The farm is located in Pidhiria, in the Zolochiv region.
There is a special place in the Zolochiv region – a pedagogical farm. It was created by Father Mykhailo Sukmanovskyi and his wife Oksana. This project gives people with disabilities a chance to study, find employment, and lead a full life.
Father Mykhailo dreamed of becoming a pilot, but found his calling in serving and supporting people with disabilities. The impetus for this was his participation as a military chaplain in a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo in 2008.
“A person returning from such places experiences ‘acute injustice syndrome’. I had a desire to help children with disabilities in the parish. I was sad that they did not have professional care. My wife supported my initiative,” says Father Mykhailo.
Starting with a small number of children with various forms of disabilities, Father Mykhailo and his like-minded colleagues made a big step in creating an inclusive community.
“When you work, there are people who will support you. We were the only ones in Ukraine to receive a grant from the Luxembourg government. Thanks to this, we managed to create an inclusive center for children with disabilities with a swimming pool, a salt room, a modern sports ground and exercise equipment, and converted an old school in Pidhiria into a farm with a cheese dairy. There is also an apiary and a variety of animals. This ensures our livelihood and a certain sustainability of our maintenance,” the priest notes.
The Sukmanovskys are not resting on their laurels. With the help of grant programs, they plan to expand the project and involve military personnel in need of rehabilitation.
The farm welcomes tourists. Most often, they come here with the Vidvidai tour operator. Guests have the opportunity to meet the animals, taste delicious craft cheeses, and just relax their souls.
“We would like to add that there are about 30 farms in the Lviv region that are open to tourists. For example, the family farm “Cozy farm” in Novoyavorivsk has already opened the tourist season, the craft production “From Pumpkin Paradise” in Horodok invites tourists to excursions and children’s cheese-making workshops, the eco-farm “Play” in Klymka and the dairy farm “Mukko” in Uhersko always welcome tourists and offer delicious tastings,” said Taras Lozynskyi, Head of the Tourism and Resorts Department of the Lviv Regional State Administration.
Other tourist farms in the Lviv region can be found on the interactive map at https://cutt.ly/PcIADEC