Mykyta Horbatenko became an activist at the age of 15. While his peers were playing computer games and watching YouTube, he gathered his friends and created a public organization with the creative name “Magic Kick in the Pants”.
The boys and girls did cleanups – they cleaned the public places together and even won a grant for garbage cans and a sorting station installation in the city park. And after the start of a full-scale war and moving to another region, Mykyta was focused on helping the IDPs from his native Kreminna. Now he is doing things that not all adults are capable of.
From public activists to volunteers
Until February 24, our organization was engaged in eco-activism, and later in youth politics. We held events for the youth among students, implemented various programs, and even contributed to the creation of the Youth Council under Kreminna City Council.
After the start of a full-scale war, we began to think about what our organization should do and how to adapt to new circumstances. We learned that the city authorities were distributing humanitarian aid, so the very next day we started bringing young people together and distributing food to those who could not reach the City Council. Fifteen people came to volunteer, many of them were under 18 years old. In fact, this is a great power, and for me then it became an indicator that young people are ready to help people even in the face of danger.
Then we began collecting clothes, medicines and products for the displaced people who moved to Kreminna from towns and villages close to the front line in the first days. First aid training was also conducted. The military told us which items they needed, and we would deliver it to them the very next day.
All this was done until most of the youth left. When there were few of us left, we came one by one, unloaded humanitarian goods at the City Council, and later at the humanitarian headquarters, which opened in the building of Olympus sports center.
On April 2, I also left Kreminna, as it became too dangerous to stay in the city. Together with my mother and grandmother, we moved to Uman.
Uman sheltered us, and we help the city
It turned out that in Uman, besides me, there were many other IDPs from Kreminna. There were about eighty of them in the dormitory where I stayed. I realized that there will be a lot of work for me here too. I wrote to the Mayor of the city, Iryna Pletniova, and she referred me to a person who provided me with the necessary contacts for public activities and told me about the life of the city.
One day, the director of Sofiivka National Park in Uman asked to help with cleaning. Many employees went to the front, jobs were left behind, and the park could not afford hiring new people due to lack of funds. So, I decided that since Uman helped us with the shelter, we would help the city in every possible way. Thus, we gathered 25 people and started cleaning the park.
Humanitarian aid for IDPs from Kreminna
On April 18, I learned that Kreminna was temporarily occupied. My colleague and I contacted the Deputy Mayor of Kreminna and offered to create a volunteer center “Unity for Help”. We wanted to find regional coordinators from among the active people of our city, who would take care of all internally displaced persons. I became a coordinator in Cherkasy region, my colleague – in Vinnytsia, and then in Kyiv region. Later on, I created Telegram channels for each region, and thus we managed to find coordinators in twenty regions.
Together with Kreminna Military Civil Administration, I received support from Charity Foundation “Stabilization Support Services” for purchasing food stuff and hygiene products. Initially, I was going to help sixty-five IDPs living in a hostel in Uman. But later I realized that many IDPs in Cherkasy region villages do not receive humanitarian aid at all. So, I distributed these 65 packages among the residents of the region villages. We started creating lists of IDPs, conducting surveys about their needs, calling everyone and asking questions. In such a way, we put together certain concept of the project and submitted it to the Charity Foundation “Stabilization Support Services”.
I held negotiations with Silpo for two weeks for them to provide their contacts to pay for a wholesale consignment of products for IDPs. Nothing worked, so I approached a local entrepreneur. I was more fortunate this time: he was interested in the project and even made a discount when he found out that we were working with IDPs. We bought products, packed them together with my mother, took them to Nova Poshta and sent them to the recipients on the list.
Social work continues
Currently, I continue working with young people. Thus, in spring, I organized mental and social support group “Children of War” where five meetings were organized with the psychologist Vlada Shvets using certain mental health rehabilitation technique. We also actively participate in the events of “Together. Meeting point” project of Uman Labor and Social Protection Department. In fact, it is a youth hub.
In my opinion, the main driving force for the young people today is the desire to be a part of future-oriented activities. Cleanups, campaigns, quests are all great, but such activities improve life situationally and only for today and tomorrow. They do not have a long-term effect and the prospect of large-scale changes in the country. On the contrary, working on long-term projects, young people understand their value in the future and want to be involved in such activities. They want to be the agents of change.
The “Victory Dialogues” project, which we helped to implement on behalf of the Youth Council of Kreminna territorial community, is illustrative in this regard. We selected 15 people and elaborated projects together at different levels: from local to international. Many of the participants stated that it is necessary to create an IDP Youth Council, with youth talking about its needs. This is also an example of a long-term project aimed at activating young people in the regions.
We even created the NGO “Magic Kick in the Pants” so that young people didn’t just sit around. Many opportunities are now open to us: volunteering abroad, social projects, education and internships. Personally, I advise you to browse Prostir.ua every day, there are a lot of opportunities for young people.
Activism is an opportunity to do cool things
If you ask me in 2020 and now why I went into activism, there will be two different answers. Then it was something new for me, I wanted to be involved in at least some activity.
Today, I see for myself an opportunity to create something important for young people. For example, at the time we helped Kreminna City Council and the local library to win a grant of UAH 2 million for the creation of a youth hub. And as soon as the renovation of this room was finished, I realized: this will be my office, where I will be able to create new important projects. I hope that one day I can return to this office and work there for my country.