Volunteers in Ukraine Reuse Wreckage to Rebuild Homes

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Volunteers in Ukraine Reuse Wreckage¹ to Rebuild Homes

Teams of volunteers in Ukraine are helping² to rebuild homes damaged during the Russian invasion that started in February.

Shelling from artillery³, aerial bombardment, and machine-gun fire wrecked⁴ many homes and buildings. But volunteers in some areas are using material taken from destroyed homes to rebuild ones needing repair.

Maria Metla is 66 years old. Bombing destroyed her home in Novoselivka, a village 140 kilometers north of Kyiv, the capital. While standing⁵ in her destroyed home, Metla described her experience. She said, "We took what we could to the basement. Five bombs –one, two, three, four, five –exploded in the field behind us." Metla keeps a burned exercise bicycle and a religious icon⁶ of St. Nicholas to remind her of life before the war.

Now Metla is depending on her neighbors for a place to live this winter. Most mornings, volunteers arrive at her destroyed home to take away material they can use for rebuilding. This salvaged⁷ material includes things like bricks, metal taken from kitchen machines, and pieces of insulation⁸ panels.

The volunteers are rebuilding homes along the perimeter⁹ where Russia attempted to surround and capture Kyiv.

Last month, Ukraine's officials said that the country had suffered more than $100 billion in damage to its roads, bridges and important structures. This amount is equal to two-thirds of Ukraine's 2020 gross domestic product: a measure of the size of a country's economy. But some observers estimate that the reconstruction¹⁰ effort could cost more than seven times that amount.

Ukrainian officials are asking Western countries to give them property seized from Russian in addition to what they are willing to donate.

Novoselivka is a village filled with fruit trees, sunflowers, and gardens with chickens. But, container homes from Poland are being set up near the village. The huge amount of damage has created many local rebuilding projects.

Andriy Galyuga is a local volunteer organizer. He said that people do not want to leave even if their home is destroyed. He said, "In many other countries, if your home is destroyed, you might put up a ‘For Sale' sign and move to another town. It's not like that here. People are very attached to where they are from, and they don't want to leave."

Galyuga's organization, Bomozhemo, is in contact with similar efforts that have started in many places near the Ukrainian capital.

At one smashed home, Galyuga quickly goes inside to direct a team of 25 volunteers. They are gathering¹¹ salvaged cinder¹² blocks. Then they take away other building materials using special tools.

Children and retired¹³ women help the effort. The worried homeowner, Zhanna Dynaeva, watches their work. Dynaeva makes food for the workers, many of whom have also lost their homes.

Dynaeva looks thin and is staying with a friend. But she visits her home daily to take care of her garden. She carried trays of drinks and sandwiches on the day the volunteers came to visit.

Dynaeva said, "I am so grateful to them. People around me have helped so much." As she tells about her escape from the bombardment, Dynaeva starts crying. Her homeless neighbor, Metla, hugs Dynaeva.

Dynaeva said she hopes she can stay on her property possibly in a simple shelter. She said, "I don't know what will happen to us. Winter will be here soon. I just worry all the time."

Words in This Story

aerial –adj. in the air or coming from the air

icon –n. a picture or image representing a religious person (such as a saint).

salvaged -adj. material taken from a damaged structure (such as a broken car, or a home damaged by fire or flood or some other destructive cause).

insulation –n. material used to reduce the transfer of heat.

panel -n. a flat, usually rectangular, section of material (such as a section of a wall or ceiling).

perimeter –n. the edge or boundary of an area (such as a circle or square or geographic¹⁴ region)

infrastructure¹⁵ –n. essential facilities such as roads, water systems, electric power stations, oil and gas pipelines¹⁶

cinder blocks –n. building material in a square or rectangular shape, (commonly 40x20x20 centimeters in size)

1 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

4 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

7 salvaged   

（从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的过去式和过去分词 )； 回收利用（某物）

参考例句：

• The investigators studied flight recorders salvaged from the wreckage. 调查者研究了从飞机残骸中找到的黑匣子。
• The team's first task was to decide what equipment could be salvaged. 该队的首要任务是决定可以抢救哪些设备。

8 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

9 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

10 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 cinder   

n.余烬，矿渣

参考例句：

• The new technology for the preparation of superfine ferric oxide from pyrite cinder is studied.研究了用硫铁矿烧渣为原料，制取超细氧化铁红的新工艺。
• The cinder contains useful iron,down from producing sulphuric acid by contact process.接触法制硫酸的矿渣中含有铁矿。

13 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

14 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

16 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。