Sublimitas Welcomes New Board Member: Dr. Anita Demkiv

/

Dr. Demkiv has been consulting and researching in the energy industry for nearly a decade. She has held positions as Senior Analyst for Crude Oil at an energy derivatives brokerage firm and Oil Market Analyst at a physical oil products brokerage firm in New York City. Prior to working as an energy consultant, she was an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University, as well as a lecturer at Odessa National University and at Fordham University. She has also worked in Ukraine as a US Peace Corps Volunteer, as Program Coordinator at the George Soros-sponsored NGO, International Renaissance Foundation in Kyiv and as an NGO consultant at the World Bank in Ukraine. Anita earned a PhD in Global Affairs from Rutgers University, MA from Columbia University and BA from New York University. She has published articles and reports on energy issues, petrostates and political instability. Anita currently runs her energy consulting firm, ADIN Energy, which she founded in 2015 and has been a Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association Board Member since 2015.

Tila: Breaking Barriers event was a success!

/ Ukrainain Institute of America /

Sublimitas & Omnis' event Tila: Breaking Barriers was a success! We were honored to have Andriy Tsymbaliuk, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, and Ambassador Dr. Yuriy Sergeyev, Professor of Political science at Yale University, join and support our cause. Through Education Breaks Barriers project, we provide disadvantaged children with quality education to develop their potential and break multiple barriers in order to succeed in life. Thank You to our amazing sponsors - Ukrainian Institute of America, Korchma Taras Bulba, Lakewood Conservatory of Fine Arts, Planet Now, InLove magazine, and the photographer Yuriy Lozitskiy - for making this event happen!

Please visit our photo gallery.

Join us on May 14th for the fundraiser Tila: Breaking Barriers

/

Sublimitas, Omnis Foundation, and Ukrainian Institute of America cordially invite you to an evening of art & music to support education for disadvantaged children and youth in Ukraine. Please join us to learn more about the  Education Breaks Barriers (EBB) project and discover a moving exhibit of art painted by war-displaced children from Ukraine. Enjoy a glass of wine and delightful music performed by the Lakewood Conservatory of Fine Arts at the Upper East Side landmark, the Ukrainian Institute of America! We look forward to seeing you on May 14th at 7pm! Please RSVP your tickets. Ticket proceeds will directly benefit the EBB project.

November 20th marks Universal Children's Day

/

Sublimitas is guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that recognizes education as a child's right. We are committed to quality education for all and focus our efforts on socio-economically disadvantaged children who do not have equal opportunities to develop their potential through education. 

"The Convention, which is the most widely ratified international human rights treaty, sets out a number of children’s rights including the right to life, to health, to education and to play, as well as the right to family life, to be protected from violence, to not be discriminated, and to have their views heard. On the basis of the Convention and joint effort by all the countries and regions, let us promote and celebrate children’s right on the Universal Children's Day, and continuously build up a living-friendly environment for children in the world through dialogues and actions."

Reflections and Revelations: Notes from the Field by Mia Redding

/

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to teach Girls Empower workshops for orphanage girls in Ukraine. First and foremost, it is a sincere gratitude and blessing to have Alla Korzh coordinate, translate and make this trip possible for me. I could not have done it without her, our family support and the Ukrainian children who opened their hearts and minds to our workshops. The children at the orphanage were truly my most rewarding moments. Many of the children not only spoke Ukrainian and Russian but I was able to communicate in Spanish with several orphans, who were fluent in Spanish, Italian and also French. We arrived with sweets and snacks and spent the first days getting acquainted with the children. In addition, we played several games with many of the youth that included teamwork, cooperation and trust.

Read More

“I never thought I would teach in the internat (orphanage)…”

/

Teachers in the two Ukrainian orphanages I studied graduated with a Specialist teaching degree from pedagogical institutes and universities in Ukraine. None received any specialized training to teach vulnerable children removed from their families and shuffled through a series of shelters and orphanages. In fact, in Ukraine no teachers or caretakers (who are essentially trained as teachers) receive special preparation or professional development to work with orphans and children deprived of parental care beyond an introductory freshman year psychology course with only one session devoted to vulnerable children’s needs.

Read More

Heartfelt Thank You to InLove Magazine

/

Sublimitas would like to extend a heartfelt Thank You to Elena Vasilevsky and Natalia Sergeeva, founders of InLove magazine, for supporting Sublimitas’ educational programs. InLove donated half of their proceeds from the Celebration of Life event held at the Ukrainian Institute of America in NYC to support Sublimitas’ educational programs for orphans in Ukraine. Thank you for your love, support, and care for children and their education in Ukraine!

Fieldwork dilemmas: Conducting research with orphans

/

Sublimitas undertakes a research-informed approach to designing, developing, and implementing educational programs for marginalized children and youth. Alla Korzh's recent publication in an edited volume "Youth "at the margins": Critical perspectives and experiences of engaging youth in research worldwide" highlights methodological and practical challenges faced in Ukrainian orphanages and critical reflections on researcher obligation to participants. 

"Qualitative research enabled me to enter the youth’s lives to understand and document their daily experiences in orphanages and beyond, and to make their voices heard. As a researcher committed to uncovering social inequities through the powerful tool of qualitative research, I have frequently reflected on the impact my findings will have and my obligations to my participants who have experienced inequalities in orphanages and Ukrainian society. What are our roles and responsibilities to participants while in the field and after exiting from it? To which extent does our research contribute to reducing social inequalities and human rights violations or, in fact, expose our participants to vulnerability? What is our ethical obligation as researchers when we happen to be bystanders of inequalities, discrimination, and violence? ..." Check out the publication here.


Celebration of Life event presented by InLove magazine

/

Sublimitas is cordially inviting you to the Celebration of Life event hosted by InLove magazine. InLove fosters Ukrainian identity and culture in the United States with support from the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations. InLove will be holding a cultural event to celebrate art, love, beauty, and culture in NYC on June 10, 2015 at 7pm at the Ukrainian Institute of America. InLove supports Sublimitas' mission and donates partial proceeds from the event to Sublimitas' educational programs. Please RSVP for the event here.

Education Breaks Barriers Project with Ukraine United Foundation

/

In partnership with Ukraine United Foundation, Sublimitas is working to launch Education Breaks Barriers project that will provide quality educational opportunities to socio-economically disadvantaged children and youth in Ukraine. The project will launch in Lviv, Ukraine, and will offer after-school educational programs for children and youth who are falling academically behind, who seek to improve their academic performance, and who are driven to pursue higher education but have no adequate preparation or resources. Stay tuned for more information to come!

"Invisible No More" featured in the Ukrainian Weekly

/

NEW YORK – On January 30, three non-profit organizations – Sublimitas, Razom and Ukrainian New Wave – that are working to advance social justice, human rights and democracy in Ukraine held a fund-raiser, “Invisible No More: Orphans and Street Children in Ukraine” at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York City, which included a screening of the documentary “Bomzhi” (“The Homeless,” 2012).

Read More

Invisible No More: Orphans and Street Children in Ukraine

/

SAVE THE DATE! January 30, 2015 at 7pm at the Ukrainian Institute of America, NYC

Sublimitas and Razom will be screening the Bomzhi (Homeless) documentary to raise awareness about the plight of street children and social orphans in Ukraine and to raise funds for our Paving the Path to University program to enable orphanage youth to prepare for the university entrance exams and to pursue higher education in Ukraine. Join us for the documentary and discussion, followed by reception at the Ukrainian Institute of America (79th & 5th Ave).

Why Tutoring Matters for Orphans in Ukraine

/

Given the inconsistencies in the formal curricula taught in secondary schools and required on university entrance exams, and generally inadequate quality of education in orphanages, orphans are not prepared to take university entrance exams and to handle academic rigor at a university. For orphans who are accepted into universities, admission does not translate into graduation, as the majority of orphans struggle academically to compete with their peers who had graduated from better quality secondary schools and had years of tutoring to enhance their academic competencies.

Read More