Maria Peshko is a unique woman who deserves to be known throughout Ukraine and the world.
After her son Ivan was killed in the war, she did not get lost in a sea of tears and did not lose faith in people. She directs her energy and inspiration to charity work. In the village of Orvianytsia, where she taught for decades, she built a sports center for the younger generation, one of the best in the district and region.
In Dubrovytsia, Maria also made a great contribution by opening a rehabilitation center for our military personnel at a sports complex. According to many, it is one of the best in Ukraine. She implemented these projects at her own expense. And now this tireless woman continues to do GOOD.
Orvianytsia school became the center of the universe
‘I had a difficult childhood,’ says Maria Peshko, ’My parents passed away very early. I studied at a boarding school in Volodymyrets. I was setting myself up for higher education. My dream came true – I graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics at Ivan Franko National University in Lviv. After receiving my diploma, I found work in Dubrovytsia area. I got married, and in 1987 my son Ivan was born. But the relationship with my husband did not work out. So I raised Vaniushka by myself. Of course, it was not easy.
For me, Orvianytsia secondary school became the center of the universe. Here, at first, I taught mathematics, and then, after retraining, I taught English. In my spare time, I was fond of volleyball. Almost 40 of my best years I gave to school.’
The war took away the most precious thing from me – my son
‘Vanyushka grew up as a lively boy, but not in the best of health,’ continues Maria, ’It was probably the consequences of the Chornobyl tragedy. I visited many health centers with him – in Crimea, the Caucasus, and the Baltic States. As a result, he was cured of bronchitis.
After graduating from school, Ivan entered Sarny Vocational School No. 22. He became a car mechanic. He received a driver’s license, a tractor driver’s license and a construction worker’s license.
In 2008, Ivan was drafted into the Ukrainian army. He served in Zhytomyr, in the 95th Air-mobile Brigade. He had good army training and was a paratrooper.
In August 2014, he was drafted into the army. This time he served in the famous 80th Air-mobile Brigade. When he was demobilized, he went to work abroad. There he met a beautiful girl, Olya. They got married.
One day he said to me: ‘Mum, I’m going to join the army again!’ In April 2021, he signed a contract with the Armed Forces. With his first salary, he bought two guitars and mailed them home. Playing guitar was his favorite pastime.
The day before his death, he called me: ‘I’m going to the front line. Don’t worry!’. But how can a mother’s heart not worry?
Vaniusha died on April 24, 2022, the second day of Easter. I didn’t know about it yet. Only on April 26, the military enlistment office informed me that my son had died.
My son’s wife Olya lives with me. She has a child from her first marriage; Ivan and Olya did not have time to have their own children together. There is mutual understanding between us.
A sports complex in honor of the son
After I retired, I worked in Germany. I saw the excellent conditions created for children in preschools and schools there – with swimming pools and playgrounds. And I transferred these conditions in my mind to our Ukrainian realities. But what can we do now, during the war? I started with myself. I decided to invest most of the money that my daughter-in-law and I received for Ivan in the development of the sports facilities in my native Orvianytsia secondary school (now a lyceum – author’s note). This will be the best memory of him.
I turned to the director of the Dubrovytsia Sports Complex, Andrii Hrynevych. He quickly prepared plans for a football field with artificial turf. He also found two people to carry out the construction work at a reasonable price. Andrii Kulyk, a member of the city council, helped a lot with equipment and materials. The Sarny and Dubrovytsia forestry provided one hundred thuja saplings free of charge.
Work began at the end of September 2022, and the football field was opened in November. Now this stadium hosts sports competitions and a soccer tournament in honor of my son. A memorial sign was erected near the stadium.
The cooperation with Andrii Hrynevych continued in December 2022. He called me in Germany, where I was working: ‘There’s a big discount on outdoor exercise equipment!’ I transferred the money, and soon the equipment were in my garage.
This summer, again with the help of Andrii Hrynevych, a large playground was built, and outdoor exercise equipment installed on the grounds of the Orvianytsia Lyceum. I invested about 3 million hryvnias in the construction of the sports center.’
There will be a Park of Glory!
Maria Peshko is implementing another of her ideas: she is creating a park of glory in Orvianytsia. In the near future, trees of valuable species will be planted here and alleys will be laid out.
Maria is taking on the bulk of the funding. She expects the Dubrovytsia community to lend a hand.
Dubrovytsia has an excellent rehabilitation center
Even large cities can envy the Dubrovytsia sports complex. It can host Ukrainian championships in various sports. When the issue of completing the fitness hall arose, the management turned to foreign sponsors for help. But it didn’t work out. Maria Peshko and Alla Herman from the village of Selets sponsored the completion of the project. Maria financed the purchase and installation of the exercise equipment in the gym. It cost her about a million hryvnias.
‘Now we have a wonderful rehabilitation center,’ Maria continues, ’It has exercise equipment for the back, arms, legs, etc. Soldiers who came back from the war, border guards, young people from the city and surrounding villages train here’
She also helped to equip the boxing gym
‘I would like to talk about other Maria’s good deeds,’ says Andrii Hrynevych, director of the Dubrovytsia Sports Complex, ’We have a professional boxing ring measuring 6×6 meters. We can hold Ukrainian championships here. The boxing hall is our pride. Maria Peshko donated a speaker system, a punching bag, and dumbbells. Athletes are very grateful to her!’
Vasyl Zakrevskyi