ClickUkraine education project aims to help Ukraine's children (09/25/05)

ClickUkraine education project aims to help Ukraine's children

by Alana Malick and Vadim Ostrovsky

WASHINGTON - The odds are against orphaned children in Ukraine who have big dreams in the field of technology. Fourteen-year-old Stas, just one of the thousands of foster children who are part of the legacy of the Soviet Union, has dreams of becoming a computer technician. Now his chances are improving thanks to a new education initiative fittingly called ClickUkraine.

ClickUkraine is the brainchild of another young Ukrainian, Vadim Ostrovsky, who conceived the idea while an intern at the Washington-based U.S.-Ukraine Foundation.

With the Foundation's backing, the international development project took on a grass-roots approach to providing Ukraine's orphanages and foster homes with computer equipment and technical education programs. Ukrainian-born Mr. Ostrovsky was studying at Averett University in Danville, Va., when he invited local Rotaract Clubs, from both Dan River and Capital City, to join the foundation in launching ClickUkraine.

Also collaborating in the effort is the Kobzar Society, a non-profit organization based in Lehighton, Pa., that provides refurbished computers to libraries, universities and secondary schools. The Kobzar Society is credited with supplying over 500 computers to 120 educational institutions in Ukraine. Thanks to the joint efforts of these organizations, today Stas' dreams are coming true.

Since its inception, ClickUkraine has installed two computer labs and held over 600 hours of computer literacy training sessions for Ukrainian youth. Orphanage No. 7 in Dnipropetrovsk, site of the first computer lab, now has a full-time computer teacher and a group of volunteers who run an after-school computer club for the children to meet once a week for computer training.

Mr. Ostrovsky, ClickUkraine's founder and executive director, noted that the concept of volunteerism has begun to take shape in Ukrainian society, enabling the computer lab to become a self-sustaining program. Mr. Ostrovsky is himself a native of Dnipropetrovsk and envisions establishing additional computer labs and technical education programs in the region.

U.S.-Ukraine Foundation Vice-President John Kun, endorses the initiative citing the importance of U.S. participation in development programs in eastern Ukraine as much as in western regions.

Initial funding for ClickUkraine programs came from the National Grid Fund of Westborough, Mass. Mr. Ostrovsky was selected in a nationwide competition as the recipient of the Fund's 2004 Samuel Huntington Public Service Award, carrying a $10,000 stipend. However, to move forward with the program in the coming year, volunteers are urgently needed. Mr. Ostrovsky is seeking to empanel an executive board to develop the program's cooperation with supporting organizations.

For more information about volunteering or making a donation readers may visit www.clickukraine.org or contact the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation by phone, (202) 347-4264, or by e-mail [email protected].

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