SPRING LAKE, Mich. — A retired West Michigan educator plans to travel to Ukraine next month and teach.
“I’m really worried what happens to these people,” said Bob Wood, who taught high school social studies for nearly 30 years at Oakridge Public Schools. “I know after going there, that they won't lose the fight with sticks and stones. They will not give up, but I don't know how they win.”
Wood’s ventured once already to the country since the war with Russia started.
Last September he booked a five-week trip after he felt called a second time to help people there.
“I thought, ‘I’m going to go to Ukraine to be of use,’” said Wood. “When anybody asked me, ‘What are you going to do?' I'm going to be of use.”
Without much of a plan, Wood assembled first aid kits and transported humanitarian goods during the initial part of his trip.
That all changed after he met an Ukraine Catholic University English professor.
“She said, ‘Well, you want to be of use? Take my class for two weeks,’” said Wood. “And I mean, that's like, come on. Wow.”
Between lessons, Wood got an idea to ask his family and friends to submit questions about life in Ukraine, which would then be answered by his students.
“Some of these [answers] just blow you away and they’re so heartfelt,” said Wood.
He recorded each response.
“They [the Russians] see our people as though they’re animals,” said one student when asked how the conflict changed her life. “That is just inhumane. I have my mother in occupation.”
Wood says the project left a long lasting impact.
“At the end of the day I want to show Americans, Michiganders, people here that Ukrainians are people like you and me and they've got a lot of courage,” said Wood. “They’ve got a lot of pride in and they're doing the best they can within the circumstances.”
Wood plans to go back to Lviv in February.
He says Ukraine Catholic University offered him a position in their English department during their next term, which ends in May.
Wood tells FOX17 while it’ll come with risks, but he wants to show people in Ukraine they don’t need to fight alone.
“There is some something about Ukraine,” said Wood. “There's a real - I don't know what you would call it - there's a lot of moxie. They have grit.”
Wood has put on a series of presentations about his time in Ukraine during his final weeks in West Michigan.
The last presentation is Monday, January 23 at Saugatuck Brewing Company from 6-7:30 p.m.
