Various groups of Ukrainian youth have taken it upon themselves to organize events and parties in order to attract hundreds of volunteers to clean up the rubble and help repair the buildings destroyed due to the Russian attacks.
Young people meet DJs in a roofless, semi-destroyed building that used to be a cultural center north of kyiv. Music plays from the speakers and the youngsters prepare to remove the piles of rubble from the building, eventually taking a break to dance.
According to the EFE agency, the initiative is called “Repair Together”, and one of those responsible is called Tetiana Burianova, who expressed that they are clear that this volunteering should be interesting and fun, in addition to providing help has become a new way of life for many Ukrainians and it is important that the volunteers do not become exhausted, as there is a lot of work to be done.
“We are sure that life and unity will defeat death and destruction. We know that it is smiles and not tears that help our productivity,” the organizers of this initiative said on their Instagram account.
Hundreds of young Ukrainians and foreigners from the Ukrainian capital and other cities board the buses that take them to the Chernihiv region, and every Saturday they come equipped with tents and sleeping bags. They look like they are going on a hike, since that part of the country is known for its many rivers and lakes.
But youth groups are volunteering to remove rubble and rebuild destroyed houses in nearby towns, such as in Yahidne, where almost 400 of its inhabitants were locked up by the Russians for a month while soldiers looted and destroyed their homes.
The leader of this project stated that all the organizers were not sure before the first rave to clean up, since they did not know how the locals would react, although they did know that the atmosphere of love and mutual support is much more valuable for those who survived the occupation. than the words.
The result of this project was a success and twenty men and even boys joined the young people at work, and many others participated in activities after work, with monologues and concerts.
One of the project’s volunteers, Yaroslav Danylchuk from kyiv, is hopeful that the presence of so many young people will give residents moral support and hope for a better future.
Tetiana stressed that the people received them in a very nice way: “Every time we come to the village, two women wait for us with home-made varenyky (a Ukrainian specialty similar to dumplings).”
The last camp was in Ivanivka, and despite two days of hard work, volunteers and locals danced together to the music of the Shchuka Ryba folk band.
Volunteer Yaroslav, 32, has participated in several of these camps called Toloka, an expression often used to describe when people gather for urgent cleaning or construction work, and said he only recently heard about the parties, but insists that the most important thing is work anyway.
The inhabitants of these sites cannot do all this work alone and many of them are often older women, some of whom have lost their sons and husbands to the terror of Russian troops.
This initiative selects only the most needy families, and the plan is to rebuild between 12 and 15 houses in each of the locations where the camps are organized.
Also read other contents of Normal ⬇️
–
