Pavlo Panchuk is a board member of YMCA Zdolbuniv, a leader and volunteer, and a national trainer at YMCA of Ukraine events. His journey with the YMCA began in 2018 when he came to an event organized by the YMCA and the Peace Corps, where a volunteer taught English.

And then everything took off, I was invited to a camp, then to a national event, and then there were a lot of trips, events, and various trainings, Pavlo remembers with a smile, I kept thinking how cool it was that people could develop and grow at the YMCA. It was especially nice to watch the movement grow and change.

Thanks to the skills and qualities that Pavlo gained at the YMCA, he was able to participate in the FLEX program. It’s a great opportunity to live in America for a year, see an American school and learn new useful skills.

I was in the states when I met the war. When we were allowed to return home, I did not hesitate for a minute and flew to Ukraine. I was scared because I was going to turn 18 that year, I hadn’t graduated from a Ukrainian school, and going to university was my only way, so it was a pretty stressful period. However, I was constantly following the local YMCA and joining their events, which was a safe space. When my psycho-emotional state settled down, I was able to provide assistance, joined various camps, and conducted initiatives that I brought back from the United States. It was at that time that I became a member of the board at the local level.

After returning to Ukraine, Pavlo worked as a camp leader at a YMCA camp in Volyn, where half of the children had difficult life situations caused by the war. It was then that he realized an important truth:

In the middle of the camp, one of the girls in my group suffered a war-related family tragedy. It was during the camp that this girl’s life was completely turned upside down. It was then that I realized that being a leader in Ukraine requires more effort than being a leader in a calm country; sometimes you need to be very empathetic, you need to be a super leader. Working with IDPs, constant sirens, risk assessments are now commonplace for us, and I am very grateful to the YMCA that we were able to make huge changes and implement successful projects during this period. In Zdolbuniv, thanks to our partners, we were able to open an office, provide paid positions and quality knowledge to the townspeople.

If I talk and think about how the YMCA has changed during the war, I have nothing but kind and warm words to say. From small offices to huge spaces, from a completely volunteer-based organization to high-quality and professional services of paid specialists. Personally, I am very pleased that now, with my professional growth, I have the opportunity to provide quality informal education, write large projects and lead them. I’m very grateful to the YMCA for all the opportunities and I’m sure there will be more.

Read more about how YMCA helped young leaders to overcome heavy depression caused by war