Vasyl returned from the hospital to his hometown Rava-Ruska in the Zhovkva district last March. He lost his left leg during the period of service in the ATO zone and had problems with mobility after that – some parts of the body didn’t work properly. Also, in March, Vasyl began to go to the swimming pool of the Akvarel hotel complex located in Zhovkva on the recommendation of his friend. “I come three times a week,” Vasyl says. “I rehabilitated my arm thanks to the swimming pool. Previously I had to use the left arm to be able to make something with the right one, now everything is all right.”
The ATO soldiers can go to the swimming pool free of charge. This project is done by the Zhovkva charity foundation “Pravo Hromady” together with the Akvarel hotel. The idea occurred on New Year holidays and it belongs to Pavlo, the Crimean man who came to Zhovkva from Crimea and has been living in the Akvarel hotel for two weeks. The pool just started working and Pavlo addressed his idea to the foundation. At that moment, the foundation was involved into another project also related to the ATO – they delivered gifts to the children of soldiers. “It was easier to launch the pool project, because we already had the soldiers’ phone number database after the action of gifts for children,” the foundation director Nazar says.
The hotel owner calculated that the cost price of one visit to the swimming pool is about 35 hryvnyas. The sponsors of the project are, first of all, the businessmen and then ordinary citizens. “We got the money transferred from Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Stryi. Probably, these people have never been in Zhovkva, but they like this project and they fund it,” Nazar says. In total, 700 hryvnyas were collected from citizens. In addition, people visiting the pool also leave money directly at the reception desk – “for themselves and for that guy”. There is a stand showing the number of paid visits at the entrance to the pool. “When we get money – we add them immediately. When the soldiers come and use the service – we subtract the required number right away,” the hotel manage Oleg says. According to the soldiers who go to the swimming pool, paid visits are always available.
As Nazar explained, there are altogether about 125 soldiers in Zhovkva. There are at least 250 soldiers in the district. But only 11 of them go to the pool – someone does it constantly, while others visited a couple of time. With the purpose of disseminating the information about the project, the foundation held a photo contest to create the posters. The winning photo was the one picturing the combat boots with the swimming pool in the background. The soldier Dmytro learned about the project having seen this poster. He comes here starting from early May and says that there was a lack of such initiatives, it’s great that they exist now.
It is not the first time when the hotel helps the benefit-entitled citizens – internally displaced persons from the East have lived in the Akvarel hotel for more than six months. However, it is the first project for soldiers in Zhovkva. But it is not the last one. The similar action was launched in the fitness center two weeks ago. The owner addressed the foundation, having heard about the free swimming pool, and offered to include his fitness center into the project. In answer to the question about whether the Zhovkva city council works in this direction, Nazar says that it doesn’t have resources: “The staff consists of 10 people. They are engaged mainly in the paperwork. They don’t interfere and this is a good job too.”
The foundation published regular project progress reports on its Facebook page. When a soldier comes to the pool for the first time, he fills up a form indicating his name, age and place of service. Then this information is published in the Internet, so the community can see who exactly use the service. “We are working on trust. There were no swindlers yet, no strangers here,” Oleg says.
“We want to improve the environment we live in, improve our city and help the citizens. Many people come to us, but it’s not enough to give an idea. Go and do! 80% of people go away after these words,” Nazar says.
The swimming pool is open from 7:00 to 22:00 every day. Soldiers from any city can take advantage of the service free of charge. You can support the project by transferring the money to the PrivatBank account #5169 3305 0406 9326 (you should indicate “For the program “Free swimming pool for ATO soldiers” in the payment details).
Liza Sivec for “Pod pricelom”
