On January 10, 2024, students of the Faculty of Geography of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, together with teachers and representatives of the faculty’s administration, joined the volunteer project of making trench candles. Candles are intended for active use on the fronts of the Russian-Ukrainian war and to improve the lives of Ukrainian servicemen.
According to Lyudmyla Kurganevych, assistant professor of the Department of Constructive Geography and Cartography of the Faculty of Geography, the event was organized on the initiative of the Dean of the Faculty of Geography Volodymyr Bilanyuk at the request of volunteers from the city of Pokrovsk and the district of Avdiivka, Donetsk region. “Now severe frosts have begun, and more than ever, our military needs a large number of trench candles. But such charitable projects are also useful for first-year students because they contribute to the feeling of involvement in the approach of victory and cultivate gratitude to the Defenders of Ukraine,” said Lyudmyla Kurganevych.
To make trench candles, students and teachers traditionally used copper cans from canned goods, corrugated cardboard, paraffin and wax. For this, it was necessary to cut the cardboard and roll it up, leaving a wick for ignition. Subsequently, you need to fill the product with melted wax or paraffin. Such a candle can burn from 4 to 6 hours and is used both for heating and for heating food in extreme conditions.
“It is good that not only students of various specialities but also teachers of the faculty join the initiative of making trench candles. Participation in such an action demonstrates that we all believe in victory and are ready to join the joint work. It is worth noting that our faculty quite often conducts charity projects – from making trench candles to collecting funds to help various military units,” said Maryana-Galyna Kobryn, a first-year master’s student at the Faculty of Geography, a participant in the campaign for making trench candles.
The campaign for making trench candles, in which students and employees of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv participate, has become a charitable tradition, to which more and more volunteers join each time. Today, student volunteers made more than 150 trench candles. With a sincere belief in the fastest possible realization of the common goal of every Ukrainian, the participants of the action spelt out the word “Victory!”.