By Ani Madanyan, Trilinguist

This Dora is neither cartoon nor explorer. She is a Ukrainian high-school student to whom Ani has been teaching English online for six months. Dora remains in Ukraine, despite the war. Let Ani tell you about her connection to one of the hottest places currently on the planet.

 I’ve been teaching Dora through the Engin Program which is a “non-profit organization that pairs Ukrainian students with English-speaking peers for free online conversation practice and cross-cultural connection.” The Ukrainian  students typically are aged 13-22, and the English-speaking volunteers range between 14-25 (enginprogram.org). The Engin Program helps you pick students that you share interests with. For example, Dora and I both dance, both LOVE to read, and we’re almost the same age. The only difference we have is that she loves cats and I like dogs.

Dora lives in Myrhorod, of central Ukraine. She’s 14 years old, and she hasn’t gone to in-person school for three years due to the Coronavirus, now the war. She lives with her mother in an apartment building while her father lives in a small village in Ukraine, and he’s one of the rare people who lives in a house. Dora’s brother lives in America, and he traveled here all by himself when he was 17. Dora misses her brother so much, and she hasn’t seen him since she was a little kid. The main reason she’s learning English is to come to America and reunite with her brother. 

As we all know, there’s a war currently going on in the Ukraine. 

How is Dora dealing with this?

Thankfully, Myrhorod is silent. The only alarming thing that happens is Dora hears sirens, which means that something is flying towards their town. But, so far she’s found that after 15 minutes, the sirens stop, and this means that there is no longer danger nearby. Dora has relatives in Kharkiv, and they got fired upon at night. Her relatives have been in bomb shelters ever since. A month into the war, Dora and her mother heard sirens that didn’t stop. They went to the bomb shelter, but then the sirens stopped once again. One night, they went to her father’s house in the tiny village, and they stayed there for a couple nights until Myrhorod was safe again. On March 17, 2022, Dora started distance learning again. Right now, Dora is very safe and her town is silent most of the time, and she finally went out with her friends for the first time. I’ve sent Dora packages of American foods, toys for her cat, etc. But, due to the war, I’m not sure she received them.

I learned about the Engin Program through senior Isabella Goetschel. I’m so grateful that she introduced me to this organization because if it weren’t for her I would have never met Dora. I recommend you volunteer and give Ukrainian children an opportunity to learn English while expanding your own horizons. Too often, we take our language and America’s peace for granted.