Playground Restoration Project (Phase 1)

The playground outside of our apartment

It has always been on our hearts to do something about the condition of the playground by our apartment. We have often cleaned up trash around it and tried to do some minor repairs, but we realized that it wasn't going to be enough. Vandalism and neglect have left the playground looking worn out and in some cases unsafe for the children who play there. During the summer, the playground is a hub for all the families with children and for all the grandmothers who like to sit on the benches and chat with each other.

This concrete horse slide is all that's left from the original Soviet playground that was replaced by the newer wooden structures.

Sadly, this is one of the better playgrounds in our neighborhood. Most are so badly neglected or stripped for scrap metal that they don't even resemble playgrounds anymore. These playgrounds are maintained by an area work crew, but unfortunately they do little more than pick up a few pieces of trash. We recently discovered that this playground has a concrete border around it with several paved paths, but they are all overgrown due to neglect. We were further saddened when some of the benches were vandalized leaving only a few for the older people and mothers to sit on. A few people did their best to try and repair what they could with some scrap wood, but it wasn't enough.

These wooden swings were meant to ride on bearings that have completely come apart making the swing unstable and dangerous for small children.

With the help of church members from Calvary Chapel Pryluky here in Ukraine, we are moving forward with a project to help restore the playground and fix some of the more dangerous pieces of equipment. We have been praying about this for awhile now and on March 1st, we began making the final plans and pricing the materials needed. It is our hope that our church here in Bila Tserkva (called "House of Mercy" in Ukrainian) will come together with the Pryluky members to not just fix up a playground, but truly show the Love of Christ in action.

According to some of our neighbors, this was once some kind of bridge for children to play on.

We are sure that when people see us working on the playground, they will begin to ask questions. The cost of this project will mostly be in labor and that labor will be freely given. We want them to know who we are and why we care so much about them. This will be a great opportunity for our neighbors to meet members of our church and to be invited to our home Bible study.

Several wooden rungs are missing on this structure.

Please pray that God will provide us with good weather so that we can complete the project as planned (from March 20th-23rd) and that he will provide enough hands for the labor and provide for the financing of the needed materials (about $250).

Most of the benches around the playground are in bad condition
like this one, leaving few options for the elderly.