Sorokivka is a small village on the Rohanka River with 457 residents. Vilkhivka community, which includes the village, was occupied from the first day of the full-scale invasion. In April 2024, an S-300 missile struck the local shop.
No business in the community has resumed operating since liberation. It was here that the Sorokivka Parents’ Initiative decided to create a children’s playground.
1. How it happened
This was the initiative group’s first project. Members learned to plan stages, assign responsibilities and maintain documentation. AMI handled procurement and reporting. A supplier was selected based on previous cooperation, allowing the equipment, price and manufacturing schedule to be agreed before funding began.
The location was agreed with the local authorities in advance: the playground is to be installed near the community cultural centre.
2. Results
The playground was purchased, delivered and transferred into the municipal ownership of Vilkhivka Village Council. Installation was postponed because of winter weather and is planned as soon as temperatures rise.
The project will directly benefit 284 residents and 95 families, with a further 347 people benefiting indirectly.
3. Challenges and lessons
Logistics were difficult because of the village’s location and the inability to install equipment in winter. The team identified a lesson for future projects: allow more time for delivery and installation. Maintaining documentation throughout the project, rather than assembling it at the last minute, worked well.
The initiative group also learned that many Sorokivka residents associate grants with complicated obligations and the risk of making mistakes. Some decline to participate immediately, even when they have ideas. Changing this requires clear explanations and practical examples from similar villages, rather than more instructions.
4. Impact on the community
In a community where no business has resumed operating since liberation and people are focused primarily on survival, the playground sends a message: initiatives from this village are noticed. An idea receives resources, practical implementation and a visible result.
Parents gain a supervised space for children near the community cultural centre.
5. What the project leaves behind
Vilkhivka Village Council has taken responsibility for installing and maintaining the playground.
For the initiative group, this first experience showed that turning an idea into a result is possible without waiting for decisions from outside.
6. Who is making change happen?
The project was implemented by the NGO Agency for Local Initiatives, at residents’ initiative and with support from the local authorities. The small grants are implemented under the project “Strengthening Community Resilience through the Supporting Community Initiatives Approach”, with financial support from the Swiss humanitarian organisation HEKS/EPER, in coordination with the Alliance for Public Health.
