„Let’s LIKHTAR together“, I say quite often at the end of posts on social media or when I finish the presentation. I am not sure if everyone understands what that means, but it feels so important for me to say it.
My name is Alex Slyusarenko, I am from Ukraine and because of the war I live and work in Germany. I am an educator and facilitator of international projects, soft skills, and a management expert. I did many international exchange projects for youth in the past and now I coordinate the LIKHTAR project.
LIkhtar (Laterna in German) is a Ukrainian word and I love that it sounds familiar to people in Germany. We hear „likhtar” and all get the idea that this word is connected to ‚light’ somehow.
When the team of educators in Bredbeck and DPJW came up with the idea of a new project, that could be a connecting point for Ukrainian educators to continue doing the exchanges with German and Polish partners, Likhtar was obviously the best naming option.
It was April 2022.
It was the second month of the big war.
It was clear that cooperation between Ukraine, Germany, and Poland, should not just survive. It should grow and empower the educators in Ukraine, as well as their partners in Poland and Germany.
Since 2014, when the Russian war started in Donbas, Bredbeck already was an outpost of support for Ukrainian youth workers and young people. The number of common projects with Ukraine was constantly growing, so the decision to start Likhtar in Bredbeck and stand with Ukrainian colleagues was made fast.
We are building a network of educators, youth workers, and representatives of non-formal education who are engaged in youth work and are interested in developing trilateral educational cooperation between Ukraine, Germany, and Poland.
How do we do it? By organizing online and offline educational and cultural events, professional exchanges, informing about trilateral meetings, and sharing the experience and results of these meetings.
LIKHTAR is particularly interested in addressing the challenges faced by international youth work in connection with the war against Ukraine.
We are providing an opportunity for young people from Ukraine to take part in exchange projects and find support on many different levels. Not just for those whom we can achieve with our big partners, but also those, who are living in small towns and villages, and could rarely have such an opportunity.
We also work with educators and teachers from Ukraine by giving them informational support about professional opportunities and sharing learning settings for their students and youth.
Maybe not the biggest, but definitely important activity that we do – is our regular online meetings with Ukrainian educators – so we can just honestly talk and discuss from the perspective of their real needs and challenges.
Why LIKHTAR is so important to me personally?
It’s all about the stories – touching, inspiring, sometimes heartbreaking stories. Stories of educators, who are trying to support young people, being emotionally devastated at the same time. Stories of students, who are rejecting exchange projects because they prefer to work and get some money, while facing the economic consequences of this war. Stories of young people, who are coming for our projects and sharing their fresh and inspiring vision of the future of Ukraine. Stories of Ukrainians who never could imagine themselves as a refugee, and that’s also my personal story. And these stories not only touch our hearts here in Bredbeck but also remind us all that we’re doing an important task.
Is it easy? Not really. Being entirely restricted by financing, we’re not able to do more. And the feeling of not doing more while you see the need for that, of course, is not the easiest thing to handle. We are going on with the project at least till the end of 2023, and then it will be discussed by our funding organization.
I thought about what would be a nice way to end my short article. And it seems extremely important for me to say in the end that we are open! We are open to every institution, organization, or private person, who is interested in what we’re doing in Likhtar or needs a Ukrainian point of view on what is going on in Ukraine now in social, educational, or cultural areas. We’re building our network and are always happy to share our resources with people and institutions from Germany.
So let’s LIKHTAR together?