The Podolian Agency for Regional Development is proposing to develop an Open Air Museum of Folk Architecture and Customs in the Village of Severynivka and I am pleased to prepare drawings for this ambitious project as part of my service with the United States Peace Corps in Ukraine. The Village of Severynivka is unique with respect to its geographic and historical parameters. The village is situated on hillsides with beautiful landscapes and vast panoramic views.

Village history includes significant references to Polish Count Severin Orlovskiy, whose palace still exists, now being used as a specialty hospital. A close by gardener’s cottage and greenhouse, built in 1812, is associated with prolific Irish landscape architect Denis McClair (Dionisiy Makler), who worked on “many miracles of park art” in the Podolian Region. McClair had designed the gardens, now called Severinovske State Park in Severynivka, for Count Orlovskiy.  The Podolian Region’s history includes important folk architecture rich in the traditions of wood construction using techniques significantly different than today’s modern building technologies. It is important to present the Podolian region folk construction customs in the Severynivka setting as a documentation and laboratory of study for all to learn from and pass on to future generations to understand, appreciate and enjoy. While a goal is to preserve this heritage and highlight the region’s unique architecture, the project also seeks to increase tourism and employment for Severynivka residents.

THE CONCEPT PLAN The plan is presented in three phases. The first phase is to be implemented on the east side of the existing water features, encompassing approximately 2.4 hectares. The second phase will transcend the water features by a footbridge, further incorporating additional area into the open air museum territory. The third phase will allow unlimited growth of the territory.

The Concept Plan for the Open Air Museum of Folk Architecture and the Customs of the Podolian Region shows a reconstructred church, the ultimate in Ukrainian wooden architecture and a focal point of public life in the village. Also shown is a traditional windmill, a most ingenious engineering invention, exemplary in its example for today’s energy sustainability. The plan also allows for future incorporation of a water mill along an adjacent stream connecting small lakes. Several small houses are to be included, highlighting a potter’s estate to present this important traditional craft. A two chamber house and a three chamber house will also be presented to allow for a comparison study of village life.

Severynivka has a wonderfully rich foundation involving presentations of folk and traditional crafts. The development of the Open Air Museum of Folk Architecture and Customs of the Podolian Region will enhance these presentations of folk culture displayed through festivals and classes of traditional crafts. Through the Museum and, with the enthusiastic involvement of its citizens, Severynivka will enhance its leadership role in the documentation and presentation of the important history of the Podolian Region.

During the Crimean War, Dr. Pirogov introduced his method of anaesthetics and helped save many lives. He invented many surgical tools still in use today along with introducing the world to the plaster cast for setting broken bones.

At Vyshnya, in 1866, he opened a free hospital and built his house and a dispensary.    The estate was opened as a museum in 1947. At the museum, being a former army medic myself, I was particularly interested to know that Dr. Pirogov was the first to put into action the sorting of the wounded and the sick on the battlefield. In the United States Army we call this method of sorting a “triage”.

Less than two kilometers away from Vyshnya is a small chapel which his wife built in Dr. Pirogov’s honor. Embalmed by a method he invented, Dr. Pirogov’s body is on display in the crypt surrounded by metal wreaths which were laid on his coffin on the day of his funeral. (sorry, no photos allowed)

A medical university in Vinnytsya, as well as universities in Odessa and Moscow, along with many educational and scientific institutions are named for Dr. Pirogov. Ahh, I feel better after my visit to the doctor!

ПРИВЕТ!

WARNING: THIS BLOG ENTRY HAS GRAPHIC ARCHITECTURAL IMAGES! …taken as part of my “research” at Pirogova, near Kyiv, the Museum of Folk Architecture and Customs of Ukraine. Do not view this material if architecture bores you!
The young ladies shown are (l to r) Katia, a folklorist and singer who is working as a consultant with the Podolian Agency for Regional Development (PARD) on the project to develop an “open-air” museum in the village of Severynivka, focusing on Podillian regional architecture, Olena, my work counterpart, interpreter and language tutor at PARD and Nastia, an architecture student from Kyiv National University, who is my intern for the summer. Occasionally these ladies are used in the photographs to provide a sense of scale to the architecture (really!). No Ukrainians were harmed in the making of these pictures.

If you wish to learn more about the open-air architecture museum at Pirogovo near Kyiv, go to pirogovo.com.ua to look at the pictures (if you are not a Ukrainian speaker) or ua traveling.com/pirogovo. Thanks for interest in the beauty of Ukraine’s historic wooden architecture.

Reporting from the village of Pirogova, Ukraine,

До свидания!

Майк  

is a golden opportunity for me to make a difference in the advocacy of Ukrainian cultural importance to the future of this only twenty year old nation which is steeped in history.
Next week I will be visiting the Porogova Village of Folk Architecture and Customs of Ukraine (near Kyiv) to study restored wooden buildings (over 300 there!) to help my understanding for the development of the museum in the village of Severynivka. Hope the day is good for the photojournalist in me!
Later, reporting from Vinnytsya, Ukraine
Майк
ps: I get a beautiful view of Gorky Park a couple times each day from my tram ride   to the office of the Podolian Agency for Regional Development. It stretches for quite a distance along the route and is a great distraction on the ride, even if the accordian player begging for a few “griven” is on that particular tram – a serious European experience! Of course, the other distraction here in Ukraine is the wonderful efforts by the young women to be fashion statements…    Oh, by the way, (got distracted!) the electric tramway system started operations here in 1913. The present trams were produced in the Czech Republic. In 2007 the city of Zurich, Switzerland, donated the currently used trams to Vinnytsya.  Historic 1913 tram

Майк and Grygoriy Artynov, two architects in Vinnytsia

A project I am starting to work on is near the village of Severynivka which is located 15 km from the regional center city of Zhmerynka, a region which traces its history to the Middle Ages, reaching back to an age of the Trypillian civilization. In 1435 the region was annexed by Poland and, for 300 years, say historians, the area suffered “times of merciless oppression and serfdom.”
Among the tragic events in recent history was the Communist induced Great Famine (1932-33) and the Stalin repressions. On July 17, 1941, Nazi troops began occupation of the area and killed many of its inhabitants. The Nazis established prisoner camps where more than twelve thousand people were killed. (see attached photo of a Soviet fighter jet monument just outside my door celebrating the end of Nazi occupation and the liberation of the city of Vinnytsia)
My assignment in the Peace Corps is to assist the Podolian Agency for Regional Development. This past week the organization was awarded a contract to develop an open-air architecture museum (living history center) near Severynivka. Work begins this week. The timing and the project are perfect for me starting with the beginning phase. I’m sure I will be reporting more as the project unfolds in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I have been busy developing playground designs and creating plans for wood climbing sculptures for kids to be placed in village parks in the Podolian region. It has been fun, along with settling into my apartment (more of a challenge). I’m in a typical Soviet era precast concrete structure, probably built in the early 1960′s Cold War times. I shouldn’t complain about the plumbing problems since this is, after all, the Peace Corps and I took an oath on June 16th “to serve under conditions of hardship, if necessary”. With the apartment problems resolved I can now relax in my new home on Cosmonaut Boulevard, just steps away from the tram stop for my trips to the office in beautiful downtown Vinnytsia and to the parks, theaters, museums and other amenities Vinnytsia has to offer.
The toughest question I am aked here, where few Americans tread, is why I would leave America to come to Ukraine. I honestly don’t have a clear answer yet but I believe I will have it in two years when I return to my home in St. Charles, Illinois. Maybe I will have been able to give just one person hope despite a tragic history and make a difference in someone’s life here to show them that America cares and to show them that hard work and reaching goals can, in fact, benefit them and their families…and the struggle for this fledgling twenty year young nation with a long history will have a worthwhile future. Today, on July 4, a fellow Agency staffer gave me best wishes for me and my country. I told him I think we’re both doing well.

Mike, reporting from Vinnytsia, Ukraine

The Podolian Agency for Regional Development office is in this government building in downtown Vinnytsia

До свидания,

Майк

Chernihiv is described as a city “forgotten by time”. It is situated on the banks of the Desna River, 141 kilometers north of Kyiv. It has a population of just over 300,000. Chernihiv is actually older than the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. It dates to the year 907 AD.

Chernihiv is famous for its churches, particularly those erected during the 11th and 12th centuries. The most notable of these is the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior, where I attend services every Sunday. It was built in 1017.

A visit to Chernihiv would not be complete without a visit to Red Square and a visit to the Drama Theater there.  I have enjoyed several performances at the Drama Theater during my time here, including a wonderful celebration of the 20th Anniversary of independance from the Soviet Union. The Red Square itself is worth the trip and is a few steps away from one of Chernihiv’s most spectacular parks with a great view of the Ally of Heros and its water fountains that lead to the golden domed St. Catherine’s Church. The wonderful combination of unique architectural monuments from the past, combined with newer, modern buildings, lend a special charm to the city that makes it a national treasure for Ukraine.

Later, from Ukraine,

Mike

Later,

Mike

A quarter of a century ago, people here in Chernihiv had no clue that a most disastrous event had happened only 40 miles west in the village of Chernobyl (about the same distance from St. Charles, Illinois to Chicago). People were unaware that every breath of fresh spring air contained harmful radiation. It was a sunny day and the sky was blue. The explosion at the nuclear plant in Chernobyl was not known to the people in Chernihiv for over a week. The deadly accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986, released huge amounts of dangerous radiation into the air, contaminating millions and leading to the relocation of more than 300,000 people. Thousands of children were born with birth defects or complications such as genetic cardiac disease and scientists expect that thousands more could still die from radiation induced cancer. Chernobyl is still surrounded by a 18 mile exclusion zone where people are forbidden to live. Transparency was not on the agenda in Soviet-era Ukraine when the Chernobyl disaster struck. Information was not available as the government in Moscow was more concerned with protecting its reputation rather than its citizens. In the early days after the explosion, the authorities did their utmost to cover up the immensity of the disaster. The lack of information lead to an intense paranoia here in Chernihiv and even in the city of Kyiv, 60 miles to the south. People here relied on foreign media to find out about the event. High levels of radiation where detected in Sweden.
Meanwhile, rumors circulated about the best ways to deal with radiation contamination. Parents would slip iodine into their children’s food as a treatment but that proved to be largely inefective. People were drinking red wine believing that it was cleaning the system because they heard that Soviet submarine sailors were given red wine as part of their daily diet to clean their systems of radiation. Unfortunately, some people took this further and decided that any alcohol could do the job of radiation cleansing. The authorities eventually aired television segments which pronounced that small doses of radiation were actually beneficial to health!
People sent their children off on trains with notes that said here is the name of my child, please take care of him. It was a sad time in Soviet Ukraine and how the Chernobyl event was handled was one of the factors which lead to independence in 1991.

Greetings from Chernihiv
It is with grateful excitement that the Peace Corps in Chernihiv has been invited by the Mayor to a special presentation on Friday afternoon at the Chernihiv Academic Ukrainian Theatre of Music and Drama (in photo attached with horse rider in Red Square) to celebrate the twentienth anniversary of the independence of Ukraine from the former Soviet Union. We are to receive a special letter of invitation from the Mayor. Looks like this is a big deal. It is scheduled to last for 2 1/2 hours. I’d better wear my best tie for that event! It will be a priviledge to attend.
Otherwise, today was a grueling 3 1/2 hours of regular Russian classes, a half hour of technical language training (for example: У меня есть работы в архитектуре, и дизайне строительных проектов…yikeski!) and 1 1/2 hours of one on one tutoring from Natasha (my brain is going to взрывать!).
Today, also, our class of 5 spent an hour at the bazaar buying stuff for stuffed cabbage rolls we will make tomorrow – a cultural training and language exercise (think survival!). The carcasses in the meat market were очень интересный! (very interesting!) and the skinned rabbits still had their furry little feet (not so lucky rabbit’s feet!)
The shopping list and menu:
     cabbage, of course
     rice
     tomato sauce
     ground meat
     onions
     black pepper
     carrots
     potatoes
     eggs
     and sour cream, of course!
Everything we needed cost about 98 hryvnya, 87 kopecks (or about $12.25 total for a meal for 5 of us!)
O.K., so now I need to have dinner and then study more Russian. Tetyana’s kitchen is calling with yet another great Ukrainian meal.

До свидания,
Майк

For now, Russian language lessons with cultural and technical training fill the days.

Пока!

Mike

“Kyiv” is the correct spelling for the city often spelled “Kiev” in America. According to a “Resolution of the Ukrainian Commission for legal terminology, No. 5, Protocal no. 1 of October 14, 1995″ and on the basis fo expert analysis by the Ukkrainian Language Institute regarding the Rjoman letter correspondence to the language geographic name of Kiev…”Kyiv” is adopted as official, corresponding to the Ukrainian name Київ.

Staging is a pre-departure orientation which is to be brief yet comprehensive and intense. It will be the start of a whole new world to be played out in the next twenty-seven months in the United States Peace Corps.

Stay tuned…

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Александр Солженйцын

Mike Dixon

Peace Corps Community Developer/Ukraine 2011-2013

до свидания!

майк

Ukrainian flag

Location of Ukraine in Eastern Europe

Greetings from Mike Dixon as I prepare to embark on a twenty-seven month journey in Ukraine as an architect and Community Developer for the United States Peace Corps. Ukraine lies in Eastern Europe at a strategic crossroads between Europe and Asia. It borders the Black Sea on the south and is between the countries of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova on the west, Belarus on the north and Russia on the east. I look forward to “seeing Russia from my back door!” As a comparison in size, it is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Texas. Ukraine received independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR. The Peace Corps has had a presence in Ukraine since 1992.

Check back for more information about Ukraine and the Peace Corps as I prepare for departure in March of 2011, the 50th Anniversary year of the Peace Corps!

до свидания,
майк