{"id":24225,"date":"2024-12-27T17:21:55","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T00:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-these-ukrainian-students-found-comfort-during-christmas-in-farmington\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:50:10","slug":"how-these-ukrainian-students-found-comfort-during-christmas-in-farmington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-these-ukrainian-students-found-comfort-during-christmas-in-farmington\/","title":{"rendered":"How these Ukrainian students found comfort during Christmas in Farmington"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"From
From left, Kostiantyn Oberemenko, sophomore, Daria Tsyhankova, sophomore, Anastasiia Loshyna, senior, and Yevheniia Mykhalova, senior. They are four of seven students that are in the U.S. to attend Menaul School in Albuquerque. (Brad Ryan\/Special to Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

As the holiday season comes to a close for many, four Ukrainian students\u2019 time with three host families in Farmington will end when they return to Menaul School in Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

The students are a part of the This Child Here Inc., a validated ministry in the Presbyterian Church, that has worked to bring seven students to the United States.<\/p>\n

It has been six months since arriving, according to sophomore Kostiantyn Oberemenko, who envisioned America with yellow school buses.<\/p>\n

For the students, the perception of America came from pop culture and movies rather than research done by themselves.<\/p>\n

Daria Tsyhankova, a sophomore, said her interactions with Americans have been nice. It\u2019s easier to engage in small talk in the U.S., she said.<\/p>\n

At Menaul, the students discovered a different education system.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeachers really want to help you. They want to support you. It\u2019s really hard to fail out,\u201d Oberemenko said.<\/p>\n

The grading system also differs as Ukraine uses a maximum of 12 points and America places grades based on a 100-point system, he said.<\/p>\n

Both Oberemenko and Yevheniia Mykhalova, a senior, noted that they had to choose their courses rather than take required courses in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the education system here is much harder, because in Ukraine, you don\u2019t need to think \u2018I need to take this class,\u2019 it\u2019s just made for you,\u201d Mykhalova said. \u201cSo you don\u2019t need to think about this stuff, and it\u2019s easier, and the classes are shorter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mykhalova said in Ukraine there are core subjects like chemistry and algebra, but at Menaul they can take a variety of classes. Business has been a favorite of hers, and her final project was a business plan for a floral boutique that offers arrangement lessons for customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had yoga class and not every school has this, so it\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d she said. \u201cAlso I have AP psychology; it\u2019s just interesting because usually we don\u2019t have the subject in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oberemenko prefers his physical education class because of the independence it gives students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just lift weights with my friends and enjoy an hour and a half,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Choir and English have been favorites of Tsyhankova.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like English here, because in our country it\u2019s so different. You learn grammar, pronunciation, but here you just read the books, and you talk about it, about hidden topics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Once graduated from Menaul, Mykhalova and senior Anastasiia Loshyna will attend the University of New Mexico and pursue a degree in psychology.<\/p>\n

\"Students
Students from Ukraine and the host families stand together on Thursday, Dec. 26. Top row, from left: Anastasiia Loshyna, Yevheniia Mykhalova, Trevor Kuhn, Meric Kuhn, Daria Tsyhankova and Kostiantyn Oberemenko. Second row, from left, George Sharpe, Rebecca Durham, Melissa Sharpe and Tyler Sharpe. (Brad Ryan\/Special to Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
\u2018We only live this day\u2019<\/div>\n

The students first met in the southwestern Ukraine city of Izmail after their mothers met Robert Gamble, executive director of This Child Here Inc., who encouraged them to join the organization, according to Tsyhankova.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was to find new friends in new town to be involved in different activities,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter that, Robert said that he found opportunity to send us to America, so we started preparing documents. It was so impulsive, everything was so impulsive.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Ukraine, students are only in school until 11th grade. Initially, the plan was to enter college at several institutions with a full ride, Gamble said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur three seniors applied to all of them and didn\u2019t get accepted anywhere because we didn\u2019t really understand what we were up against in terms of those kinds of schools,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Through a phone call, Gamble was able to secure a spot for the students at Menaul with hopes to continue their education after graduating.<\/p>\n

Families of students are in constant communication with their students, and they use the app Telegram to send photos everyday, according to Oli Balaban, program manager of This Child Here Inc.<\/p>\n

Gamble started his work in Ukraine after moving in 2006, working with the Ukrainian agency The Way Home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did that for maybe five, six years, and then I sort of branched out on my own, hiring my own staff and working with teams in orphanages to build community so kids would not go out the window to the streets,\u201d Gamble said. \u201cWhen the war started in 2014, we began training teenagers in peace making techniques. Then COVID came, slowed everything down, and then the invasion came. Soon thereafter, I met Oli, and we began working together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Balaban said the collaborated work started in 2022 with two camps for families and the Center for Creative Activity began in August with limited hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we work every day, morning, evening and six days in week,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That work is centered around the trauma children have encountered with the war, she said, as those new to the program do not smile often after experiencing death and loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery, very happy, I and my staff people, when after activity, these children begin smile,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s big motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Robert
Robert Gamble, executive director, sits beside Olya Balaban, program manager, at the Center for Creative Activity in Izmail, Ukraine, during a Zoom interview with Tri-City Record on Monday, Dec. 23. (Zoom screenshot)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Gamble said the opportunity for these students to be placed at Menaul in this time of war was miraculous.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere you have a student who\u2019s in a country at war, and then a week later, they\u2019re in Menaul, and maybe two more months later, one of our girls was on a stage singing for a statewide competition,\u201d he said. \u201cSo the difference in quality of life, it\u2019s just off the charts. The families of these students are thrilled. It\u2019s a very hopeful thing for them, regardless of what happens in the war, there\u2019s a connection somewhere else, and their child is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience of being in the U.S. may be something they never forget, Gamble said.<\/p>\n

For the host families, being with the students was an opportunity that was made through mutual connections and has made for an enjoyable holiday.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Durham and Brandy Pacheco were excited about the opportunity to host Mykhalova and engaged in several Christmas activities like programs and gift giving.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Ukraine, we don\u2019t usually celebrate Christmas like as big as here,\u201d Mykhalova said.<\/p>\n

Meric Kuhn and Trevor Kuhn had a small Christmas with Oberemenko that involved being with family and watching movies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to just be empathetic and just kind of put myself in his shoes and be like, if I had only been here for a few months, what would I want to do? How would I want to be treated?\u201d Kuhn said.<\/p>\n

George Sharpe and Melissa Sharpe hosted Loshyna and Tsyhankova for the holiday break and said the girls have been a part of the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a mom you kind of put your kids in their place,\u201d Sharpe said.<\/p>\n

Balaban said the mothers of the seven students are happy to see them in this opportunity and she wants them to have big futures.<\/p>\n

In Ukraine, children are sometimes subjected to study in shelters without electricity, water or internet, according to Balaban.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very, very complicated,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what will be tomorrow in Ukraine, we live only this day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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