Photos: Me

life_without_boundaries — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:36:00 GMT

My Scholarship entry - Seeing the world through other eyes

life_without_boundaries — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:28:20 GMT

I was in Kenya in February 2012 by the program "Active citizens" of the British Council. There we visited a secondary school, local council, few NGOs. And there I kept asking myself how the Kenyan people perceive me, how I perceive them. There is of course cultural distance between us, but what if I really want to come closer to this person to talk to him, and he is reserved (which is not bad, but just different). And I did steps to get to know the culture: I smiled to a Kenyan girl, and now I remember her with tears in my eyes; I tought Kenyan children to take photos of me, and on these pictures I seem the happiest person ever; in the NGOs I talked about their communities development, which enriched me with new huge inspiration (already partly implemented in Ukraine)!
In Switzerland I was learning agriculture from local citizens, in France - cooking baguette, in the USA - bungee jumping.
In all the countries I take local transportation, pretending like a local (wherever possible) to experience living and participating in the most distant from touristic attractions places - in order to talk to real citizens. I ask them how they perceive themselves, what they like, what they hate, what they lack, what they want to share.
Experiencing all these cultures let me appreciate my culture better, let me respect myself more!
I am ready for learning Southeast Asia!!!

(I know I am sending the form 1,5 hour after the deadline, but maybe because too many people wanted to apply - I couldn't access the form. I beg you to take this into account)

Africa in Ukrainian Heart

Photos: Me

My Scholarship entry - Seeing the world through other eyes