Courtesy photoThe dark blue Kharkiv baseball shirt hangs over the whiteboard in Nelsen Petersen鈥檚 classroom as a history lesson and a statement of support.
Petersen, a Wichita State alum, is a high school teacher, author, filmmaker and running enthusiast who developed strong connections with Ukraine during his travels.
Later this month, he plans to go to Cluj-Napoca, a Romanian city near Ukraine, to help in refugee camps. He wants to spend four or five days during his spring break in the region.
鈥淚t鈥檚 impossible for me to just sit around and watch it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a full-on war. You show up and you say, 鈥榃hat do you need?鈥欌��
He is saddened by Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, a country he first visited in 2014 and returned to eight more times. He waits for updates from friends, follows news on social media and waits out internet disruptions.
鈥淚 get pings all the time,鈥� he said. 鈥淟ast Thursday at 5 in the morning, my phone just went nuts. They were getting shelled.鈥�
Peterson, a member of the Wichita State鈥檚 cross country team, about the growth of baseball in 2014. While the Russian assault and annexation of Crimea that year spoiled the project, Petersen continued to visit friends in Ukraine.
鈥淚t goes between heartbreak and anger,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to watch. The Ukranian people are just warm and creative, smart. You better have your current events shoes on when you sit down and talk with them. It鈥檚 a very educated culture.鈥�
Courtesy photoKharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine, was the starting point for his interest in the country鈥檚 adoption of baseball.
Now the Kharkiv baseball shirt is part of his work teaching his Superior (Nebraska) High School history classes about the events in Ukraine. He discusses the similarities between Hitler鈥檚 invasion of Poland and Russia鈥檚 current invasion of Ukraine, as well as the parallels to World War I.
鈥淗istory is repeating itself, I鈥檓 afraid,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e put the brakes on standard curriculum the last few days just to make sure everyone understands. You鈥檙e not going to leave my class uninformed. One of these days you鈥檙e going to be sitting in an outdoor caf茅 in Amsterdam, and at least I want someone to know 鈥業f you鈥檙e from Superior, Nebraska, you know a little bit.鈥欌��
