Vania Shcherbuk

v.shcherbuk@insight-ukraine.org

My name is Vania. I am the Insight NGO coordinator in Chernivtsi, a non-formal education trainer, a mentor, an activist, and a person who sincerely believes in the power of change and in the fact that every person deserves dignity and respect.

I am creative, charismatic, curious and kind — and at the same time “argumentative”, because I like to dig into the essence of things, and stubborn when a question touches on my personal values. A loving wife and the mum of two cats and a dog. I have a legal education and mediator training — knowledge that helps me pursue goals consciously, see situations more broadly, hear different sides and look for solutions not only through the law, but also through humanity.

My strongest trait is probably a heightened sense of justice. It is what reminds me, again and again, why I chose this path. I am constantly learning, discovering new meanings and exploring this world. It matters to me not just to watch change happen, but to be part of it.

I came to Insight almost by accident. I sent in an application more as a joke, because I was convinced I would not be taken. At that time I was going through a difficult period of self-doubt. It felt as if I was “not enough” everywhere: not experienced enough, not good enough, not “right” enough. Job rejections had become routine.

But sometimes life opens a door exactly where you have stopped expecting to see one. Today I understand that I have found the work I want to do for the rest of my life. Work in which my values, knowledge, experience and belief in a future without discrimination have come together. And perhaps the most valuable part of this story is that, along with the work, I also found myself.

I am at Insight because I had always been looking for a place where I could be myself. A place where work is not just a list of tasks or a way to earn a living, but something more. Something that has meaning and is able to change the reality around it. It matters to me to be part of that process. Not just to watch change happen, but to put my own effort into it. That is exactly why I am here.

What fuels me:

I am probably an extrovert by necessity. Although sometimes I want silence and solitude, what energises me most at work is talking to people.

But I find real balance in nature. When I have the chance to go to the forest, sit by the water or climb into the mountains, it is as if I come back to myself. Nature reminds me that even great changes begin with small steps, and that strength is not always loud — sometimes it lies in calm and in the ability to contemplate.

Most of all, though, I am energised by the very idea we work for every day. The belief that the world can be fairer, kinder and freer of prejudice. The awareness that through my work I can bring closer the time when LGBTQI+ people will feel safe, have equal rights and no longer have to prove their right to be themselves. It is this goal that reminds me every morning why I am here.

Blitz interview:

One sentence about yourself that isn’t a job title
A traveller through her own consciousness who is not afraid to be a revolutionary of social change.

What do you do when you’re not saving human rights?
I walk my dog, do yoga, hold tea ceremonies, love practising different kinds of art — and contemplating it too — love reading books and living an interesting life.

Describe yourself in three words
Brave. Curious. Stubborn.

Your favourite queer film or series — and why that one
“Carol”, “Orange Is the New Black”, “The L Word” and “Killing Eve”.

“Carol” is a cult film and a true classic for me. The directing is extraordinary: it is so subtle and multi-layered that you can rewatch it again and again and find something new every time, something you had not noticed before. It is cinema that does not lose its depth with time.

“Orange Is the New Black” and “The L Word” are the series I essentially grew up on. They matter to me because they show a great diversity of women’s and queer relationships: different, complicated, alive, sometimes contradictory, but very real. They gave a sense of visibility and normality to what had often remained invisible.

“Killing Eve” is a separate story. I do realise it is toxic and definitely not about the kind of healthy relationships one would want to romanticise. But the aesthetics of that series speak to me.