As the holiday season comes to a close for many, four Ukrainian students’ time with three host families in Farmington will end when they return to Menaul School in Albuquerque.
The students are a part of the This Child Here Inc., a validated ministry in the Presbyterian Church, that has worked to bring seven students to the United States.
It has been six months since arriving, according to sophomore Kostiantyn Oberemenko, who envisioned America with yellow school buses.
For the students, the perception of America came from pop culture and movies rather than research done by themselves.
Daria Tsyhankova, a sophomore, said her interactions with Americans have been nice. It’s easier to engage in small talk in the U.S., she said.
At Menaul, the students discovered a different education system.
“Teachers really want to help you. They want to support you. It's really hard to fail out,” Oberemenko said.
The grading system also differs as Ukraine uses a maximum of 12 points and America places grades based on a 100-point system, he said.
Both Oberemenko and Yevheniia Mykhalova, a senior, noted that they had to choose their courses rather than take required courses in Ukraine.
“For me, the education system here is much harder, because in Ukraine, you don’t need to think ‘I need to take this class,’ it's just made for you,” Mykhalova said. “So you don’t need to think about this stuff, and it’s easier, and the classes are shorter.”
Mykhalova said in Ukraine there are core subjects like chemistry and algebra, but at Menaul they can take a variety of classes. Business has been a favorite of hers, and her final project was a business plan for a floral boutique that offers arrangement lessons for customers.
“I had yoga class and not every school has this, so it's pretty cool,” she said. “Also I have AP psychology; it's just interesting because usually we don't have the subject in Ukraine.”
Oberemenko prefers his physical education class because of the independence it gives students.
“I just lift weights with my friends and enjoy an hour and a half,” he said.
Choir and English have been favorites of Tsyhankova.
“I really like English here, because in our country it's so different. You learn grammar, pronunciation, but here you just read the books, and you talk about it, about hidden topics,” she said.
Once graduated from Menaul, Mykhalova and senior Anastasiia Loshyna will attend the University of New Mexico and pursue a degree in psychology.
The students first met in the southwestern Ukraine city of Izmail after their mothers met Robert Gamble, executive director of This Child Here Inc., who encouraged them to join the organization, according to Tsyhankova.
“It was to find new friends in new town to be involved in different activities,” she said. “After that, Robert said that he found opportunity to send us to America, so we started preparing documents. It was so impulsive, everything was so impulsive.”
In Ukraine, students are only in school until 11th grade. Initially, the plan was to enter college at several institutions with a full ride, Gamble said.
“Our three seniors applied to all of them and didn't get accepted anywhere because we didn't really understand what we were up against in terms of those kinds of schools,” he said.
Through a phone call, Gamble was able to secure a spot for the students at Menaul with hopes to continue their education after graduating.
Families of students are in constant communication with their students, and they use the app Telegram to send photos everyday, according to Oli Balaban, program manager of This Child Here Inc.
Gamble started his work in Ukraine after moving in 2006, working with the Ukrainian agency The Way Home.
“I did that for maybe five, six years, and then I sort of branched out on my own, hiring my own staff and working with teams in orphanages to build community so kids would not go out the window to the streets,” Gamble said. “When the war started in 2014, we began training teenagers in peace making techniques. Then COVID came, slowed everything down, and then the invasion came. Soon thereafter, I met Oli, and we began working together.”
Balaban said the collaborated work started in 2022 with two camps for families and the Center for Creative Activity began in August with limited hours.
“Now we work every day, morning, evening and six days in week,” she said.
That work is centered around the trauma children have encountered with the war, she said, as those new to the program do not smile often after experiencing death and loss.
“Very, very happy, I and my staff people, when after activity, these children begin smile,” she said. “It's big motivation.”
Gamble said the opportunity for these students to be placed at Menaul in this time of war was miraculous.
“Here you have a student who's in a country at war, and then a week later, they’re in Menaul, and maybe two more months later, one of our girls was on a stage singing for a statewide competition,” he said. “So the difference in quality of life, it's just off the charts. The families of these students are thrilled. It's a very hopeful thing for them, regardless of what happens in the war, there's a connection somewhere else, and their child is safe.”
The experience of being in the U.S. may be something they never forget, Gamble said.
For the host families, being with the students was an opportunity that was made through mutual connections and has made for an enjoyable holiday.
Rebecca Durham and Brandy Pacheco were excited about the opportunity to host Mykhalova and engaged in several Christmas activities like programs and gift giving.
“In Ukraine, we don’t usually celebrate Christmas like as big as here,” Mykhalova said.
Meric Kuhn and Trevor Kuhn had a small Christmas with Oberemenko that involved being with family and watching movies.
“I'm trying to just be empathetic and just kind of put myself in his shoes and be like, if I had only been here for a few months, what would I want to do? How would I want to be treated?” Kuhn said.
George Sharpe and Melissa Sharpe hosted Loshyna and Tsyhankova for the holiday break and said the girls have been a part of the family.
“As a mom you kind of put your kids in their place,” Sharpe said.
Balaban said the mothers of the seven students are happy to see them in this opportunity and she wants them to have big futures.
In Ukraine, children are sometimes subjected to study in shelters without electricity, water or internet, according to Balaban.
“It's very, very complicated,” she said. “I don't know what will be tomorrow in Ukraine, we live only this day.”
