[Ukraine]Peace Winds has delivered school furniture and equipment to a school for children with special needs
Many Ukrainian schools find it difficult to procure and maintain adequate school equipment in the midst of Russian invasion. Peace Winds has delivered furniture and equipment to Pervomaisk School for children with special needs, at the request from the education ministry of Mikolaiiv oblast. The items we delivered include tables and chairs for the dining rooms and playrooms, clothes, washing machines, dryers, television, lockers, heaters for the underground shelter and so on. We hope these would help to improve the living and studying conditions for the students and pupils. This project has been made possible with donations from the employees of the Panasonic Group.
A total of 131 children including 44 children with disabilities, 9 refugees, and 16 orphans, study at this school. 47 of them live in the dormitory. The furniture and equipment at this school were old and repair work had not been available. The school staff told us that it is a very joyful experience for the children to have new furniture and appliances.
⚫️Safe round tables for children
Students, Kostya, Andriy, and Roman spoke of the new tables and chairs as “Very nice furnityre, bright and comfortable!” A school staff joyfully said, “The new round table has little risk of injuries. When selecting the items, the Peace Winds staff took the director’s wish to make the furniture safe and comfortable into account.”
new dining room
old dining room
students talking to Peace Winds staff
the playroom looks brighter with new table and chairs
⚫️washing machines and dryers
Laundry was a big task at the school because 47 children live in the dormitory. Alla and Galyna, in charge of the laundry, said with the new washing machines and dryers they can divide the clothes and linens in different color groups for washing in parallel and the process has been speeded up.
A new oven is installed in the school kitchen. Inna and Valentyna, the kitchen staff, look forward to cooking with the new oven.
⚫️heaters for the underground shelter
Peace Winds provided two heaters for the underground shelter. Mykola, the deputy director for housekeeping, said “the temperature in the shelter was 5-7 degrees before. It was too cold to stay for a long time. But thanks to the new heaters, the temperature in the shelter is 16-20, which is moderately comfortable.” During the monitoring visit, the air raid alert started in Mykolaiv region. All children and adults gathered in the shelter.
We delivered closets, lockers, and other things for the sleeping rooms in the dormitory.
Children are happy with the new furniture saying “the closet is convenient with the doors easy to open and the bench nearby is nice to change clothes.” One said since the lockers are colored, it is easy for them to identify their own storage. We were told that it is psychologically important for the children living collectively to have their own space where they can store their belongings.
Peace Winds continues to provide support for the Ukrainian people living under difficult circumstances.