Some experiences leave a quiet mark on you. Our recent school visits in Biłgoraj and Stary Majdan were exactly that kind.
Together with Ania, I spent two days visiting Zofia Krawiec Primary School in Stary Majdan and a school in Biłgoraj. Fifteen workshops, around 270 students, and more warmth than either of us expected.
We started in Biłgoraj, where the school's headmistress welcomed us in a way that immediately put us at ease. A small gesture, a thoughtful gift, an open and genuine welcome, and suddenly a new place felt familiar. It's funny how quickly that can happen.
The next day we headed to Stary Majdan, a quiet village surrounded by fields and narrow roads. As volunteers from Armenia and Ukraine, we were both eager to bring our cultures into the classroom. I shared stories, photos, and traditions from Armenia. Ania led a workshop on safe and responsible social media use, a topic that landed visibly well with the students, and gave them a window into Ukrainian life and culture alongside it.
One session stood out in particular: an 8th grade class that started as a standard cultural presentation and became something else entirely. The students weren't just sitting and listening. They were thinking out loud, asking questions that went somewhere, sharing their own perspectives. It stopped feeling like a lesson and started feeling like a conversation between people who were genuinely curious about each other. Those are the sessions you carry with you.
What made the whole visit memorable wasn't just what happened in the classrooms. It was the atmosphere in every room and hallway, the curiosity, the kindness, the sense that we were genuinely welcome. And then, at the end of our time in Stary Majdan, the teachers surprised us with gifts. Another act of generosity we weren't expecting and won't forget.
This is why the work matters. Not the standing in front of a classroom part, not the facts and figures part, but the human part. The bridges that get built in the space between one culture and another when both sides are actually paying attention.
We left with full hearts. And the hope of coming back one day.