Volunteer construction unit supported by LDN and Global Giving builds safe spaces for affected villages in Mykolaiv region

Publication date: September 18, 2024

In the summer of 2024, a Volunteer Construction Unit (dobrobat) operated in two villages of the Shevchenkivska Community in Mykolaiv Region. Legal Development Network (LDN) and the Global Giving charity platform supported their work. Following the construction and repair work, a recreation space was restored in the Vavylove Village, and the only building providing social services to the residents of the Starostynskyi District was reconstructed in the Liubomyryivka Village.  

“We started to work with the Shevchenkivska Community on creating a strategy for community recovery and development. However, the community is unable to implement it efficiently unless residents feel that they can make a difference. The initiative to create and operate volunteer units is an opportunity to show that a lot depends on them, in particular, on young people. That they are capable to make changes themselves. In small, destroyed villages, where there is a great demand for reconstruction, young people have united and made their way to change from the ground up to achieve noticeable results.” —  said Timur Kanataiiev, LDN Program Director.

Electricity was reconstructed and the stage was restored in the concert hall of the Vavylove Village Club. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the institution did not work as intended due to the unsuitable, and in some places, dangerous condition of the premises. In recent years, the club has been used by residents of the village, where nearly 20% of the buildings were damaged by shelling, to receive humanitarian aid from international organizations, and for young people to play table tennis. Therefore, there was no discussion of quality leisure and development of young people, and there are about a hundred of them in the village. 

Children themselves came up with the idea to create a modern cinema space. Most of them have never had the opportunity to watch movies on the big screen, but they would like to not only watch but also discuss what they have seen with their peers. Reconstruction of the power grid and the stage covering made it easier to accomplish that. A fundraising campaign is underway to purchase equipment for the cinema space.

“We replaced the stage covering in the Vavylove Village Club and painted it with rubber paint so that it would not be slippery and would not wear out quickly. We also restored the stage itself, installed new lamps and sockets.” — says Denys Vynnychuk, a Field Officer, Experienced Construction Worker and Volunteer Unit Coordinator from Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankivsk Region.

255 residential buildings were damaged in the Liubomyryivka Village following the occupation by Russian troops and large-scale shelling, as well as the school, village council, and council of prefects  building. The only building that survived, where the entire staff of the council of prefects now works and where villagers can receive administrative and social services, was the First Aid and Obstetric Station. However, its condition was also in disrepair.

“It all started with the dismantling of the old cladding in the room. We dismantled the floor, took out the garbage,” says Denys Vynnychuk, ”Then we restored the floor covering. In some places, the walls were falling off in pieces, and we had to demolish the foundations of the walls down to the stone, because the new coating would not hold otherwise. All the walls and ceilings were covered with plasterboard, a new electrical network was laid, and then we did some cosmetic repairs: painting, mounting lamps, sockets, and switches.”

All these operations were carried out by a volunteer unit consisting of boys and girls from the villages of the Shevchenkivska Community along with Denys Vynnychuk and another Field Officer from Ivano-Frankivsk Region, Vitalii Hrabar. The field officers are convinced that the positive impact of the volunteer unit’s work is not only in restoring facilities and creating cozy spaces for leisure and development in the villages, but also that young people have acquired basic knowledge and skills in repair work.

“Working for the welfare state is of great importance to me and has great prospects. It gave me hope and a chance for a bright future. I was driven by the absence of a job where I could earn extra money during the summer holidays and the desire to develop. I learned a lot about the construction industry. And now, even if I’m just doing repairs in my house, I know how to do it right.” – says Viktoriia Oliiynyk from Vavylove Village, Volunteer Construction Unit Participant

“I learned how to plaster, install electricity, lay floors – all the things that will definitely come in handy in life.” — says Oleksandr Marynko from Tsentralne Village, Volunteer Construction Unit Participant.

According to the volunteers, local residents responded to their work in different ways: some just looked, some asked a lot of questions, and some invited them to help restore their homes. In Mykolaiv Region, the demand for construction specialists, repairmen and electricians is very high, as it is in Ukraine as a whole.

“The youth involved with us were eager and engaged. In the future, they will be able to work autonomously, without us, but with our support (for example, in providing technical specifications, calculations, and supplying tools) as local teams that will restore the South of Ukraine.” — emphasizes Denys Vynnychuk

Another positive impact of the volunteer units is that the locals have seen with their own eyes that recovery and reconstruction is within everyone’s power and possible to do on a budget. It is important not to wait for help, but to apply for it on their own, get funding, unite, form their own volunteer units and build their lives.

For reference

The Legal Development Network is a union of civil society organizations whose mission is to strengthen legal capacity, protect human rights and freedoms, and develop communities.

The material was created with the support of the GlobalGiving International Charity Platform. The content of the publication is the sole responsibility of the Legal Development Network Non-Governmental Union.

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