Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, in fact I like Ukraine and its people and furthermore I am living here for almost three years. Ukraine is a new country. It is like a newborn child. The people are growing up into a new environment that even the parents of this newborn child are not accustomed to.

On the one hand, it is very exciting — shaping and creating a nation out of nothing. But it is very hard and frustrating since its parents and forefathers were like puppets in the hands of outsiders. It is so hard that even today that the child is growing and absorbing a lot of information and freedom, a part of the parents think that being puppets was much easier and comfortable.

But being a newborn nation has one big advantage over a newborn child. The nation can choose its parents. Maybe at the beginning their choice is not so good, but another advantage of a nation is that it can choose again and again, new parents until it finds parents that guide it in a rightful way.

The raising of a child at the earlier stages is very important since in those first years he learns the language, communication and shapes his character. And this is what is happening in Ukraine today. In this stage the country is shaping up as a nation and the possibilities are indefinite.

But will the Ukrainians stand up for the challenge?

I like to believe so and be hopeful.

Will they understand that their future can be shaped by their own hands? Will they understand that it is within their power and only their power to bring upon themselves bright perspectives?

They have to look up as an example to another young country, Israel, not rich in natural resources, full of political problems and unending bloody wars and terrorist attacks. If Israel did it, Ukraine certainly can do better, considering its natural richness and its inventive people. In order to achieve that, they must stop thinking that they are serving others. They must understand that freedom has in the beginning a price (hard work and commitment) but at the end there is a prize hidden in it – a great future, social and economic stability, freedom and pride.

I hope that the incumbent-appointed parents understand this and so does the child. Because this child (the nation) has the opportunity to shape his future, his education, his culture, his health and his wealth by his own will. But first of all change begins within each other, with small individual changes in our nearby vicinity and then it will naturally spread nationwide. It will begin at home when each family will educate their own children to keep nature and the environment clean, so people will stop throwing garbage, empty bottles into the ground or onto waterways, in that way if the local authorities don’t care about how their city looks, at least the citizens themselves will keep it clean by not contaminating it. And this change of behavior will transmit to the authorities an important message.

I will bring you a short example of what I mean. Let’s take for instance Simferopol Airport as a microcosm of Ukraine society. Crimea, as you know is a Mecca for ex-CIS countries, and Simferopol its capital. But why not attract Western tourists to such a beautiful country, they will bring more jobs and more foreign currency and the potential is limitless? I will not speak about the lack of infrastructure in Crimea, which is not adapted to the Western tourists. This is a matter for the authorities to consider. I want to speak about the individual, what he can do to profit himself and his country. For instance do you know that I can count on the fingers of my hands the number of people in Simferopol International Airport that can speak English?

I am not talking about foreign airlines employees. I am talking, for example, about the security guy who sits at the x-ray scanning machine, the guy that comes in contact with all passengers. If the manager of the airport or even if that guy would have taken the initiative to learn basic English, then the first impression of the tourist when arriving to Ukraine would have been much better. Because not all tourists can speak Russian, but English is considered an international language and a country that boasts that it welcomes foreign tourists, should put English education in a higher priority.

It is just a small step that can lead to a greater change of attitude.

(This is based on a personal experience. My relatives who don’t speak Russian arrived to Simferopol airport and the first guy they encountered before passport control was a security guide who was not able to give them any information and any help in English).

I will try and bring forth in the future more examples, based on my experience and those examples are not few.

Small changes and improvements that begin at the individual level can build a better nation. Because the small details are the ones that stand out and give a wrong impression of the country, and the small details are the ones that bother the most.

Mario Fuhrer, from Haifa, Israel, is living in Simferopol.