August 21, 2015

Students from Ukraine on Soyuzivka’s summer staff

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Students who are on the summertime staff of Soyuzivka – the majority of them from Ukraine – are seen with student coordinator Bohdana Puzyk.

KERHONKSON, N.Y. – Thanks to the J-1 Work and Travel program offered by the U.S. State Department, the Soyuzivka Heritage Center this year has more than two dozen summer employees from Ukraine. Though they hail from various regions in Ukraine, the young workers all are university students in Kyiv.

The program allows students between the ages of 18 and 25 to come to the United States for four months to work legally. Students interview with agents in Ukraine who work with sponsors in America. Soyuzivka works with a sponsor to identify how many students are needed and what jobs they would be doing.

This process starts in the early fall and interviews are held by December-January. Once the students have a commitment from an employer, they go for the interview at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. They usually arrived at their U.S. job sites between mid-May and mid -June.

This is the ninth year that Soyuzivka has been participating in the J-1 Work and Travel program. Over the years, 180 students from Ukraine have worked at Soyuzivka. They are employed as wait staff, in housekeeping, as general workers, in the snack bar and in the front office. On their days off, they have an opportunity to travel to such destinations as New York City, Washington and Niagara Falls.

This year there are 26 students from Ukraine who are here to learn about America, improve their English and earn money. They come from Kyiv, Zaporizhia, Chernivtsi, Nova Kastovka, Kosiv, Lutsk, Chernihiv, Dzhankoy, Sumy, Ternopil, Cherkasy, Odesa, Symferopol, Apostolovo, Kramatorsk, Severodonetsk, Lviv, Malyn and Khmelnytsky.

If you’ve been to Soyuzivka this season, you’ve seen their smiling faces and perhaps have had an opportunity to interact with them.

Bohdana Puzyk is an advisor of the Ukrainian National Association and student coordinator at Soyuzivka.

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