The distance from Summit Hill to the country of Ukraine is 4,836 miles.

That’s not far enough for Katie Herczeg, who has lived in Summit Hill with her husband, Ryan for the past six years, to make friends with a young woman named Ksenia Kutova, who lives in the Eastern European country.

Through a cultural exchange program called ENGin, Katie has been teaching English to Ksenia since December of 2023.

ENGin is a volunteer-based organization that pairs a “buddy” with a person from the Ukraine for weekly one hour video chats.

During their conversations, the American volunteer helps her Ukrainian partner practice English and together they learn about each other’s cultures.

The overall purpose of ENGin is to offer emotional support, improve social and economic development, help foster intercultural understanding, and ultimately, build stronger- connected communities.

The program screens each volunteer, provides orientation, training and matches buddies based upon mutual interests.

Throughout their video chats, Katie and Ksenia have become good friends.

“Ksenia is 26 years old and is recently married,” said Katie.

“We had a kind of nervous start because of our language barrier, but with an online handbook, we have really improved our English-speaking communication. The Ukrainians are beautiful and very resilient people. She has a strong desire to understand our language and she’s happy that she’s in a safe learning place where she can speak freely. She wants to come to America, but our government’s recent restrictions have prevented her and her husband from traveling here.”

Although Ksenia does not like to speak about the war, she has mentioned her awful fears.

“She has told that she’s terrified every day of the war and said that a Russian missile struck the apartment she was living in and many lives were lost. It’s a heavy emotional burden and they never get much sleep because air raid alarms are sounding during nights that send everyone scurrying into bomb shelters.”

Katie does not question Ksenia much about the war.

Instead, she likes to ask her about holiday customs in the Ukraine.

“Ksenia said that every June there is a celebration they call Ivana Kupala which is a festival that celebrates the god of fertility, a god of love and harvest. On that night, there’s traditional Ukrainian music and dancing and the festival features a bonfire near a body of water symbolizing purification. The single girls make garlands of flowers and toss them into the current of the water. A group of boys wait downstream to retrieve the garlands and tradition says that when the boy matches the garland to the girl, they are to be married.

“Of course, that is just an old custom,” Katy said. “It’s just for fun and not for arranging marriages.”

Katie has been teaching Ksenia the English language with a focus on idioms and American customs.

“After I told her that it is our custom for the husband to carry his new bride over the threshold of their home, she told me her husband carried her into their new apartment and then she sent me the video. We have a lot of laughs when I explain idioms like ‘testing the waters’ and ‘getting more bang for your buck.’ She’s been using them, too.”

Ksenia has introduced Ukrainian foods to Katie,

“I recently made borscht which is a red beet soup. It was quite good.”

Katie has been a special-education teacher for 21 years. Her teaching skills have come into play in her relationship with Ksenia, but as the sincerity of their friendship continues to grow, she is looking forward to the day when they can meet each other in person.

“The people in the Ukraine are under a lot of stress. I reassure Ksenia that ENGin is a safe place where she can take her mind off of what is threatening her country. “I am deeply satisfied with our friendship,” she said.

“We celebrated our one-year anniversary this past January from computer to computer. The world is a lot smaller for us now. We are all the same no matter where we live. We’re just trying to make sense of our lives and be happy. When she can come to the United States to meet me, our dream will become a reality.”

The “U4U” program that had allowed citizens of the Ukraine to come to America for a two- year period has been suspended until further notice, making ENGin a vital connection between the two countries.

This organization currently has 26,000 volunteers between the ages of 13 and 85+ who have been comprehensively trained and located worldwide.

Their vision is to “use the power of conversation to connect a million globally minded citizens of emerging democracies with English speakers forging supportive, authentic relationships.”

Those interested in the program can visit the website for contact information.