Ukraine News Video

This is the TV news report that first brought this village to director Ray's attention. It was on Ukraine channel TCH…one of the most reputable of the Ukrainian TV channels. The TV company got wind of the village action from a local newspaper article and came to film. Obviously the work had already been done, so we see the citizens 'acting out' the shoveling work for the news channel. They laughed when told they had gotten their international attention from their Xhollywood premier. The red rectangle in the video upper left says 'PreCarpathia', which is the name of this Carpathian foothills region.

Video Translation

A well-known artist wood carver didn’t work today and instead has taken a shovel in his hands in order to fix the road together with other men from his village. ‘I have calluses on my palms but they are the good ones because I like what I do.’ says the man. It`s a very small village (Richka) in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in SW Ukraine. The government has not paid any attention to the situation with the roads for years so the roads are getting worse. ‘The holes were so big that sometimes the vehicles got in to the holes like into a trap. It is widely understood that roads need to be repaired thoroughly including surface and foundation’.

Inspired by the barricades and protests at Maidan Square in Kiev, the inhabitants decided not to wait for the mercy of the bureaucrats and decided to do the necessary work themselves. They created a committee separate from the local village authorities and made a decision to collect money. For vehicle owners the share was 500 hryvnas ($30) and for the others without vehicles ‘as much as they could afford’. In such a manner, they were able to collect almost 10,000 hryvnas ($500) which paid for the materials and hauling.

‘Three hundred people have worked on the road construction on a voluntary basis and we’ve prepared everything for putting down asphalt. It is 7 km (3 miles) of road. We do not charge for our work – it was made with love! If there is a need for more money we will collect it because we really need this road!’

The 7 kilometers of road are covered with gravel now but in order to finish the construction they need seven million hryvnas more. The village inhabitants can`t afford it. But they are already happy even with what they have done. They calculated that the cost of the work would be paid off within one year due to the savings on fuel and spare parts.