Students of Sumy National Agrarian University visited the BUR Camp in the BUR Mountains organized by the NGO Building Ukraine Together, which took place from July 31 to August 3, 2025, in the Carpathians.
NGO “Building Ukraine Together” (BUR) is a non-governmental organization that has been creating opportunities for young people to create change in the country through volunteering and non-formal education for over 10 years, systematically organizes volunteer events in different parts of Ukraine, has visited all its regions, and dreams of organizing a BUR camp or BURchik in Crimea.
BUR participants have the opportunity to establish or improve the activities of a youth project or initiative, engage young people in active participation in community and state life, create opportunities for quality leisure, and implement career guidance activities.
This year’s BUR camp was attended by representatives of the student administration of Sumy NAU: Ilona Saiko, a student of the Faculty of Economics and Management, secretary, and Matviy Muzykin, a student of the Faculty of Law, deputy student rector for career guidance. They kindly shared with us their impressions of the trip and participation in the initiative, so we invite you to plunge into this atmosphere with them.
“We went to the BUR camp in the mountains, and it was one of the most vivid and unforgettable experiences of my life!
The four-day camp program was intense and included various activities that kept all participants engaged: we had exciting walks among majestic mountains and dense forests, where we could feel peace and harmony; we sculpted with clay, which allowed us to relax and activate our imagination; we attended interesting trainings where we learned new things, developed our skills and were inspired by the stories of others.
We not only admired the magical views of the mountains, but also actively participated in a good cause – we helped to rebuild the BUR-Hora space. Together with the team, we worked outdoors, feeling that our work was meaningful and brought real benefits. Each of us invested a part of ourselves in this space, and this is what united us even more. We supported each other, shared our experiences and really felt that we were doing something important for the community.
Every morning in the camp began with a physical exercise that filled us with energy for the whole day. A minute of silence in memory of the fallen soldiers added to the sense of unity and reminded us why we all strive to change the world for the better.
The atmosphere in the camp was really warm and friendly. The people around us were sincere, kind and cheerful, and this made the camp a big family. Evenings around the campfire became a special ritual: we all gathered together, sang songs with a guitar, shared our wishes and thoughts, and discussed the emotions we had experienced during the day. It created a sense of unity and incredible support. This trip gave us a lot of emotions, vivid impressions and many new friends. We felt true unity with nature, received a huge boost of inspiration and realized how important it is to do good deeds together.
We are so glad we went, and now we look forward to coming back again to experience this incredible BUR camp atmosphere, which combines kindness, mutual support, adventure and love of life.” – Ilona and Matviy share.
We are proud of the involvement of our students in such events and thank the organizers for the opportunity to have such an experience! SNAU students always strive to be involved in something meaningful, and it is a great joy for us to have places to go to share common meanings.
