Did you know that every large city in Ukraine has a statue of a woman protecting it? The statue high above Maidan Square in Kiev is called Berehynia, or “Protectress” [a woman protector or defender]. Such statues (which are a part of many cultures) are in honor of qualities like patience, love, wisdom, hope, and calm which have saved people and nations over and over again. In all history, the real story is in the spirit of the people who rebuild, even if many times. .
TODAY maybe everyone knows about Maidan Square in Kiev. But not a lot of people know what happened after the news cameras left. You saw how much was destroyed and ruined there. People were living there for four months. [Some are still there.] There was so much trash. People started to gather it and started cleaning this huge area, but the people in Kiev could not handle it all. There was too much. Then something wonderful started to happen. People started to come from other cities to help. They came on their own. They have been working ever since. They are not only taking away the trash. They bring flowers. In Maidan Square there is a wall of flowers 4 meters (13 feet) high. —Andrei
(Andrei speaks both Ukrainian and Russian fluently, and has been studying English 9 years.)
The photos here are courtesy of Oksana from Kiev. Our sincere thanks to Oksana for sharing these with InterestEng. Here are more photos of people working to restore the beauty of the city: Clean up Clean up 2
