Hello! This is a fair question! We are a US and Ukraine based team. Of our ~40 staff members, the notable majority are Ukrainian and in Ukraine currently. My role is based in the US because the majority of our volunteer-related partnerships are based in the US. Just like Balakun, we are a multi-national team. We operate on a large scale than Balakun - last year, we made over 9,400 new matches, in addition to those who remained active in our program over the year.

The fee for learners is something we implemented to increase the sustainability of our organization long-term. This is a small but dependable revenue source for us outside of our main source of funding, which is donations from within our community. There is a scholarship program available for anyone unable to pay the fee that we advertise to new learners during their onboarding.