B50 volunteers start repairing and decorating the bomb shelter of the Mykulychi “Yalynka” preschool

Volunteers from the Reconstruction and Shelters projects are resuming their active work on transforming children’s bomb shelters. We are currently working on two facilities at once: The Druzhnia pre-school (nursery-kindergarten) of the combined type “Strumochok” of the Borodianka village council and the Mykulychi pre-school (nursery-kindergarten) “Yalynka” of the Nemishaieve village council, which we will describe below.

Mykulychi is a village in the Bucha district of Kyiv region, between Borodianka and Nemishaieve. Enemy tanks entered the village in late February 2022 (local authorities recorded more than 500 pieces of russian military equipment here!).

According to local residents, the occupiers entered Mykulychi in three waves. The first to arrive were mobilized russian troops, mostly young and relatively unassuming boys. Then came what the locals call “special forces.” They searched for military personnel and anyone involved in the civil service or law enforcement and looted. The last to arrive were the buryats and kadyrovites. They were feared the most because they behaved openly cruel and impudent.

The occupiers used the village as a foothold for shelling neighboring villages and towns, did not allow the locals to evacuate, and killed many civilians.

The Mykulychi kindergarten “Yalynka” fortunately remained unharmed during the occupation and “sheltered” the local school, which was shelled by russian mortars. So not only preschoolers but also schoolchildren are now using the kindergarten’s shelter. Therefore, the shelter is extremely necessary.

The shelter of the Yalynka kindergarten consists of a large hall and additional technical rooms. The kindergarten staff, with the support of sponsors, renovated the large hall, so the room became comfortable for children – they play here, sing songs, run around, perceiving the shelter not as something scary, but as an additional playroom. The Reconstruction team will work in a small room of the shelter. Currently, it is a technical room that we will turn into a small bedroom so that children can rest there during air raids.

To do this, Reconstruction volunteers will perform the following tasks:

1. Plastering the walls.
2. Preparation of walls for painting.
3. Preparing the ceiling for painting.
4. Painting the walls.
5. Painting the ceiling.
6. Floor leveling.
7. Provision of equipment for the lighting system.
8. Installation of doors.
9. Arrangement of the floor.

After that, the activists from Shelters will decorate the room, adding color and comfort.

The B50 volunteers will also work in the big hall. It was renovated earlier, but more work is needed:

1. Install the doors.
2. Decorate the ventilation holes.
3. Installation of equipment (ceramic heaters) for the heating system and the supply of communications for it.

Volunteers from Shelters will have the most work here: they will decorate the empty walls with drawings and murals to turn the hall into a playroom.

The transformation of the Yalynka bomb shelter is possible thanks to the Förderkreis Mahnmal St. Nikolai e.V, foundation from Germany. Earlier, the Mahnmal St. Nikolai helped to implement another project of the B50 community – the exhibition “Chronicles of the Unknown Superheroes Ukrainians”. It is on the territory of the Memorial, in one of the most popular tourist locations in Hamburg, where the photos of B50 volunteers have been exhibited for three months. We are sincerely grateful to our German friends for their support!

The work on this shelter will start very soon, so if you have time and inspiration, and most importantly, a desire to volunteer with B50, we will be glad to see you! Registration information will be posted on the website, social media and B50 channels. You can also write to the B50 telegram or to the artwork coordinator Polina Koruts.