Ukrainians began immigrating to Baltimore in the 1880s. Most of these immigrants came from Western Ukraine and were Catholic.  In 2000 the Baltimore Ukrainian community totaled almost 11,000 people. [i] Each year the community celebrates its heritage with a festival featuring food, crafts, dancing, and music from their homeland. The festival this year was held […]

Soon after leaving Ukraine and returning to the USA, my Peace Corps colleague and good friend Paul Brunson invited me to visit him in the state of Colorado.  Since I had never visited Colorado, I was eager to make the trip and on April 25, 2014 I began a 3-week tour of the state.   […]

My Path to the Peace Corps Gail Vallieres, August 2014 When US President John F Kennedy created the US Peace Corps in 1961, I knew immediately that I wanted to join. Traveling to other countries, meeting new people, learning their language and culture, and helping them improve their lives in some small way greatly appealed […]

Education Help for Ukraine During my Peace Corps placement in Donetsk, Ukraine, I worked at the Donetsk State University. My Ukrainian counterpart Olena Bikla, a sociology instructor at Donetsk State University, and I applied for and were approved for a SPA (Small Project Assistance) grant through Peace Corps. The grant is to help establish a […]

I arrived in Ukraine on April 1, 2013 with 45 other Peace Corps volunteers. For 2.5 months we lived with host families in Chernigov where we had daily language lessons in Ukrainian or Russian and learned about Ukraine’s history and culture.     Figure 1 Chernigov Host family Nikolai and Galina with Gail, April 2013 […]