In Velyka Dobron, people turned their village into “paved Europe” (PHOTO)

The information about Velyka Dobron village in Uzhgorod district is being shared on Facebook. Actually, not just about the village, but about the way its residents organized themselves and paved almost all the streets. And also arranged sidewalks, drainage canals, flower beds.

"It will be just like in Europe!" – the locals say. 

The idea to fix up the village with their own hands was suggested by a local businessman Josef Rati. First, they founded the NGO "Regional Development of Velyka Dobron". Then, they secured the consent and support of the village council, and partialy the financing was provided from Hungary.   

The chairman of the NGO Ferenc Nagy said that residents of the village were waiting for a long time for the central regional government to repair the road. Because the traffic there is rather heavy.

"But they never did it. So, through the intermediary of Jozsef Rati, we contacted the Hungarian foundation "Support for small towns," who agreed to provide financial support under certain conditions. But that money was enough only to purchase some materials. The rest – equipment, workers – we had to secure ourselves," – Mr. Ferenc said.

At first, about 30 villagers joined the project and repaired the first street. In addition to new asphalt, they also thoroughly cleaned drainage ditches, concreted sidewalks. It took 8 work days.

Seeing the result, much more people have volunteered – everybody wanted their streets to look the same. Therefore, three more applications were submitted and the works started on those streets too.

Currently, you can see on the site what the funds were used for, how long it took, how many people were involved, etc.

"We hope that residents of other settlements will support our initiative and are willing to share the experience. We are also ready for inspections by state organizations – they can come and check the quality of our work. I think we can rightly be proud of the efficient way we used the resources and finances that were at our disposal", – the chairman of the NGO said.