Boyarka Sanitation Project – Ukraine

Location
Boyarka, Cherkasska, Ukraine

Community Description
Boyarka is a small village about 200 km south of Kiev. It is in Cherkasska Oblast but about 5 km from the border of Kievska Oblast. (Oblasts are, for all intents and purposes, states.)

Boyarka currently has about 600 people. It used to be larger, but since the Soviet era, the area has fallen on hard times. Unemployment hovers near 50%, and the only way people survive is by relying on small government stipends supplemented by the food they raise on their own farms.

Many of the older, unemployed men in the village are troubled by alcoholism, which has a rippling effect on the children as well, who see their future as bleak.

With no prospects for improvement, people have stopped taking care of their environment, even though they live in a beautiful area.

Littering in the community compounds this problem. There is no trash collection system, so people regularly just drop trash on the side of the road, or throw it into already-started trash piles.

Waste of all type is scattered throughout the community, presenting a health hazard because of the pollution of the air and the contamination of the water.

Project Description
This project is to build up to 10 trash receptacles as needed in order to fight the growing littering and trash problem in the community. The containers will then be placed strategically throughout the village.

Project funds will be used to purchase materials to build the containers in the schools shop class. The design has been prepared, and construction can begin at once.

An education campaign will accompany the project. It will include information about the proper management of solid waste in the community.

The children will be involved by making fliers to post around the village and spreading the word about the project.

The children will set up a volunteer schedule, to be organized and monitored by the student council, for weekly collection of the trash and proper disposal at the nearest dump, located about 1.5 km outside the village.

Transportation of construction materials by car and/or tractor will be provided by the school’s director.

Project Impact
All 600 people in the village will benefit from the project. Included in this number are 20 student council members, who will be in charge of the campaign, and 70 kids in school who will receive sanitation training.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Jeremy Borovitz

Comments
The project will decrease trash and make the village more beautiful. It will also teach the kids how to take ownership of their community and their futures.

This is a demonstration project in that the successes will be replicated in neighboring villages in the region.

The project uses appropriate technology, locally-available materials, and school and community participation and labor. It will have an immediate impact on the health and well-being of the students and the community as a whole.

Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00

Donations Collected to Date
$500.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has now been fully funded, through the generosity the friends and family of Jeremy Borovitz.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Jeremy Borovitz of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Jeremy and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Ukraine.

This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.