A shelter becomes a place to repair phones and share skills
More than 200 people gathered in an underground college shelter in Chornomorsk, Ukraine, to learn how to repair and reuse everyday objects. The city’s first repair festival went ahead on 16 October despite air-raid alerts and damage to the college.
According to the council’s account, student Dmytro Muntian repaired his friend’s phone. He regularly practises with the workshop’s equipment and hopes to open his own repair business.
Visitors explored broken electronics, learned textile skills and turned denim remnants into bracelets and keyrings. Plastic casings were sorted for transfer to an Odesa recycling workshop; their subsequent reuse has not yet been documented.
Positive News reported the decision to move underground before the festival. The UK-based Restart Project highlighted the organisers’ determination to keep practical learning available while their city faced attacks.
The council reports activity and one successful repair, rather than a measured total of waste prevented or lasting employment gains. Even within those limits, shared tools and patient teaching gave young people a chance to make something useful work again.
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