While our officials are scratching their heads over solutions to the political and economic crises, young Ukrainians are not wasting time. Through innovative approaches and insights they are tackling many problems of national importance in their own way. They implement their ideas through projects, the best of which are awarded grants worth up to 75,000 hryvnias from the president of Ukraine. Every year 60 of the most gifted young people are selected.
The sixth annual awards ceremony took place recently. Those who wish to compete for the next batch of grants will need to submit their applications by May 15, 2008.
According to the members of the Board of Experts, which selects the competition winners, in the past few years they have received over 300 applications. All of them deal with important social problems. This year the winning projects included a training program to help young people start their own businesses, a program to help victims of domestic violence, and a project to protect children who are “deprived of parental care.”
Young Ukrainians also care about environmental issues for which they offer originals solutions to improve the quality of drinking water, dairy products, and even mushrooms. Advice on the best ways for this year’s winners to use the grant money and turn their projects into a reality came from winners of past competitions.
“We received a grant worth 40,000 hryvnias to organize the First All-Ukrainian Youth Congress, which we did in 2007,” said Iryna Kovalchuk, a graduate of the Zhytomyr Institute of Entrepreneurship and Contemporary Technology and co-author of the project Youth Policy in the Framework of Local Self-Government Formation and Regional Development in the European Integration Perspective. “We spent the entire amount on organizing the congress: we looked for participants, arranged for their room and board, published the proceedings, etc. It was very worthwhile.
“During the congress, which was the first of its kind in Ukraine, we discussed some of the social problems that young people face today: family health, sports, responsible parenthood, student self-government, and European integration. The congress provided an excellent opportunity to bring together all youth leaders who care about Ukraine’s youth policy. Today young people feel the need for this type of gathering but there are very few opportunities to do this. So we plan to hold all-Ukrainian youth congresses on a yearly basis in order to share our achievements and experience with everyone who is interested. Maybe they will help turn Zhytomyr into a major center for youth congresses.”
Young Ukrainians who contribute to the development of the arts have already received quite a few presidential grants. Roman Mykytiuk was awarded 40,000 hryvnias for his project Your Puppet Theater. Andrii Kindrytsky will use his grant money (over 50,000 hryvnias) to research the development of pottery in Kirovohrad region. Serhii Krasovsky will organize a festival in the mountain region of Ivano-Frankivsk oblast (32,000 hryvnias).
Yulia Petrenko, a teacher at the Nizhyn Arts School, has already realized her artistic project. Last year she received a grant to create pictures made of salted dough. “The main objective of my project Goddess of the Hearth (Berehynia) was to present the ancient art of creating works of art out of salted dough in a contemporary interpretation,” Petrenko explained. “Our ancestors made amulets in the form of statues. At first, I was making dolls that looked like porcelain, but later I decided to create pictures. Now I have over 50 in my collection, and since no one in Ukraine before me was practicing this art, I received a grant to popularize it.”
Petrenko used her grant money to hold a series of classes in various areas of Ukraine, published a handbook entitled Berehynia, and a brochure illustrated with photographs of her dough creations, which are now known in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, and Romania.
These presidential grants open up endless opportunities for young people. More than financial support, they are a stepping stone to their success and community development.
