It is not the first time that the B50 community has helped to equip two bomb shelters for children at once, so this is not a new task for us. We are currently working on two very interesting tasks — repairing and decorating shelters in the kindergartens of Mykulychi and Druzhnia villages near Borodianka. They are located only 15 kilometres from each other, so the teams of our Reconstruction and Shelters projects have more efficient logistics and can work wherever there are tasks.
Both villages went through significant hardships as they were occupied in 2022. The shelter in Druzhnia has served as a refuge for many of the village’s residents. Therefore, we aim to help these communities turn the shelters in their kindergartens into comfortable and pleasant spaces for local children, so that neither their parents nor educators will worry about the time that children will have to spend in the shelter in case of air raids.
Kindergarten “Yalynka” (Mykulychi)
Kindergarten “Strumochok” (Druzhnia)
The renovation of the shelter in the Yalynka kindergarten (Mykulychi) is already in its final stages, while the renovation of the Strumochok (Druzhnia) continues, room by room. That’s why the team of the Shelters project has also started its tasks, filling the empty walls of the shelters with cosy drawings, turning them into truly kid-friendly spaces.
To create the original sketches of the murals, we have engaged designers whose drawings are already starting to come to life for the Shelters team. So let’s begin to introduce you to our creative designers!
The author of the first mural in Mykulychi was our volunteer Vika! This is not the first time Vika has volunteered with us, she has tried her hand at dismantling houses destroyed by shelling and repairing shelters. Now she has decided to help decorate the shelters not only as a volunteer artist, but also as the author of the mural!
Her debut project at B50 was the creation of a mural for the large hall of the Yalynka bomb shelter, namely on the walls surrounding the beds and play area for preschoolers. The 11-metre-long mural with 3 dimensions was themed “Country of Dreams”.
For Vika, creating designs is not a new experience, as she has already designed prints for T-shirts and posters, but creating a mural is a new experience.
Зала до початку нанесення муралу
Зала після декорування волонтерами Б50
She was tasked with creating a fascinating fairy-tale world so that children could find themselves in the middle of it, surrounded by cute animals and a picturesque mysterious forest.
It was very unusual, and I was a little worried about the drawing fitting into the space allocated for it. I also had to take into account all the features and unevenness of the surface, calculate where the ventilation and wall joints were, so that important elements of the drawing would not fall on them.
But despite all the worries, it was a very positive experience! Yuliia explained the theme and wishes for the mural’s appearance very clearly, gave feedback on the first sketches, asked the volunteers for detailed measurements and photos of the location; and the team of volunteer girls with whom we painted the shelters charged us with positive and laughter and always helped if we had any questions or needed to choose the right colours. Everything went very smoothly, except for the constant wandering between home and the “Puzata Khata” restaurant during power outages to charge the laptop and continue working on the sketch 🤣
Vika
Vika herself took part in painting the mural after it was transferred to the walls. Our volunteers painted this large-scale drawing in just 3 days.
She notes that the feeling of seeing your drawing transferred from the laptop screen to reality is incredible.
I really hope that the mural we have created will distract children from their worries and anxieties and allow them to be transported at least for a short time to the world of dreams and fairy tales, where peace and miracles reign. And I would like to continue creating such projects in the future at other locations!
Vika
We invite you to watch how the work on Vika’s mural was progressing:
We are very grateful to our designers for the incredible work they have done and are very proud of the results that appear on the walls 🙂
Follow our news to see how these designs come to life and turn shelters into truly childhood places.
