Projects Implemented Together with US Volunteers
We cooperated with the US Peace Corps in Ukraine within the Community Development Program from December 2015 to February 2022. We were the only national park in Ukraine, that participated in this program.
From 2015 to 2017, Denise Capelli from the state of Colorado volunteered in our organization. In the USA, Denise was engaged in her own florist business. In the Park, the volunteer worked on improving its image and the development of ecotourism within its area, organized a conversational English club, and implemented projects.
In particular, in years 2016 ‒ 2017, we improved an infrastructure of the nature-discovery trail, called «Zhenets Tract ‒Huk Waterfall». At the end of the project, together with our partners, we participated in a training for public activists on the topic «Volunteer management and fundraising».
In 2017, from July to November, we implemented a project aimed at improving the Park's image as the largest environmental organization in the region. In particular, we conducted trainings for its employees and the community members on the following topics: «School of effective communications», «Information campaign for the national parks», «Specifics of communication with visitors of the national park». Bilingual materials about the tourist attractions of the region and the natural values of the Park were also produced. Employees of our checkpoints received new uniforms. Environmental lessons were held for schoolboys and preschoolers of local primary and secondary schools. A social video about the importance of waste sorting was also produced within a project.
In the framework of the project «Don’t change climate ‒ educate youth», we developed various information and educational materials, such as an environmental training module and a manual for educators. We also designed and installed information tables on the effects of climate change as well as tables promoting the «leave no trace» concept. In addition, after the project, a board game «Traveling through the Carpathian National Natural Park» was produced.
At the end of 2018, Donielle Goldinger, from the state of Pennsylvania, started working in the Park. According to her diploma, Donielle was the Public Policy Management Specialist. The volunteer also had an experience working in the Yellowstone, the world's first national park.
Although Donielle's service ended prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic, she worked on the promotion of our park abroad and opportunities of establishing cooperation with conservation organizations in the USA and Canada.
Together with Donielle and 5 American volunteers, such as Serena Berkovich, Leslie Nolan, Jennifer Victoria, Ashley Garcia and Jake Guttormson, we organized the first English language camp for children from our community. Our camp was not only about communicating in English with native speakers, but also an opportunity to learn more about tourism, ecology, volunteering and cultural differences between Ukraine and the USA in an interesting and creative way.
Together with Donielle we also developed a program of a summer cultural and educational camp for representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora, but we had to suspend this activity due to the pandemic.
Since the middle of 2020, the cooperation with the US Peace Corps in Ukraine continued online.
Together with Crystal Kotovski-Edmundus and Karl Donus, working in three time zones Yaremche ‒ Colorado ‒ Washington, we developed the English-language website and electronic tourist guide «Discover Your Carpathians» (https://www. discovercarpathians.com/).
A layout of the tourism guide and the website were developed in Washington. These information materials provide any person in any part of the world with an opportunity to start discovering the Park and its surroundings with the help of online resources. In addition, new promotional methods, offered by American partners, are more understandable for foreign visitors.
Peace Corps volunteers of the Community Development Project are the American citizens, who decided to live in Ukraine for two years and transfer their technical experience. The main requirements for volunteers are motivation to work in the field of community development, as well as a relevant higher education, preferably in one of the following directons such as business management, marketing, NGOs management, economic development, state and municipal administration, accounting, international business, or human resources.
The objective of the project is to assist Ukrainian organizations, aimed at the sustainable development of their communities.
Maryana Stovban, the coordinator of cooperation within the Community Development Project