Not many know about youth project U-Report, which UNICEF recently launched in Ukraine. U-Report is a system for public opinion polling using free text messages and Twitter. It currently involves over two million youth across the globe.

April 23 marked the official launch of U-Report in Ukraine. More than 800 youth joined the initiative at workshops and lectures offered by the organizers. Everything was dedicated to issues studied by U-Report: education, family values, social activity, gender issues, urbanism, employment, and career growth.

School of Success 2013 alumni learned about the launch from their acquaintances from the Ukrainian Leadership Academy, who offered them the chance to volunteer at a workshop.

Marichka Nadernyuk shared her impressions from her work as a volunteer at U-Report. She handled participant registration, souvenir distribution, and technical setup. Says Marichka, “Everything was really well organized, every volunteer had their own responsibilities and had fun working.” In her words, there were so many lectures that one couldn’t catch them all – but the volunteers managed to visit a few informative workshops.

But most of all she was excited about new acquaintances who inspired her to new achievements: “They say you should surround yourself with people who have the qualities you want to possess. Events like this one show that this is true – here there are people who want to do good in the world, either by showing other people the right way, or something more global. We all have a pretty similar view of the world. Even in casual conversation I found the inspiration to act. People who really want something are a big motivator for my development.”

Meanwhile Natalia Stanko got new experience with teamwork and its nuances: “During U-Report I realized how important teamwork is in organizing large-scale projects. The whole thing should run like clockwork. No less important are the ideas of others – you get excited by them and add something of your own. That’s really inspiring. But most importantly, I topped up my reserve of belief in the best. Nowadays many of our youth look for happiness outside our country, as if there’s nothing to see here. But the people at the workshop gave me confidence that there are people in our country who are continuing the revolution. Just no longer on Maidan – now it’s happening in their deeds and ideas. The U-Report organizers brought together people in this initiative, in unity, and that’s what we need in today’s Ukrainian reality.”

The girls show us that there is opportunity everywhere, the main thing is how you use it

You can also join U-Report in Ukraine! Learn more about the project from UNICEF at ukraine.ureport.in