Plan for the refurbishment of Rozdil Friends Home

Tom McEnaney with some of the residents at Rozdil

Rozdil Friends House is a centre for boys and young men with significant special needs in the Lviv Region in western Ukraine. It is currently home to 97 residents, aged between six and 36, including 20 who were relocated from the Zaphorizhia region when it was overrun by the Russians.

The centre is in a very bad state. It was in a poor condition before the war, largely through mismanagement and lack of investment, and is in even worse condition now. The overall building—a former Carmelite monetary that dates from 1648—is largely sound although some walls are obviously crumbling.

Effective Aid Ukraine has committed to refurbish the centre.

Some of the walls are crumbling

The dorms are in need of refurbishment. In the first instance this means new beds throughout. The director has asked for steel beds. Hotel beds were donated but were found not to last very long and are now used as furnishing throughout the orphanage.

Most of the dorms are for children and young men who would destroy anything placed there and so the ability to improve these is limited. We would like to put TV in the dorms for residents who are able to be trusted with equipment. We would also like to add one games consol.

The centre needs sofas throughout. It could accommodate about 20 to start.

The kitchen is the biggest priority in the centre. At present there is no cold room, no working industrial cookers, and no kitchen equipment. This means that pot to cook meals for all 97 residents are currently placed on domestic cookers, which completely unsuitable and which will wear out quickly. Potatoes have to been peeled by hand every day because there is no industrial potato peeler. The range of dishes which can be cooked is limited because the vegetable processor and the meat grinder do not work.

The only piece of working equipment in the kitchen, aside from the old domestic cookers, is a cheap domestic hand–held blender. Three is a vent over the three domestic cookers but it does not have, and never has had, an extractor fan.

There is no dishwasher and very little ancillary equipment such as few pots, few knives etc.

Kitchen equipment is either non-existent or inoperable
There is very little ancillary equipment such as pots

The laundry is also in a bad state. As with the kitchen, the lack of investment in equipment is obvious, with staff forced to use domestic washing machines to meet the laundry needs of its 97 residents. The original industrial equipment is still there, but broken with one industrial spinner rusted through. A roller is used as a shelf to store clothes being sorted.

The laundry equipment is inoperable with the some equipment, such as the spinner, rusted through.

There is a playground but the equipment is old, largely fallen into disrepair and that which remains is largely unsuited to the age and ability profile. Most of the younger children in the centre are wheelchair bound and so cannot use the equipment as it stands. The older boys and young men are too big for the two swings still in use.

There is a craft room, which is essential.

There are working showers but there can only be accessed from the dorms up four flights of stairs which makes it difficult to shower the boys and young men who are wheelchair bound.

The two remaining swings are too small for the boys and young men
Only a few boys at a time can fit in the small craft room

Our Plan

Our plan is to completely refurbish the centre. Priority will be given to a few large projects.

We intend to add the following equipment to the kitchen:

  • Two industrial gas cookers
  • A chill room
  • A dishwasher
  • A vent
  • A hand-held tap with basin
  • New stainless steel worktops and shelves
  • An industrial potato peeler
  • An industrial food processor
  • An industrial meat grinder
  • Assorted pots, pans, delph and cutlery
  • A chopping board system
  • Chef’s knives

And the following to the laundry

  • Two industrial washing machines
  • Two industrial dryers

We also intend to add a new playground including, over time, a wheelchair-accessible carousel. Ideally we would also like to add outdoor gym equipment.

We intend to construct on site a new building to house a small pool, with water-massage equipment, a craft room and a gym. The equipment for the gym has been sourced.

We intend to build a new greenhouse to replace one which has long been a ruin.

We hope to add a mini bus.

We hope to add 100 new beds.

We will bring six lying wheelchairs.