Park in place of a spontaneous dump: Dnepropetrovsk students of various nationalities and confessions organize subbotnik*

*in the local tradition, labor freely given to the state on days off or overtime. 

A large-scale action on dump removal and park area arrangements in a historic site of the city was held by Dnepropetrovsk youth on November 8, 2012. The action engaged more than 200 students from Dnepropetrovsk universities and members of youth organizations affiliated with national communities, including many volunteers from the Public Organization “Al-Muktakbal” incorporated in the All-Ukrainian Association of Public Organizations (AAPO) “Alraid”. One of them, a student from Jordan who wanted to keep incognito, was working with most steadfast volunteers till late at night. His zeal and diligence were highly appreciated by the organizing committee of the action.

The park was laid in place of a spontaneous dump nearby the stadium and educational buildings of Dnepropetrovsk National University. Volunteers and vehicles were cleaning the site from garbage and stones for three days. Unique trees and bushes have been planted on the dump place by now, which, according to staff of the University botanic garden, could never been seen elsewhere in Dnepropetrovsk.

According to the organizers, numbers of volunteers coming to the action exceed their expectations by twice. Students rushed to work once they learned from their friends about a chance of taking part in an initiative like this. Inappropriate dress could not hinder, as young ladies on heels engaged in cleaning the area and planting trees with no lesser zeal than the others. 

Trees and bushes planted in the new park were more than a hundred. They will be followed by benches that will be brought and put here soon. This action is rather the beginning, as it is unlikely to end up with cleaning and planting of trees. The dump’s future is seen by volunteers in very bright colors, because their plans involve building up an all-purpose student park in the dump place, which name will be devised by volunteers in an interactive contest. Pavilions, lighting and outdoor trainers are expected in the park as early as in the next year.

  

The initiative of this area improvement comes from university students and graduates. Apart from its being the student campus area, this area is known for its sad history, as nearly 14,000 people, mainly Jews, were shot dead here by German fascists on October 1941, during the II World War. The name of the gorge, Krasnopovstancheskaya (which can be translated from Russian as “the one named in memory of the uprising of the red”; “the red” refers to the Red Army; the Red Army is the name of the Soviet Army before the II World War), or Rasstrelnaya (derivative from rasstrel, translated from Russian as shooting, or execution by a firing squad) is related with this event. So, the organizers asked university administration and Jewish community for help.

  

As a result, the idea was supported by students from other universities and various national communities of Dnepropetrovsk. Germans, Greeks, Jews and Azeries were working neck to neck on one site. A Jordan student stood out, who was working together with most steadfast volunteers and got special gratitude from the organizers. Mrs. Svetlana Ivanova, dean of Dnepropetrovsk National University says: “It is incredible that a foreigner, a resident of other country, even the one who learns in another university, was working so enthusiastically on a dump site”.

Joint effort of students and public activists allowed for removing six trucks of garbage and planting more than a hundred of trees. The latter is a real challenge, as in the last decade this site was used for stocking city garbage and clinker, and the soil here is thickly strewn with stones. As digging with spades was impossible, a drill and a truck of black earth was needed. Volunteers were raking out bricks, fixture, plastic and glass bottles from the holes; after that they were leveling the soil and planting trees under the guidance of staff from botanic garden and according to the rules. This was followed by watering, requiring ten buckets of water per planted tree, and cleaning of the waste area from garbage and stones appearing this time due to digging of holes, garbage and stones.

Regional public administration gave vehicles to remove the garbage, bring water and black earth, whereas staff of the Ministry of Emergency Situations came with tea so that young men could get warm. It is true that the organizers refer this recovery action to as “golden” one for tax payers, as the only legal dump in the nearby territory where the garbage collected from the waste area could be brought is located 60 kilometers away from Dnepropetrovsk.

To activate youth effort for further improvements of the site, improved by students and for students, the organizers plan to implement the next phase of the project, to launch a series f student contests including ecological, landscape design and architectural ones. Because this gorge is an area with diversified landscape and unique flora, and it is significant for the sad historic events of the war years. All the conceived undertakings are incorporated in a large-scale program developed last year by a group of active student specialized in advertizing, for the All-Ukrainian contest “University Brand”.

Mrs. Anna Voronova, a student project participant, says: “For us, this project is a dream, and the central issue for us was about understanding the way of doing this project so that it should not be a fiction. Thanks to organizing support from public organizations and contribution from all the partners, our dream is coming true”.

Further development of the project will require resources. The chairman of the regional council, who joined the action and planted several trees, pledged support from power offices for similar undertakings in future. Also, creation of an ecological foundation is expected, to finance projects on improvement of similar areas and problem zones. Volunteer and material support is also expected from national communities that have actively joined the project.

The action offered a good example of the combined effort of people of various nationalities and cultures to solve the common objective. The organizers will continue following the principle of combining effort of various groups in implementing socially significant projects. By now the project team has started to plan the contests and call for partners for project implementation.