JORDAN PATTERSON
News Editor
A street lined with houses lay in disarray. Buildings, what used to be people’s homes, are riddled with bullet holes.
In Ukraine, this is common. The ongoing civil war paints a picture similar to something out of a typical Hollywood war movie, with one exception: this is real.
Last year, senior history major Matthew Joosep Lupkin and his Operation Rebuild cohorts got a taste what the aftermath of war looks like.
For Lupkin, after seeing scenes like those above, most of his prior assumptions of the world had changed.
“It was very humbling,” he said.
“You turn down this road and the first you thing you see, when you turn down, is what once was a house that had been clearly shelled out by mortar and artillery fire,” Lupkin added.
In one neighborhood in particular, Lupkin remembered being told that when the conflict started, a family had to literally “hit the deck” because armed forces were opening fire on homes.
Operation Rebuild is a student-run group that travels around the world to create change. More specifically, the group traveled to Ukraine in association with Rebuilding Ukraine Together and Free House.
“What we specialize in is we’re trying to take college kids and giving them an experience [where] they can grow as people and citizens of the world,” Lupkin said. “It’s a good learning experience and it’s just a good experience in general.”
The Ukrainian Crisis began in 2013, when the former President Viktor Yanukovych refused to implement an agreement of association with the European Union. This decision sparked protests by a movement known as the “Euromaidan,” and eventually the protesters ousted President Yanukovych. In 2014, tensions grew when Russia annexed a piece of Ukraine, known as Crimea, claiming it was for the protection of the Russian people that live there.
Conflict ensued between pro-revolutionists, who now made up the government, and anti-revolutionists, a group comprised of pro-Russian insurgents.
In the rubble of this war is where Operation Rebuild steps in.
In the summer of 2016, the group traveled to Ukraine and worked on rebuilding homes for those affected by the war. According to Lupkin, the members did everything from plastering to building step ladders. Lupkin also acknowledged those in charge understand that they are a volunteer group.
“We’re volunteers, we’re not paid workers. They’re not sitting over there with whips. If you need to take a break, take a break,” Lupkin said.
According to Operation Rebuild’s website, operationrebuild.us, the group’s mission is to “create a better international community.”
“We aim to create an army of volunteers that can be dispatched to various countries in need of physical aid, where we will then be able to provide direct support and labor service,” the website continues.
The organization was founded by Gregory Wilkins. Wilkins has a bachelor’s degree from Cortland University and has been accepted into the master’s program at St. Petersburg.
According to the website, Wilkins was inspired during the peak of the Ukrainian Crisis in 2014. After attempting to get as many contacts as he could in Ukraine, in 2016, the first group traveled there. Among the first members were Lupkin and senior history major Clair Updyke, who are both co-program coordinators.
On the website, Updyke wrote, “Of all of the great memories I have of Ukraine, I would say my favorite experience included any time all of us sat down and had a meal together — not just the volunteers, but the families we were helping.”
In May of 2017, Operation Rebuild will be heading to Greece to help with a refugee camp located there. Also, in June a group will heading back to Ukraine and again in July. To find out more about their mission, go to operationrebuild.us. On the site, it details how the interested can get involved and lays out the expenses.
“The program is only expanding,” Lupkin said. “Especially with us kind of adding our American manpower into it, it’s hopefully going to blossom into something great one day.”