Volunteering in Ukraine

Many young people volunteer in Ukraine, especially those who are 15-25 years old. People started volunteering in early 1990s. However, in 2003, volunteering was officially proclaimed in Ukraine at a governmental level.

Volunteering Today

A great number of volunteers, approximately twelve thousand people, participated in UEFA Euro-2012 event. It was a European Men’s Football Championship. Ukraine co-hosted this event together with Poland.

Volunteering camps are also very popular in Ukraine. They usually take place in summer. People from different parts of the country get together in a town or a village. They sleep in tents, churches, schools, dormitories, etc. and work on a certain project. For instance, due to volunteers, many parks were cleaned up, benches were repainted; and, the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv was put in good order.

In the town of Rivne, there is an organization called “Ecoclub” that mostly consists of volunteers who want to take care of the environment. They help with planting trees, bushes, or flowers in the town as well as in the nearby villages. On Saturdays, people get together and clean streets and the river Ustia that flows through the whole city. They call this campaign “Make Your Town Clean”.

People often volunteer in the Carpathian Mountains. There, they clean natural springs, which contain mineral water, and natural lakes. Volunteers also assist those who look for new trails in the mountains.

Volunteers also help at schools, lyceums, boarding schools, orphanages by changing old wooden windows, painting school chairs, desks, and walls. Very often, they organize various field trips for orphans or children who are diagnosed with Down syndrome disease.

People really enjoy volunteering in Ukraine.

Suggestions for teachers:
What volunteer organisations are there in your city?
Do you like to volunteer? Why? Why not?
What do you gain from volunteer work?
What personal qualities does a volunteer need to have?