Restores the village after the occupation and dreams of making it the best place to live. The story of Maksym Babenka from the border region of Chernihiv Oblast
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Maksym Babenko, 11th grade student in the village of Tupychiv, Chernihiv region. He survived the occupation of the village and is actively involved in the improvement of his settlement. In particular, he and his friends built a recreation center near the local lake “Kovalivske” on their own.
The boy is interested in psychology and dreams of being useful to society.
Maksym tells about his experience of improving life in a small village and whether it is possible to do it yourself in the special project of UP “Generation of Victory” dedicated to children from the de-occupied territories.
The project was initiated by the GoGlobal educational foundation, which generates, pilots and scales projects for teachers, schoolchildren and young people.
| Maksym Babenko, 11th grade student. Photo: Sasha Maslov |
Tupychiv is a small neat village in the Chernihiv region.
Now about 1,500 people live here, there is a school, shops, a distillery, a forest, a river and everything necessary for life.
This is where Maxim was born 16 years ago. For as long as he can remember, he has always admired his native land: nature, forests, and fellow villagers.
Maksym Babenko dreams of making his village the best place to live.
At the age of 16, he already started moving in this direction: cooperating with the community and the local distillery, helping older people.
Until the last two years, Maxim led the life of an ordinary teenager – until the moment when Russian troops did not come to his native village.
“I was one of those who, until February 24, did not believe that a full-scale war would begin, – says Maksym, – a couple of days before that, I was at a birthday party, my friends and I celebrated, talked and made plans for the future. And then on the morning of the 24th, my mother woke me up and told me that the war had started… I looked out the window and saw tanks driving through the streets of my native village…”
About the occupation of Tupychev
“At first, the enemy troops just passed by and set up a checkpoint near our village. But then, when the fighting for Vyshneve began, the occupiers had already entered Tupychiv. A real armored personnel carrier was buried in front of my house – it looked like in a fantastic movie.”– shares the young man.
He recalls that life was difficult: without electricity, communication, the Internet…
“I tried to distract myself and even started collecting birch sap – to switch thoughts and tension. Of course, we all tried to help our own.
For example, my friends and I had a closed group where we posted information about the movement of enemy equipment. Then this information was passed on by our parents and older people. In this way, there were several “arrivals” in the equipment of the occupiers. – the boy recalls.
After the deoccupation
One day in the spring of 2022, the residents of the village of Tupychiv woke up and realized that the occupiers were leaving, and Ukrainian flags fluttered before their eyes.
“We celebrated de-occupation for a week! – recalls Maksym – I was not so happy even for my own birthday! Immediately it became somehow easier to breathe, I wanted to do even more for my people and community!”
Ma channeled this inspiration into his new project with the tentative name “Beach”.
“Beach” project
“Many people from my village go to the lake to relax. But this area has always been neglected and littered. I thought – what, we can’t fix this situation on our own?
Of course, we can! He discussed his initiative with friends and fellow villagers and began to act.
The distillery helped with some of the work, but we did a lot of things – for example, painting the dressing room – ourselves with friends!” – shares the boy.
Together with his friends, Maksym cleaned the beach area of garbage, uprooted unnecessary roots and beautified the area. I really wanted to do something for people and the community. After all, after the deoccupation, there was a feeling that a lot actually depends on you!
Life is now
Maxim goes to high school in the village of Tupychiv.
This school has a problem – there is not enough space in the shelter, so the students cannot study in the normal mode.
“Now we go to school one by one, – says Maksym, – after all, according to the safety rules, we have to go down to the shelter after the alarm signal. But there is not enough space for everyone in our shelter.”
Maksym has already thought of initiating a project to build a shelter, but he has no idea where to get so much money. Now he is focused on his studies, dreams of entering a university and mastering the profession of a psychologist. Or go into the IT field.
The young man does not abandon the idea of building a shelter. His dream is that all students of the school can attend classes together.
The #ПоколенияПеремогы project was created in video, photo and text format. The photo exhibition can be seen in the center of Kyiv (Gulliver shopping center, 2nd floor).
Famous photographer Sasha Maslov worked on photo stories of teenagers, whose works are regularly published by publications such as The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Newyorker, Guardian, Wall Street Journal Magazine and others. His lens captured not only touching moments, but also the power that pulsates in the heart of every child talent
Text: Yana Altukhova
#ПоколеннияПеремогы
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