06/07/2026
😍 When Lidija invited her ENGin buddy Rachel to stay with her family in Germany, she was not entirely sure what five days together would look like. What she got was one of those rare experiences that is difficult to put into words after the fact and nearly impossible to have planned.🙌
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✈️ Rachel arrived with her husband Randy, and Lidija introduced them to her husband, children, and father, who had traveled from Ukraine for a visit and found himself in the middle of an unexpectedly cross-cultural few days. The table was set with homemade varenyky, holubtsi, and buckwheat. 💬 As Lidija recalls, the reaction was everything a host could hope for: "They absolutely loved our Ukrainian food!"
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🎡 What followed was five days of walks through the city center, afternoons spent outdoors, and the kind of unhurried conversation that only happens when people have time and the desire to understand each other.
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💬 "It was incredibly fascinating to see just how many differences exist between us, as well as how much we have in common," Lidija wrote. "We exchanged insights into our respective cultures — discussing everything from how pouring drinks is done in Ukraine versus the USA, to how we relax, how we work, and what laws and regulations govern our lives."
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🫣 And through all of it, something else was quietly happening. Lidija has been living in Germany since the war began, immersed in German every single day for three years. English, for most people in that situation, would have faded into the background. Instead, she found the opposite. "Thanks to the ENGin program, even after three years of studying German on a daily basis, I haven't forgotten my English — in fact, I've even managed to improve it!"💪
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📖 The five days ended, but the story did not. The next chapter is already being planned — this time, in Kyiv. "Rachel mentioned that she would be delighted to visit Ukraine," Lidija shared, and the hope of a reunion at home is already there, waiting for the right moment.🇺🇦
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🥰 Every ENGin story starts the same way: one person decides to try, shows up for a conversation with someone they have never met, and keeps coming back. The weekly calls become a habit, the habit becomes a friendship, and the friendship, sometimes, becomes an invitation across borders. ENGin connects Ukrainians with English-speaking volunteers from around the world, and all you need to get started is the willingness to have a conversation. Join us at enginprogram.org
