Completion of the bomb shelter in Zavorychi: forming new traditions

Recently, B50 volunteers from the Reconstruction and Shelters projects completed their largest project to date – renovating the bomb shelter of the Zavorychi Gymnasium. After that, they organized a party for the visitors of the Gymnasium with quests, workshops, animation, a photographer, and sweets. However, we didn’t stop there and organized a symbolic closing of the project for ourselves (because our volunteers deserve it).

Before the children’s party, the volunteers organized a photo shoot for those who worked on the transformation of the bomb shelter and the B50 team with the extraordinary drawings and murals that the Shelters team created in this location based on sketches by Uliana Slutska, a designer at the Ampli teen accelerator.

They also received gratitude from the principal of Zavorychi Gymnasium for their help in arranging and decorating the shelter, active civic position, and concern for the education and upbringing of the future generation.

The final touch before completing the arrangement of the shelter is the installation of boards made by our volunteers. The children will be able to place their drawings on them. In the meantime, one of the stands contains postcards made and sent by children from East Aurora Montessori School, New York, USA. In the fall, when we started working on this shelter, the students of this school together with their teachers prepared greeting cards for Ukrainian children. They were sent through one of the administrators of the r/ukraine subreddit, which also covers the activities of our community.

B50 volunteers also made a symbolic gift to the school – two sakura trees, which were planted by volunteers at the entrance of the school together with the students. We hope that these trees will make children and teachers happy for many years to come.

Lastly, we left a pleasant but important task – installing a symbolic sign with information that the shelter was renovated by B50 volunteers. After all, they spent more than 1,300 hours (!) in Zavorychi repairing and decorating the walls, creating a comfortable space for children.

We thank everyone who took part in the renovation of the shelter and the organization of the children’s party. We wish the visitors of Zavorychi Gymnasium a safe and happy childhood. And we are also preparing for the next shelter’s transformation!