Mykola Koliada dreams of working with children. Pavlo Sumskyi studies organizational management and is considering a career in management. Mykola arrived in Switzerland in the first weeks of the full-scale war, while Pavlo came in 2023. Today, both live in Schaffhausen, study, work, and most importantly, do not wait for integration to happen on its own.
“It was difficult at the beginning, when you don’t know the language, when everything starts from zero: a new country, a new mentality, new people,” Mykola recalls. He arrived in March 2022 and is now enrolled in an integration program and looking for an internship or an apprenticeship in the field of working with children.
Pavlo chose a different path. He is completing his bachelor’s degree in organizational management at Kharkiv University remotely, without interrupting his studies due to relocation. At the same time, he volunteers with USB and looks for opportunities to study or do an apprenticeship in management in Switzerland—submitting applications and building connections. “I wrote a letter and I’m waiting for a response,” he says, describing another step in a long process.
Both quickly realized that the main barrier is not only the language. It is the mindset, the system, and different rules of the game. “Here you don’t just study—you have to look for a Lehrstelle, a place where you gain practical knowledge,” Mykola explains. What seems like a clear path in Ukraine turns into complex navigation between opportunities in Switzerland.
It was curiosity and the desire to understand this system that led them to find a youth organization within USB. There, they not only find answers for themselves but also begin to help others.
Mykola trains Ukrainian children in Schaffhausen: he conducts football sessions, shares his experience, and at the same time integrates himself. “Sport is one hundred percent about integration,” he says. In a team, you learn the language faster, understand people, and feel the environment.
In small Schaffhausen, the Ukrainian community is not large. That is why the two seek connections beyond the city—in Zurich, Basel, and Bern. They have already visited universities, explored programs, and are building a network.
Their motivation is simple yet mature. “When you help others, you gain connections, experience, and develop yourself,” Pavlo explains. For him, it is both self-realization, a way not to feel alone, and an opportunity to be part of something bigger.
They do not hide the fact that one can go with the flow. But one can also choose differently. Their story is about choice. About taking responsibility for one’s own integration. And about how two young men from Ukraine, finding themselves in a new country, decided not just to adapt but to become an active part of the environment around them. “If you make an effort, it will be faster and better,” Mykola is convinced.
