Victoria could not hold back her tears. In the very center of Lutsk, on the square near Lubart’s castle, Andriy was kneeling in front of her and holding out a bouquet of red roses that had the same tone of the embroidered pattern on her white linen dress. And although she has been married to him for a long time and they have three children growing up, until now she has never had such romance in her life.
This was the first location for the thematic filming of the project “Opportunity to fly on the ground” of a serviceman of Alexander Pokryshkin Sevastopol Tactical Aviation Brigade of Air Command “West” Andrew and his family. Then the shooting continued in the Museum of Agriculture History of Volyn near Lutsk, where the family first entered an old village house and felt the atmosphere in which our ancestors lived. They returned home tired, but incredibly happy, enriched with vivid impressions. Parents and children did not even take off the embroidered shirts, which were presented to them in memory of this day by the company “Edelvika”, which specializes in the manufacture of natural fabrics and tailoring with Ukrainian ethnic motifs. So they got in their car, and then entered their apartment building – proudly, majestically, like real hosts. As if they felt the wings behind their backs.
The Ukrainian ethnobrand “Edelvika”, the trade union organization of the state enterprise Lutsk Repair Plant “Motor” and the Agency of Strategic Solutions ShiStrategies created positive stress for the families of employees of Pokryshkin Sevastopol Tactical Aviation Brigade and their partners from the aviation plant by organizing thematic photo shoots for them. The location of the shooting is connected with the life and work of Lesya Ukrainka, whose 150th birthday we will celebrate the next year. The plots at most reflected the spirit and essence of the work of the outstanding poetess.
“During the shooting, our participants traveled to the dear and important places for Lesya Ukrainka and joined the spiritual,” says the author and head of the unusual project “Opportunity to fly on the ground”, a partner of the Agency of Strategic Solutions ShiStrategies, Natalia Kononovich. “During the shooting, people torn from their usual social environment, from strict discipline and public order, simply changed before our eyes. They became more relaxed, used to styles, deepened into history and literature. And they still continue to experience the received emotions, discussing in families, work teams and social networks the events that took place, and they show the pictures. They invite their colleagues and friends to travel the roads of Lesya Ukrainka. Participation in the project added light and diversity to their lives, encouraged them. Without exaggeration, they were given wings on the ground. And they called it positive stress.
The project is aimed at social adaptation of servicemen withdrawn from the Crimea in 2014 and establishing their interaction with workers of the Lutsk repair plant “Motor”, who work for the needs of military aviation.
“For the plant staff, cooperation with military pilots is a part of the production cycle,” says the director of the plant “Motor” Vladimir Marakulin. “I am convinced that the psychological mood for the army is no less important than the technical condition of combat vehicles. I am sure that eventually, the participants will evaluate this project even higher. I think this is more than a good memory.
And it turned out that the thing that united people the most was… an embroidered shirt from the “Edelvika” company. This is the only production enterprise that received the right from the Volyn Museum of Regional Studies to use the collection of embroidery patterns, which was collected by Lesya Ukrainka’s mother, the writer Olena Pchilka (Olha Kosach).
Preparation for the shooting always began with the selection of national costumes.
“We selected national clothes from the current collections in a single style, in accordance with the plot of the shooting, selected images, that is individually for each family,” says the chairman of the board of PJSC “Edelvika” Yuri Perekhodko. “And it looked very harmonious. But we did not choose the images for the participants, but the embroidered shirts found and changed them. Because the embroidered shirt inspires and adorns not only a body, but, first of all, a soul. So, unique photos have appeared, where we see courageous defenders of the sky and aircraft repairmen with their families in branded national elegant clothing against the background of beautiful Polissya landscapes.
“It is very good that there is an alternative to the trampled route ‘work – home.’ Due to our participation in the project, we received invaluable moral support and a way to distract ourselves. It is unforgettable, it is a memory for a lifetime,” the serviceman Maxim, who has been in the Armed Forces of Ukraine already for twenty years, has overflowing emotions.
All the heroes of the photos for the project team became friends. Special relationships developed with the family of serviceman Roman and Alla. During the shooting at the Kosach family house in Kolodyazhne, where Lesya Ukrainka Literary Memorial Museum is located, the woman was in the last weeks of her pregnancy. Everyone admired the fit of the future mother’s embroidered shirt in blue colors. In memory of the cooperation, the ethno-brand “Edelvika” presented the family with a Baptism blanket for a baby.
“Your products work wonders,” Alla said back then. “The family look is amazing. In this dress I feel like a real lady. We hope to come soon to choose an embroidered shirt for the baby.”
Almost everyone – both military men and aviators – say that participation in the social project prompted them to reread the works of Lesya Ukrainka. The participants of the project even had the idea to create a fund for the revival of historical monuments associated with the name of the famous writer. In particular, the Kosach family estate in Novohrad-Volynskyi, the literary and memorial museum of the writer in Kolodyazhne…
The project “Opportunity to fly on the ground” has a great social demand: in a few days, each story about the next series of shootings gained half a million views on social networks. All those involved in the unique project were united by Lesya Ukrainka and the beauty. The project is realized by joint efforts of business, the state enterprise and the army. And it works better than any patriotic slogans.
Hanna Volkova.
