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October 2025  Update

“I am 10 years old and never set foot in a real classroom”

✨ 80 Ukrainian Children Go Back to School – For the First Time in Nearly Four Years ✨

Imagine being 10 years old and never stepping inside a real classroom. For the children of Sofiivs’ka, the epitome of our “forgotten villages”, this has been reality.

Sofiivs’ka is a small farming community of about 800 people, a 4-hour drive north-east of Odesa, with the nearest town 40 km away. Life here is simple: families tend chickens and small plots, the school is the heart of the village, and everyone knows everyone. The village was never occupied by Russian forces – but war still changed everything.

Since February 2022, the school has been closed. Not because of damage in the war, but because no school in Ukraine can reopen without a functioning bomb shelter. For over 3½ years, 80 children studied online, following straight on from months of COVID lockdowns. For many, their entire childhood learning has been through a screen, in isolation.

When the community asked for help, led by Rotary Northern Yorke Peninsula, Rotary members from seven clubs from Rotary District 9510(Adelaide,

 Campbelltown, Morialta, Mount Barker, Gawler and Gawler Light), and with many generous donations from Rotary Members, Rotary clubs and individuals right across our zone – joined with Rotary District 2232 (Ukraine) and our partner NGO New Dawn to Unite for Good.

The villagers had the skills to build a shelter, but not the means to buy materials. Over nine months, Rotarians funded supplies while local people built a 200m² bomb shelter to government standards. Rotary also supplied 100 school chairs with tablet arms for the shelter, ensuring that if air raid alarms sounded, classes could safely continue underground without disruption.

🎉 In September 2025, just in time for the new school year, the doors of the school finally reopened. Children returned to classrooms for the first time in nearly four years. Whenever the sirens sound, they now walk safely downstairs into the shelter.

To celebrate, Rotary’s partner New Dawn NGO hosted a kids’ fair inside the new shelter – complete with a clown– bringing back laughter and joy to a

 place where silence and waiting had become the norm.

Huge though this impact is on the schoolchildren, the positive ramifications go further. Before the war there were 120 children of school age. A number of families moved, in part because of the lack of proper schooling. Those departed families now have a strong incentive to return home. Rotary has not just helped to bring back schooling but is also instrumental in rebuilding the community.

For just US$12,000, Rotarians helped transform a “forgotten village” into a place of hope, where children can once again learn, play, and dream of a future beyond war.

💙💛 Rotary is about connection, compassion, and community. Share this story and help spread hope further than ever.

👉 If you would like to support Ukraine by donating, please click here: New Dawn Rotary Ukraine Crisis – Support

May 2025  Update

Opening of Medical Centre No 5  Pravdyne – Southern Ukraine

The New Dawn – Rotary 9510 project team is pleased to report that Medical Centre No 5 commenced serving the Pravdyne community on Thursday 8^th May 2025.  The opening ceremony involved local village Doctors and Nurses, Health Administration Officials, together with our project partners - New Dawn CEO  Julia Pogrebnaya and Rotary District 2232 Odesa PDG Mykola Stebljanko (All Pictured)   

This small village was occupied by Russian forces in the early months of the Russian invasion between March and October 2022.   It was taken back by Ukrainian forces in November 2022 and has remained under Ukrainian control since then.  Families have been returning to their homes in the past two years, with little or no  medical facilities available.  

The medical centre will be used by the villagers (currently 800 people in Pravdyne) as well as residents from surrounding communities approximately 4000 people.

The project involved design and construction of the modular building in Odesa, transport to site and crane hire, with office furniture, all provided by Rotary 9510 Australian donors. 

Site works foundation, water supply and power provided by the local council administration.  Doctors and Nurses are employed by the Kherson Health Authority. 

Thank you to project Donors

We are very grateful to all our New Dawn – Rotary - Ukraine Project donors who have made this Medical Centre possible.  

Please continue to support Rotary Ukraine projects with a donation via this link.

New Dawn Rotary Ukraine Crisis – Support

Voznesensk School Furniture.  This is the school basement project (four classrooms) completed last year by the Rotary Club of Campbelltown.  New school furniture was desperately needed by this school and a Rotary fundraising appeal was launched in late 2024 to secure funds for this project. A number of clubs and individual donors met the challenge, a furniture order was placed with a manufacturer in Odesa in January.