COLORADO UKRAINE AGRICULTURAL GROUP

Community Organization is the most important project in any village.  The other projects depend on this one for success.

 

The citizens of the village Richka (Річка  pronounced REACH-ka - roll the 'r' - and meaning 'small river') in the Carpathian Mountains of SW Ukraine, have come a long way with local initiative. They took it upon themselves to spread stone over 7 kilometers of road and to contract for trash collection. The village action came to the attention of the Colorado Ukraine Agricultural Group (CUAG) director when he was in Kiev in April 2014. His Ukrainian language tutor Irina Gorban of Borispol High School #6 alerted him to TV news about a citizens group taking action to fix their own roads.  Ira was not only a good tutor but came to understand the development  goals in  Ukraine of our international non-profit group.  She was the primary force leading our international development group to the village Richka in the Carpathian Mountains where we proceeded to work.  Her referral led to the community organization work there.  The citizens of Richka are no longer waiting for the government to fix the roads or haul the trash. They are taking affairs into their own hands.  In October 2014, the CUAG director spent one month in this village helping them to take the next steps.

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What they have done has been successful in giving them courage and pride. But the trash hauling they arranged ended when they ran out of money. As a result, piles of trash have been set on fire one by one producing black acrid smoke. The road improvement they did in April involving days of labor for many residents spreading rock, was successful in filling the potholes, but over time the round rock rolled into berms at the side of the road due to the pounding of vehicle tires and the hooves of the horses pulling wagons. The trash hauling needs augmented funds and a dump truck. The dirt roads need ditching, crowning, culverts, gravel and a road grader and back hoe for maintenance.  The citizens have taken important steps in gathering funds. In fact, in their determination to do things differently, they compiled and made available a list of every donor to the road project and the amount donated. This is transparency!  We can help these citizens get the right equipment and take the right steps to reliable trash collection and good dirt roads.