2011/02 EYPigeon Summer

EYP www.eyp-ua.org www.eypej.org

igeon

column "Face control" by Ania SUPRUNENKO ...2 column "EYP abroad" by Lyuba DVORETSKA ...3 "EYP anniversary" by Nata TARASEVYCH ...4 "GA" by Tetiana KORNIICHUK ...5 column "Department is speaking" by Illya SYMONENKO ...6 column "EYParerents" by Lyuba DVORETSKA ...7 column "EYP-UA pathway" by Nata TARASEVYCH ...8-9 " CHE as thne first EYP experience" by Vitaliy BONDARUK 10-11

"In the next issue" ...12 Editing\layout

by Zhenia MELEKHOVETS

SUMMER issue

CONTR OL

FACE

Anna Supru nen

Maria Pashi, Cyprus

ko, U

krain e

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Anna: depends, averagely once on 2 weeks Pashi: each time we see each other online we chat

What was your first impression about her?

Anna: kinda Pashi: always

hen did you meet?

Ania: Ukrainian NS 2011 Pashi: March 2011

Anna: snobbish British randomly came into Ukraine Pashi: funny stupid

How often do you communicate?

Does she have a boyfriend?

Is she looking for one?

mood up?

Ania: hat , cocktail and Ukrainian behind :) Pashi: My Awesomeness

Favourite food

Ania: souvlaki (Cypriot national) Pashi: chees salad

Favorite color

Anna: sure, Ukrainian one! Volunteer :) Pashi: always

Ania: white Pashi: rainbow

What bring’s her

Ania Penelopa Kruz Pashi Bred Pitt

Favorite actor

What are things you like most about her?

Ania: confidence, sense of humor, support Pashi: how conservative she is, dancing, smile

What are things you don’t like about her?

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Ania: memory, secrets :) Pashi: she smells, she is fat :)

O R B A AD

EYP A

fter several EYP sessions people usually start noticing that actually, it’s really a small world and Europe starts to seem like a big village – same people commutating from session to session. No complains here, as it gives more opportunities to see your friends. But, there’s often one exception in this situation. Once you go the session of your friends’ native country, it suddenly becomes foreign and complicated, and the friends you thought you knew so well act completely different from what you got used to. You think it’s strange? Then think of yourself during Ukrainian Nationals or Regionals. Any resemblance? Exactly! Somehow, being at the session at your own country always makes you play by the unspoken rules of your NC, and when you go somewhere else you just do what you want.

We all need to understand that no matter how united we are in our diversity, we are different and every national committee has its own ways of “running business” and organizing sessions. Pecularities of some NCs are widly known - punctuality and timing of EYP Germany; relaxed, but still passionate way of doing everything of EYP Spain or traditionally serious debating style of EYP GB. Pecularities of some NCs may still be not that clear, but believe me, they definitely have them!

They say “When in Rome, do as Romans do” and to make it easier for all of you to follow this advice and feel confident and comfortable at the session of any country, from now on we’ll be exploring EYP all over Europe and beyond. So, brace yourself for a long journey.

РУБРИКА ПЕРША First stop – EYP- LATVIA (BTW, don’t try to find logic of the destination choice and order:) But, if after the 4th article you’ll manage to find it, you are guaranteed to receive my personal admiration and reword) Location: Latvia (no surprise here))) Year of founding: 2004 President: KristapsOzoliņš Average age of members: 18 Going to Latvia you need to make sure that you have warm clothes and serious attitude. Well, necessity of warm clothes is just logical due to geographical position of the country and the fact that regional sessions of EYP LV usually happen in autumn and spring. And serious attitude is a “must have” because that’s how they do it in Latvia. Of course, it depends on a person, but generally, at the session you are expected to work hard, and only if you manage that, and have some time left and find someone just like you, ONLY than you party. But, I guarantee that if you find the right people in EYP Latvia – you’ll definitely enjoy both working and partying parts.

At first sight it may seem that everything is quite complicated in Latvian EYP. Especially if first you have a look at their organizational structure… Because there’s not just EYP there, but Latvian University Organization “Tellus”, so the line at which “Tellus” stops and EYP starts is quite blurry for a foreigner.

However, no one actually expects you to understand that. The main thing is that somehow, Latvian EYPers understand that, and furthermore, they manage to make it work.

At second sight it gets better:) Session plan is usually seasonal – with 3-4 Regional Sessions in autumn, spring and sometimes winter, and culmination of EYP-year – National Selection Conference, that usually takes place in summer (But still, you better take at least one semi-warm jacket and sleeping bag with you. Just in case:)). System is somewhat similar to the Interrailconcept we have in Ukrainian EYP, but more regular. (See, you can always find something common and work with that).

If you were Latvian EYPer, you would absolutely have to be at NSC, because that’s not only the event of the year, but also the only session from which you can get selected to International Sessions, International Forums, and even some other countries’ National Sessions. Keep that in mind if someday you’ll become a Latvian citizen.

So, my dear readers, my main advice for you is to apply, go, and experience it all for yourselves. My only hope is that all this stuff I wrote and will write in future will help you at least at some point. Surely, EYP-Ukraine is our favourite one, but there’s always a place in our heart for other countries as well. Europe is bigger than it seems, but a lot closer to us than you may think.

Columnist: Lyubov Dvoretskaja 3

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РУБРИКА ПЕРША Author Nata Tarasevych

The 11th Anniversary of EYP-Ukraine

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e all love Birthdays, that's a sure thing!.. Especially when it comes to Birthday of our beloved organisation.

Organised by Kristina Chelmakina and Lyubov Dvoretska, this evening was truly special for everyone present.

Around 35 active EYPers had a chance to experience EYP bright memories. They brought to us special presentations prepared. One video even included greeting of our foreign EYP friends which indeed was a great pleasant surprise for us (btw you may watch video here). The celebration was really memorable due to the evening warm atmosphere, congratulations from honourable Ms President, huge deliosious Birthday cake with 11 candles, making wishes and a lot more. Having the opportunity to own our separate hall for the evening, we continued with EYP style crazy dances and some karaoke songs (who told you need to have a voice to sing? :) We are all looking forward to sweet summer time when we'll have another Birthday to celebrate!:)

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he only thing better than meeting cool new people is meeting cool new people interested in EYP. That is why the GA that took place in Kiev on the 1st of October was so much fun.

Almost 50 young people gathered in Lyceum of International relations N51 to spend a few unforgettable hours with EYP. The organisers did a great job – everything was held on a very high level, what made a good impression on participants. Newcomers, who formed nearly half of the present people, were pleased to find themselves among so many active and initiative fellows. Some were pleasantly surprised to meet our Nigerian-Ternopil community on the event, who made the whole way to Kiev from Ternopil exclusively to attend the GA. “I really enjoyed the atmosphere created by organizers.”

Iaroslava Stukalov, newcomer The agenda of the event included both fun and serious parts. And by fun, of course, we mean teambuilding, that casted away all the fears of our new members about EYP being boring. Serious part included traditional EYP presentation, slide-show of summer EYP events and the Schengen visa seminar. But the highlight of the event was the incredible super-micro-mini-session that allowed all the participants to feel for a moment what it is like to be a delegate. For only an hour and a half we managed to play traditional teambuilding games, brainstorm on the topics and hold actual minidebates. Some participants were a little bit nervous about speaking in public, others were glad to have an opportunity to express their point of view. With no doubt, everyone was satisfied with this new experience.

“The mini-session was great. It really inspired me to take part in a real EYP session.” Anna Pustovit, newcomer The event didn’t end there. Afterwards we all went to the pub nearby to have so-called happy hour! We were glad to spend additional time together. Some more games and talks gave a real boost to a friend-making process. Sincere smiles on faces and deep interest in people’s eyes were the best reward for the organisers!

“We are glad to see new people getting into EYP. That inspires and motivates us to work further with bigger effort.” Kristina Chelmakina, Board member of EYP-Ukraine

Author Tetiana Korniichuk

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The De partme nt Is Spea king: F R

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When it comes to planning a trip abroad, there are two main issues that can arise: visa restrictions, and the ubiquitous lack of funds. If you’re going to an EYP-session (or any conference/ seminar/etc.) abroad, the first is usually not a problem if you apply on time with a proper invitation and it’s just going to be a matter of time and nerves at the embassy. But it’s the second thing that keeps most of us away from taking these opportunities. Fortunately for myself, I went to a lot of cool events in my university years for free, both EYP and others – in Europe and around the world.

is how you will present yourself as they will be funding people they will see as the best ones. b) Fundraise for yourself. Even if you can’t get any financial help from the organizers, there are many options on how to fundraise for your trip to the event yourself. The process can be somewhat long and technical, but to cover it briefly – there are a few main ways to go here.

Looking for funds at your university. Universities often support their students to go to international events. It boosts their prestige and allows them to use it for whatever PR-purposes they need. And blatantly speaking – universities often have bigger funds than there are in their budgets and some will be interested to support their students if they see that it will be helpful for them in the future. There are quite a lot of people, who have been able to secure funding from their universities, but it very much depends on your relations with the university’s officials and also the university’s own policy. For example KNEU seems to be quite supportive of their students, but try to get the same out of Mogylyanka!

When a student, there’s usually not a lot of money to be spared and of course the first option that comes up – ask your parents! But when it comes to going to an event abroad, it can really put a big strain on the family budget and even if they are able to pay, the chances are – you’re either putting them in an uncomfortable position or you yourself will have to forego travel abroad for quite a while, while the family finances recover. Thus, the best option is to find a way to go there for free.

And since the visa is usually free and the participation fee - minimal (if you have financial issues, I personally wouldn’t recommend going anywhere that has a high participation fee; there are tons of other awesome opportunities in the world that are free!), the main problem is to pay for your travel, which with high airplane ticket prices can be in the hundreds of euros depending on the destination.

c) Asking a foundation of a grant office to support. A number of nongovernmental or charitable foundations offer support to youth to attend various international events. But their availability is very limited and often you have to apply in advance. You would be at a better advantage if you’re connected to a certain organization with good monetary support. For example FLEX alumni, who studied in US high schools for a year can apply for small travel grants from their program. d) Asking airplane companies for tickets. As the main article of expenses is usually the airplane tickets, you can always try to ask the respective airplane company to give you a ticket for free. In essence – it’s really simple for them to do and most of them are not flying 100% full anyway. The problem is of course that if they start to support every person, who wants to go to a conference – sooner or later everyone will be flying for free. Thus a lot of airlines’ business models prohibit such travel support. Swissair is one and KLM is another if I remember correctly. But there are many others, who can potentially support you if you really pitch out your cause. I don’t know many people, who’ve been able to secure their travel this way, in fact only few have tried and I see how one can possibly get quite lucky here.

Basically, there are two main ways to go to an event for free: a) Find an event that reimburses your travel costs. This may sound like Captain Obvious, but indeed a lot of people overlook the sheer possibilities of doing more research in this area and focusing on these opportunities. In fact, there are many events in the world that would welcome you and pay for all your expenses to get there. Hey – some will even pay for you to take the taxi to the airport in Ukraine on your way there and back! The trick is to find them, but if you google around and better – ask your friends, who may know or even gone to such events before, it’s not that hard. When it comes to EYP, there are also a few sessions that offer travel reimbursements – and likewise they’re great opportunities that you should always try to take advantage of. The biggest difficulty when applying for such an event would be to prove to the organizers that you’re worthy to be taken as a participant and in case the travel reimbursement is for a select few – also to get it. From my personal experience I’d say stressing that you’re from a poor country and such is not the best option. The organizers already know that your country is not the richest in the world and what’s more important – 90% of other people are focusing on this. What’s better is to mention concretely but precisely that you are experiencing strong financial difficulties and to focus on why you want to go there, how you will benefit from the event, enrich others and why you are the best choice. Because the people, who are going to be selecting whom to give support and whom to give a “sorry, but you’re rejected” letter, will perceive that everyone has big issues anyway and it’s practically impossible for them to assess the differences. Thus what will make all the difference

e) Fundraising from private businesses. Usually this is the way most people fundraise for their travel to a conference abroad. However when doing this you should always remember that the company you’re approaching will never do it just for you, every company is oriented at making profit in the end and they will seek to get some benefits out of it. It may be getting extra advertising, a better public image, etc., but whenever you approach a company you should understand their needs and try to “sell” them their support of your attendance to a particular conference and highlight their benefits out of it. Usually their reason to support you would be to later showcase how much the company supports the community and add to their statistics on “social responsibility”. But even when it comes to this getting support for travel is very hard. Blatantly speaking – why would a company give thousands of hryvna to a student to go hang out at a conference, when it can donate it to a more pressing cause? The best option here is to approach companies that you, your relatives or your friends have connections with. They will be much more eager to support you, even for the simple reason that you’re not a stranger to them. Even if you don’t know any companies like that – ask around and you will get some leads that will allow you to start the conversation with them much better.

Overall getting funding to go to a conference or an event abroad will most likely be a long and tedious process with many setbacks on the way. You will want to quit and be ready to forget about it all. But if you try hard, you will surely persevere in the end. And with more and more experience you’ll surely become great at finding support for attending awesome events worldwide. Good luck!

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РУБРИКА ПЕРША

EYPARENTS

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ave you ever thought how many people are involved in EYP? Probably you did, at least once. At every session there are organisers, chairs, board, journalists, delegates, sometimes jury members, guests… Besides, we have national committees, head office in Berlin, and we’re working on making the number of involved people even bigger every month.

However, there’s one category of people who are constantly involved in EYP, but somehow we always exclude them when counting. Can you guess who are we talking about?

We’ll give you some clues. Those people are the first ones to experience your fundraising skills; those people are the ones to help you pack your suitcase when there are only 3 hours left before your flight; they are the ones to figure out how to bring you back home when you overslept and missed your flight (that’s a kind of extreme situation, but let’s be honest, we had those kind of stories in EYP); they are the ones to whom you are afraid to show some of the session photos and they definitely are the ones to whom you are proudly showing your name signed in a resolution. Figured it out already? Yes, exactly! Those people are your PARENTS. And since the moment you started doing EYP, they received the honor of being EYParents.

You may think that there’s nothing special in being a parent of an EYPer. But in fact, help and support of our parents is something that gives us an opportunity to experience EYP. And when no one else can help, they become our allies.

Want a real-life story? We’ll give you one. Sure you’ve heard of Nata Tarasevych, our fabulous Board member on International activities. She is one of the most involved people in EYP in Ukraine. Though, you probably haven’t heard of

Lyudmila Ivanovna, Nata’s mother. She is not just a loving mother trying to support her child; she is a real EYPer herself.

She knows the way EYP session goes better than some delegates and she’s always near when she’s needed, like a real organizer. All-night resolution printing, early morning newspaper sorting, GA – she’s there.

But that’s EYP part. Being a pationate mother, she also takes care of feeding and putting to bed at least for an hour sleep those overenthusiastic kids who organized all this mess called an “EYP session”. We are amazed and so proud that European Youth Parliament Ukraine has not only great members, but also great parents of aforementioned members.

Of course, we all have different parents and they show their care, support and appreciation of what we do in EYP differently.

But please, have mercy on them! Being an EYParent is a hard job. Imagine yourself in 20 years, sending your own kid to his first EYP session. Scary, ha?))) So, keep in mind that whatever happens , your parents love you, worry about you and expect you to come home at least several times a year.

Author’s note: If you have any funny or interesting story about your EYParents – don’t hesitate to contact me and tell your story. OUR EYParents deserve to be famous)))

Columnist: Lyubov Dvoretskaja

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SUM M h E o with lida R EYP ys -UA

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Norway

WHAT: Norway WHERE: Trondheim, Norway WHEN: 14-16 September WHO: Uchenna Chiedozie Egbete (chair),

Germany WHAT: International Forum of EYP-Germany WHERE: Weimar, Germany WHEN: August 28 – September 3 WHO: Uchenna Chiedozie Egbete (chair), Tamara Kuripko, Oleksandra Gordienko, Olena Gordiienko,

France

WHAT: 67th International Session WHERE: Grenoble, France WHEN: 15-24 July WHO: Kateryna Opanasyuk (chair), Oleksandra Gipsh, Lyubov Dvoretska, Volodymyr Soldatenko, Olga Popovych (delegates)

Spain WHAT: The 2nd International Forum of EYP-Spain (Iberian Forum’11) WHERE: Girona, Spain WHEN: 4-11 August WHO: Maria Shcherbak (delegate)

http://eyp-ua.org/news/isgrenoble/

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Poland

WHAT: National Selection of EYP-Poland WHERE: Warsaw, Poland WHEN: 7-11 September WHO: Oksana Korchak (chair)

WHAT: 18-th Regional Session of EYP Poland WHERE: Rzeszów, Poland WHEN: 6-10 July WHO: Dmytro Honcharenko (vicepresident), Mariia Kononenko (delegate)

WHAT: Joint School Session WHERE: Kyiv, Ukraine WHEN: 25-28 September WHO: loots of people

http://eyp-ua.org/news/rzeszow_report/

http://eyp-ua.org/news/jss/

Ukraine

Hungary

WHAT: Chernihiv Regional Session WHERE: Chernihiv, Ukraine WHEN: 24-28 August WHO: loooots of people

WHAT: 1st Summer Forum of EYPHungary WHERE: Győr, Hungary WHEN: 16-19 June WHO: Olga Spytsia (delegate)

http://eyp-ua.org/news/che/

Georgia

http://eyp-ua.org/news/danube_cruise/

Cyprus WHAT: 4th National Selection Conference of EYP-Cyprus WHERE: Paralimni, Cyprus WHEN: August 31 – September 4 WHO: Anna Suprunenko (chair) http://eyp-ua.org/news/cyprus/ 9

WHAT: 3rd International forum of EYP-Georgia WHERE: Batumi, Georgia WHEN: 12-16 August WHO: Evheniia Melekhovets (editor), Anna Lachykhina (chair), Lyubov Dvoretska, Yegor Vlasenko (journalists), Roksolana Pidlasa, Ruslan Azarov, Nataliia Vorobey, Chrystyna Kyrylych, Yurii Kyrylych, Vadym Kyselev, Oksana Maiba, and Olena Grygor’eva (delegates). http://eyp-ua.org/news/bif11/

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A view of the newcomer: Chernihiv Regional Session as the first EYP experience.

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t the end of summer from 25th till 28th of August in the city of Chernihiv, which is on the very North of Ukraine, I happened to spend four most memorable days of summer side by side with wonderful people. Chernihiv is a place where the Regional Session of EYP-Ukraine took place. “Changing the World – Challenging Youth” – under this slogan in the city with more than 1300 year history 95 young people from 13 countries of Europe gathered to discuss urgent problems of nuclear energy future, youth employment, education and culture, human rights and others.

However, I realised the guests of the city were motivated not only by discussing the above mentioned topics. For those who have never participated in EYP events the words like “session”, “assembly”, “delegate”, “committee”, “voting procedure” may not seem to be entertaining. Going from Kyiv to Chernihiv I couldn’t even imagine how false my expectations towards EYP session were – I expected it to be boring and extremely serious, and it turned out to be completely different.

All my prejudices disappeared already during the first day of the session. Before the official part of the session we experienced teambuilding, the aim of which was to form efficient group communication. At first sight it may seem hilarious when adult people act as children - run, jump and play foolish games. The great importance of this session stage is that it helps the team to create spirit and to develop confidence and trust in each other. Teambuilding took place on a territory of a children's camp. The atmosphere of this

Author: Valentyn Bondaruk

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day was emphasized by extreme feelings: the night in a tent, the lack of warm shower and the romantic starry night above. The great evening in the camp included the committee presentations followed by an awesome open air party. The informal meeting offered the delegates a lot of opportunities to get to know each other - amateur performances, dances, hot dogs ... - all of these influenced the spirit.

Next morning all the participants left for Chernihiv city itself where the Opening Ceremony of the session took place. The morning was extremely stressful yet amazing in its own way:) We woke up and had a light breakfast served at once. After changing into formal clothes (still in the camp) and a short transfer to the city, the delegates arrived at the Chernihiv City Hall, where they were welcomed by organisers, representatives of local authorities and session partners. After the Opening Ceremony there was a city-quest which turned out to be loads of fun. To cope with the tasks one had to be really creative, smart and sociable. Most of us were visiting Chernihiv for the first time. It’s interesting that the city impressed not only with its architecture and sightseeing places, but also with its special atmosphere of tranquil quietness. Even policemen were always in a good mood - they allowed one of the committees to fulfill their challenge and took a picture with them.

In the afternoon it was just the right time for the official part to start. Everyone had his own point of view, but the experience gained from discussions can scarcely be overestimated. Each of us made every possible effort to deliver his own ideas and at the same time to consider opinions of others. To find a decision that would be accepted by everyone is not an easy task, but substantial criticism and tolerance to the proposed views allowed us to find a starting point and to develop it in our resolution.

In the evening the Eurovillage took place. Turkish sweets, Swedish crisp bread with paste made of cheese and shrimps, Georgian lavash, Moldovan wine, Portuguese Port wine and of course Ukrainian “salo” … the tables were full of delicious food.

The staggering folk dance performed by the Georgians, the fascinating playing the guitar by Bruno from Portugal and many more great performances – all that offered us a great opportunity to plunge into the diverse cultural environment, and feel their authenticity. Isn’t it a striking illustration of “unity in diversity” – the motto under which Europe has united?

The time of work flew fast, so having finished our resolutions we left for the city centre where at one of the best local pubs the Farewell party was held. The theme was “Back to School”, therefore the dances of the delegates wearing uniform reminded of a school disco. It is doubtful whether this bar has ever received visitors in such quantity, but with no hesitations they would love to have us there again:)!

Not quite "school" questions were discussed the next day.

The next day it was the time for the General Assembly held in accordance with the parliamentary procedure where each committee submits its resolution for consideration and defends it.

The meeting room of Chernihiv City Hall was a witness of hot debates of European youth. It was very pleasant to note that in spite of criticism and sharp questions the benevolence and deep respect were integral parts of the discussion. After the Closing Ceremony the most difficult thing for me was to accept the fact that it’s the time to say good bye. I was just running around with a camera trying to take pictures of everything. I wanted to save everything on the memory stick, but even 4 Gb were not enough. Four days staying in Chernihiv introduced to me to lots of interesting outstanding young people and largely changed my outlook. And even my future plans. Four lovely days that without a doubt became a cherry on a cake named ‘Summer 2011’.

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In next issue: Some "Retro" from Ania Lachykhina, "EYPolemics" by Nastia Ianovitskaja - Smoking in EYP Nata Tarasevych and Roksolana Piech for "Face control", Another "EYParent" by Dvoretskaja Lyuba, "EYP abroad" - Poland this time, Language difference by Zhenia Melekhovets, "Department is Speaking" - Human Resourses And many more various articles!

In this issue: Articles by Ania Suprunenko, Nata Tarasevych, Lyuba Dvoretskaja, Valentyn Bondaruk, Illya Symonenko, Tetiana Korniichuk.

Editing, layout design - Zhenia Melekhovets

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