held the meetings on his own. Later, he invited his colleagues to join the classes. With David’s support, almost half of the project’s volunteers are from Canada, the United States, and Australia. These include Canadian oceanographers from the Ocean Wise Center, astronaut Chris Hadfield, magician Chris Pillsworth, and many others.
However, David did not limit himself to cooperation with Ukraine. The experience he gained helped him realize that such programs are needed for children and youth in other conflict regions worldwide. This is how the Classrooms Without Walls (CWW) initiative was born. CWW is currently developing four programs: “Teachers for Ukraine,” “Teachers for Myanmar,” “Teachers for Afghanistan,” and the International Youth Group “Winds of Change.”
Since the meetings are held online, we dreamed of meeting the project mentor in person at least once. And now, after almost two years of fruitful cooperation and hundreds of meetings through the screen, the “Smart Osvita” team met David for the first time in Kyiv. We walked around the capital and showed him historical sites, from St. Sophia in the days of Kievan Rus to the events of the Maidan in 2014, and destroyed russian equipment from the front line.
“Is it happening? Is it really happening? After all this time, we see each other in person,” – David often repeated.
He enthusiastically shared his own experience and talked about the international support for Ukrainian children. David repeatedly spoke about the importance of Ukrainian youth consuming English-language content, as knowledge of the language distances them from russian-language information products. The three days flew by: David returned home with our immense gratitude and books about the formation of Ukraine and russia’s armed aggression in Ukraine.
We are glad to have met such a FRIEND, whose strength of cooperation and support thousands of kilometers away from Ukraine only strengthens with time. Thank you for staying with us and with Ukraine!
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