Growing community garden and spirit in Kyiv
Residents of the city’s Podil district uniting
I am here in central Kyiv at an urban garden made by locals on wasteland said to be rented by the Russian embassy. The pop up garden, which has been dedicated to Europe Day, is an initiative of a community of neighbours who want to show change is possible with minimal resources.
Olha Zakrevska, event organiser: “I really believe in our project, this community garden, because it helps us to know each other better and communicate. It is a very big problem in Ukraine that people are not speaking with each other. This garden will show that we can speak and even work together.”
Oleskiy Pedosenko, Podil resident: “It is very important for people, who want to change something on a country scale, on a bigger scale, to make some changes on smaller scale, in their neighbourhoods, in the city. That’s why we need this place to get together, to get connected, to know each other to discuss some ideas, to spend some time together.”
Marina Slobodyanuk, event organiser: “By doing this we want to bring European values to our city, to this specific district, and to show that we are all Europeans, and all together we can make good things”.
Despite more than a year of war, it appears Ukrainian citizens are ready to take every opportunity to stand together for their country and its strive to the European Union, and understand in these challenging times it is more important than ever to show their support for Ukraine.
I am Sam Kearley, in Kyiv for Ukraine Today.