Progress in Zavorychi Gymnasium bomb shelter

For three months now, B50 volunteers from the Reconstruction and Shelters projects have been actively working in the bomb shelter of Zavorychi Gymnasium. Here, we are aiming to create a safe and comfortable children’s space for 185 students of different age groups. The shelter is large, clean, dry, and consists of many rooms and passageways. During the transformation, we pay special attention to two small rooms for preschoolers and two large rooms for primary school students.

We received funds for this object from the ChangeX NGO, which had previously included our pilot project to transform the Kozachok kindergarten shelter in Bucha in its guide. Representatives of ChangeX offered to participate in their project. The B50 team applied, fulfilled all the necessary conditions, and successfully received a grant to transform the shelter in Zavorychi. With the funds we received, we are currently buying building materials and paints to transform the bomb shelter.

Volunteers from the Reconstruction project have been working in Zavorychi since December 2023. During this time, a number of repair tasks have been completed (ventilation has been improved; the floor has been repaired; wall defects have been repaired; walls and ceilings have been painted). Currently, the walls in all four rooms where the children will stay have been repaired, and since January, activists from the Shelters have been creating nature-themed drawings there. The first update on the Zavorychi Gymnasium shelter can be found here.

Only minor repairs and technical rooms are left, where work is already underway:

• Stairs to the shelter: repair the pavement and paint the walls.
• Entrance group: paint the ceiling and walls, insulate pipes, repair the floor (where it is in poor condition).
• Bathroom: paint the ceiling and walls, completely cover the floor.
• Corridor between large rooms: finish painting the walls, arrange a hand sink and ventilation.
• Emergency exit vestibule: install emergency lighting.
  

• Large room “Desert”: paint the walls in some places, insulate pipes and equip pipe stands.
• Large room “Ocean”: paint the walls in some places, insulate pipes, install a door to the technical room that is not going to be used, paint desks and chairs for students.
• Small room “Jungle”: install new lighting and arrange flooring for preschoolers to play on.
• Small room “Forest”: to insulate the heating pipes, arrange lighting and flooring (this room will also be used by preschoolers).

After the main work is finished, the volunteers will have to clean up, do some minor painting, arrange furniture, and place stands on the walls.

In the video, we show you how the first half of the repairs in Zavorychi went.

Volunteers from Shelters also managed to do a lot in the shelter of the Zavorychi Gymnasium. They immediately began to draw sketches on the prepared walls: first, they painted in the large rooms, and now they have moved on to the small ones. Thanks to the projector, the work is fast and easy.

We engaged a young designer, a graduate of the Ampli teen accelerator, Uliana Slutska, to design for the shelter at Zavorychi Gymnasium. She created both murals in the rooms for junior high school students and drawings of animals from the jungle and forest that will decorate the rooms of preschoolers.

So far, Uliana’s sketches have already created 2 murals with a total area of approximately 2 by 7.5 meters.

During this month, B50 volunteer artists will paint two more rooms, one of which was enlarged at the expense of the technical room.

We share a video about the creation of the mural “Ocean”. We thank @on_altinci. for editing both videos.

The Zavorychi Gymnasium shelter has become much more colorful and cozy, but there is still work to be done. So join the trips in March and try your hand at Reconstruction and Shelters projects!