Tired of waiting for government help, village takes matters into its own hands
s of this farming village just outside Kyiv. Then, last spring, a combination of United Nations aid and hard work began to turn the tide on DmytrivkaХs troubled past.
During the Soviet era, the village was largely supported by a prosperous collective farm that produced 1,800 tons of apples annually. The farm and the people who worked it have since fallen on hard times – partly because of the country’s general poverty, partly due to the economic problems that have affected all former collective farms, and partly because Dmytrivka, just 15 kilometers west of Kyiv, is considered to be in the Chernobyl zone.
The problems facing Dmytrivka are similar to those that afflict so many small Ukrainian towns: Water and power services are sometimes disrupted for long periods without warning or explanation, the quality of drinking water is poor, and the winter heat supply can be sporadic. And like so many villagers across the nation, Dmytrivka’s residents have grown tired of empty government promises to deliver aid and improvements.
The residents of Dmytrivka faced another setback when the government decided they were no longer entitled to the benefits allotted to Chernobyl victims.
This spring, the residents decided that if they wanted their situation to improve, they would have to help themselves.
” We got tired of waiting,” said Volodymyr Butyr, a local leader. “We realized that nobody was going to solve our problems for us.”
At about the same time, representatives of the United Nations Development Program arrived looking for villagers affected by the Chernobyl disaster who were willing to personally participate in the revival of their towns.
Today, funds provided by the UN’s Chernobyl program and local government, together with planning and labor contributed by the residents themselves, have resulted in the construction of four covered wells to provide safe drinking water for the community.
UN program assistant Elena Dobrorodneva said the village is seeing progress because residents knew what they needed, prioritized their needs and took a proactive stance.
Dmytrivka is one of seven villages in the Chernobyl zone receiving aid from the UN program.
Dobrodneva said that when UN officials initially canvassed the area asking residents of various affected villages what they needed, they regularly met people hoping for personal gain.
“We had different reactions from people,” Dobrorodneva said. “Some would tell us that everything was bad, but were unable to tell us what they needed. Others asked what they would personally gain from the project.”
Being branded Chernobyl victims has caused many who reside in the affected areas to expect aid.
“We call this a user’s attitude,” Dobrorodneva said.
When Dobrorodneva and regional coordinator Iryna Kharchenko visited Dmytrivka, the difference in attitude was immediately evident, she said. The head of the village council and the residents themselves were quick to develop a plan to improve the village’s infrastructure.
That plan was quickly put into action, with the local government contributing about 30 percent of the required funds for the projects and the UN 70 percent. The villagers, in addition to donating their labor, contributed Hr 1 per month to help fund the projects.
The cash contribution is symbolic, Dobrorodneva said, but “after they pay they begin to see the project as their own baby, and their attitude changes.”
Residents, especially those housed in dormitories and apartments, are establishing neighborhood nonprofit organizations to help identify projects, make plans and organize work.
Butyr said that residents are skeptical of government promises of assistance. Now, he said, the people meet to discuss problems and needs, and there is broad participation.
Most importantly, he said, “People are finally emerging from their general state of depression.”
Kharchenko said that one of the program’s most valuable contributions is its ability to wake up a community and encourage people to take a bigger role in their community’s development. One of the keys, she said, is to identify the leaders in a village.
“It is important to find charismatic people that the community can depend upon,” Kharchenko said.
