Pokrovskoye, Russia - On October 23, another in the series of volunteer initiatives in the Urals, "City Supports Village: Pokrovskoye," took place. Multilateral cooperation, volunteer service, cultural programs, and interaction among the generations are main features of the initiative; all these elements were present that Saturday.
At request of the local Orthodox priest, Father Dionisy, the volunteers helped with chopping and stacking firewood. Not all the inhabitants of the village are religious or are Orthodox Christians, but Father Dionisy cares for the spiritual well-being of all the villagers, regardless of their views and religion. Apart from official religious services, he organizes various programs for children and teenagers from socially at-risk groups. Therefore, helping him was a significant way of serving the community.
Among the volunteers were representatives of Yekaterinburg's Cossacks Society, UPF-Ural chapter volunteers, and a citizen of Iran who came to join his wife in Yekaterinburg. Schoolchildren of the 9th form also worked with us, together with their wonderful teacher.
After work and during lunch, which was prepared by loving hands of local women, the participants discussed interesting and important issues. After lunch there was a competition to see who knows the most about the history of the village. A famous expert of local history and students of the local school related interesting facts and discussed places of interest of their village.
The event made children and teenagers feel like important participants in their society, with equal rights as adults. In addition, they learned numerous new facts about their native place. This is very important, because misunderstandings and lack of information could lead to pursuing false ideals. Furthermore, the schoolchildren showed themselves to be excellent guides and experts in local history!