Techno party amid the debris: In Ukraine, volunteers dance and rebuild the country

Published on: 08/15/2022 – 17:26 To the sound of loudspeakers echoing in the background, Ukrainian volunteers sweep, scrub and transport debris. Far from a classic techno party, these gatherings organized since July are a compromise between summer music festivals and efforts to rebuild Ukraine. Our Observer, one of the volunteers who organize the “cleanup raves” explains that it is a way to keep the volunteers motivated during the long process of rebuilding the country. “Repair Together”, the name of this project, was created by a group of friends who started to intervene in the devastated areas of the Chernihiv region. This city was the scene of Russian attacks between February and March. When Russian troops withdrew in early April, many homes and buildings had been destroyed by weeks of shelling. This group of young Ukrainians has therefore formed a somewhat special team of volunteers since July: they repair houses, clean bombed buildings and try to bring joy back to the Ukrainian people, while dancing to techno rhythms. Normally, if war had not broken out when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, these volunteers would be enjoying the many summer music festivals usually held across the country. Instead, they decided to mobilize to help with the cleanup effort in cities devastated by bombing and violence. They thus organize cleaning events, transporting volunteers from Kyiv to Chernihiv. After organizing several events to clean and rebuild buildings in the Chernihiv region, the volunteers of “Fix Together” organized a rave on July 23 in the city of Yahidne, attracting more than 200 volunteers. Many of them came from kyiv, but also from the United States, Germany and other countries, to help rebuild Ukraine. While a DJ played nearby, volunteers cleaned up the site of the cultural center of the city. “People who join us once to volunteer come back again and again, they never get tired”Tetiana Burianova is one of the creators of Repair Together. She explains how “cleanup raves” got started. The first time we did it was just for our friends, we didn’t even advertise it. Then we saw lots of locals joining us to clean up. They appreciated the atmosphere, the music and thanked us for the experience. Then we organized a second event for all our volunteers and many journalists also came. Cleaning-up Rave after of bombing of a cultural center in a small village in Ukraine. Young people want to help clean up, but with good music…. pic.twitter.com/f9NRlUVlRY— David (@noltetv) July 23, 2022 Parties, techno and raves were part of our life before. Now that’s impossible – and volunteering is our way of life. All we can do is help people in Ukraine and support each other. So we mix things we love with volunteering. We are constantly organizing concerts for residents and volunteers. We have stand-up shows as well as music. People who join us once to volunteer come back again and again, they never get tired. They want to do more because we are doing a good job together in a good atmosphere with good music. It’s inspiring for us and we love what we do. Videos from the event held last July show young people dancing to music and enjoying beer and food in the remains of the Yahidne Cultural Center, destroyed by Russian attacks. But amid the festivities, they’re also stacking bricks, shoveling rubble and removing debris. end of August. The group has organized eight clean-ups so far, allowing them to clear debris from 12 houses in the Chernihiv region. They hope to start rebuilding these houses soon. “All of Ukraine is united to help them and has not forgotten them” “The Kyiv region was under the spotlight during the war. But when the Russian troops left, we went to the Chernihiv region to see the situation and it was awful. People lost their homes, they had nowhere to live. And we wanted to help these people because it’s far from kyiv and cut off from everything, since all the bridges have been destroyed. Organizing these parties really helps the inhabitants. It may not be the kind of music they usually listen to, but it helps psychologically to know that all of Ukraine is united to help them and has not forgotten them. And of course, some grannies in the villages don’t like the music, but the young people like it very much.