The visit comprises two main activities: from 12 to 14 October I visit the Dom Internat at Tarasiki, and on 15 and 16 October a small Tarasiki delegation of 3 takes part in the Chernobyl Continuity Conference, organised by Brenda Dinsdale and others. The remainder of the time is spent on formalities and other visits.
Monday the 12th starts with a discussion with Nadezhda (the psychiatrist) and Larisa (head-nurse), later joined by Viktor Ivanovich (the director). The dressing materials and pampers from the Netherlands are most welcome. This material is usually very hard to come by in Barysau, and there is always a shortage of pampers. Some residents depending on pampers are lucky enough to have relatives that buy extra supply for personal use. Most of them aren't. We discuss the following items:
- The material that was delivered by Jan Kuijpers last spring. Every item was useful. There is no need for more blankets now.
- After our purchase in spring all residents that can walk around have proper shoes now. Shoe-polish doesn't seem to be widely used.
- The three residents that need orthopaedic shoes have them. The government paid for them. It turns out there has been a misunderstanding about the orthopaedist. When I asked Nadezhda and Larisa in spring if Alexander Volosheniuk (an orthopaedic surgeon and a friend of mine) shouldn't be asked to have a look at these residents' feet, they answered it wasn't necessary. It now turns out they said so because such an investigation was part of the procedure they had to follow. The three residents will receive special winter shoes from our foundation.
- Schooling and training:
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- Nadezhda would like to brush up her English.
- Nadezhda and Larisa would like to attend the training set up by Jan Schrurs.
- Physiotherapy:
It appears to be very easy for misunderstandings to arise around the term physiotherapy. In Belarus they distinguish between medical and sportive physiotherapy. The sportive variant uses things like cycle rolers, weights, massage, etc. The medical variant uses the two appliances they have in their room for physiotherapy: the ones with electrodes and ultrasonic sound. For these you don't need a big room, though the present one seems tiny. The two appliances look out of fashion. I often have this feeling when I see those 'Russian' appliances, but this time I'm right: they need to be replaced. Nadezhda will write a letter about this.
- Day activity and creative therapy:
We plan to continue to support these. It is more and more realised how important these are for the residents. They include the garden projects of Anna (the pond) and Katya (flower beds) where part of the garden will be laid out in such a way that even residents in wheelchairs can work their own plot. It is important for the residents that are capable of it to get responsibility for part of the garden. It will boost their selfconfidence and add purpose to their life. We will continue our support for Tatiana's work.
- The kitchen:
Two freezers and an oven are now replaced by us.
- Personal hygiene:
I realise this is a tender subject. I'm told that the bed-ridden are washed every day. The others have their bath once a week. Why not more often? With so many residents it takes too much time and there are no showers.... Later I realise I have seen photos showing the reconstruction of showers by the Irish. There is a number of ladies who would like to pay more attention to their personal care, but there is no money for this. Tatiana will discuss this point with me. I tell Nadezhda and Larisa that a lot of progress has already been made, because the air at the Dom Internat is a lot fresher than it used to be.
- Nadezhda has read Ingrid's long letter. She is much impressed by it. She is eager to meet with Ingrid and learn from the Dutch methods. She is open to all new ideas, even though the implementation of many may not be immediately possible because of lack of money and practice.
- The mosquito nets.
Meant are insect screens to be used in front of windows. No luxury considering the swamp next-door. Those mosquitoes are keeping a low profile at the moment, but next
spring we must take action.
- Mattress covers.
They need 50 more (which by now have already been delivered).
- Contacts with Dom Internat No. 3 at Navinki.
- Dentist.
Any dentist from the Netherlands is free to visit, but if they really want to help they should know all about dentures. The 'local' dentist can cope with the rest. It
is doubtful whether a dentist from abroad would know how to work with the tools present. A dental technician carrying his own tools and stuff would be best.
- Phytotherapy.
Nadezhda has started phytotherapy with some of the residents and she is very positive about the effects. Later Natasha, one of the lucky ones, tells the same story. We will buy some more herbs and mugs to drink the herbal tea from.
After the discussions, Masha and Zina (the two interpreters) have discovered the decorations Marga has supplied. We start using them for several rooms, especially rooms for the bed-ridden.
Tuesday and Wednesday.
Most of the time is spent buying stuff, in Minsk and in Barysau. In Minsk we buy two huge freezers and an oven, together with a special lamp for Zhenya's projector. Zhenya's present dream it is to create possibilities for the bed-ridden to attend his morning meetings through a television net-work. The Irish have agreed to put in the electric leads wherever necessary during reconstruction work.
His second dream is to acquire a minibus so that he can build a sports team and go out to take part in competitions. It is such a pity that money is needed to realise these and so many other dreams!
In Barysau we buy herbs and mugs, dressing material, soap, toothpaste, cosmetics (!), three thermos, a chest with drawers (for Tatiana's work), winter shoes, a huge amount of pampers, etc.
On Wednesday we are also told that today work will start on a new well for water. They will now drill to a depth of about 60 metres, hoping the water will be cleaner there.
In the evening we return to Minsk to attend the informal reception at the British embassy as an introduction to the conference. I happen to meet old and new friends at the embassy.
Thursday and Friday.
These two days are spent at the Chernobyl Continuity Conference.Our delegation consists of Nadezhda, Larisa, and Hans. There is another person from the Netherlands: Ria Schraverus, from Helvoirt, who works for orphanages in Belarus. The aim of the conference is the improvement of approach, communication, and networking.
Most of the British groups present have as their aim the organisation of summer camps and respite holidays; most of the Belarusian organisations to keep children in families as long as possible, instead of placing them in orphanages or homes for the disabled.
My turn to tell the story of our foundation Parels van Tarasiki is the last on Wednesday. I hoped to have 25 minutes, but just before leaving home I heard it would be only 20, and now I see in the programme it has been reduced to 15. Subtract time for translating into Russian and you will understand there is no time for statistics and analyses. Left with such a short time, I can only let my heart speak. Afterwards it turns out that my heart can speak daggers: Nadezhda and Larisa are hurt by my openheartedness. Yet, at the end I have put the emphasis on the changes for the better that have taken place. When all those present get the opportunity to introduce themselves I assure everybody that there should be no misunderstanding about my love for Belarus, for the people of Belarus, and least of all about my love for those who work and live at Tarasiki. I am told my presentation has already shown this love. During the workshops much attention is paid to the daily problems that we as volunteers are faced with. For the majority, the customs and their documents are a main obstacle. Today there may be no problems, but tomorrow there may be, with no apparent cause or reason. The customs sometimes forget that our drivers are volunteers, who sacrifice their time and money to help their fellow-countrymen. After many more presentations on Friday there is another round of workshops, followed by question time. Several of the Belarusian delegates ask for our websites to be in Russian too.
Those who wish are invited for a visit to School Internat No. 5, where we are met with a traditional khleb-sol, a lively and varied concert by pupils and teachers and a table with all sorts of delicious food.
After a practically free weekend, Monday takes me to BelAPDiMI, a typically Belarusian abbreviation of (in translation) Belarusian Association for Help to Children and Young People with a Disability. They celebrate their 15th anniversary this year. Their main aim is to make it possible for children and young people with a disability to grow up within families. You can find out more about them at: www.belapdi.org, among other things how to support a foster home. In the evening, Margarita and I review my whole visit. We plan to turn in early because it will be an early morning tomorrow, but time is too fast for us.
It has been a very useful visit again.
In the last week of April we visited Dom-Internat at Tarasiki. We were three: Marga, chairwoman of the foundation, Hans, secretary of the foundation, and Mirjam, newly graduated as physician-assistent. Thanks to the generous support of private persons and various churches we were able to buy a lot on the spot for the residents. For all ladies two sets of underwear and one for every man; 174 pair of summer trousers for the men and 70 pair for the ladies; 500 pair of socks. The last-mentioned in particular wear away rather quickly. One of the reasons for this is that most of the residents go around in old worn-out shoes. That´s another point where we could offer relief: 114 pair of brand-new shoes. They were bought with a long list of shapes and sizes, under the sharp eyes and busy hands of two Inas. We were also lucky to arrange for orthopedic shoes for 3 residents with severe malformation of the feet.
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Serious malformation of the feet |
For this the three will have to travel to Minsk because these special shoes will be made to fit the feet of the future owners and this needs the feet to be at hand.
Tatiana, who as a volunteer started creative therapy, now has Anna as a helpmate. Anna wants to explore the residents´ creativity further by starting a wood carving activity. We didn´t manage to buy more than just a few chisels - it was all we could find in Minsk. One of our contact persons in Minsk, our trusted representative Vladimir, will see to it that there will be a complete set of tools at Tarasiki.
At the moment we are discussing Katya´s garden project. As by far the greater majority of the residents pass their days in idleness, it is of the utmost importance to offer them a programme of useful activities. At the moment there is only something useful to do for a handful of residents. The garden project would offer satisfactory work for a greater number of residents, including those depending on wheelchairs.
In our suitcases we also carried materials to decorate the walls and windows of several rooms in two blocks. We visited the ´dining-rooms´ and the rooms of the bed-ridden residents. Where first cracks and stains were the only decorations to watch there are now colourful flowers, beautiful birds and butterflies, put there with the help of some of the ´locals´.
Apart from materials for her handicraft club, Tatiana also received her steam iron.
The Irish of Burren Chernobyl are making huge strides in changing ruins into living blocks. These are among the most important changes, but they are not the only ones. One of the nurses has just taken her certificate as a fysiotherapist. Our next target will be to supply her with some basic tools for her new job. A room she already has, but no equipment yet.
A Dutch psychologist we are in touch with regularly holds courses in Minsk. The participants of these courses need to have a good command of English. Lilia, one of the nurses, will start on a crash course this summer, so that she will be able to attend courses and conferences to gain new insights, which she can then share with her colleagues. Vladimir pays one half of the fees, our foundation the other half.
Since January, Nadezhda works officially as psychologist at Tarasiki. We were very happy to notice that already now fewer people were locked up in the isolation cells. But the biggest surprise of all was that thanks to Nadezhda´s care and fresh approach one of the residents will shortly start on a new life of his own outside the Dom-Internat.
Another resident, Olga, has left the isolation cell after 3 years (in the Netherlands such a room is usually used for 1 to 2 hours in emergencies!). She is now free to enjoy the fresh air. Tatiana bestows all her love and patience on her to develop her painting skills, do interesting needlework and while she sings to her Olga opens up more and more to become the girl God meant her to be....
We could never have hoped that developments would go so quickly and so successfully! We are very grateful for all this.
In March this year we had again rented part of a truck to take things to Tarasiki, among them a home trainer and a massage table for the fysiotherapy room, two sewing-machines and a flannel board with figures for the activity centre, 100 new matress covers for the new beds and mattresses we had bought before, and new dustbins. These materials had not yet been cleared by the customs when we were there. This happened a little later.
As you can see, big progress is taking place at Tarasiki. A lot of hard work is done to give more content to the life of the residents, to afford them more opportunities to express themselves, even to develop themselves, in short to make them feel human and welcome. How great it would be if the Dom-Internat would one day be a place where every human being is seen by all as a valuable person who matters, and is treated likewise. No hopeless, dead-end prison, but a useful place where life is worth living. For the time being our help is badly needed to attain this goal. At the same time it is fine to see that our common efforts are blessed.
After some preparatory work in Minsk, Marga and Hans leave for the Psychoneurological Dom Internat at Tarasiki on Friday 30 May. Natalia Parukova (Marga's host and leader of Chernobylski Aist) joins us, together with Yulia, Natalia's trainee, who serves as a German speaking interpreter. With us are also two other trainees, both students of English, Zina and Masha.
The driver of the bed factory has delivered his load of 44 beds at 8 a.m. When we arrive we are shown the beds in the depot, i.e. we see the mattrasses wrapped in plastic and the beds wrapped in carboard waiting to be assembled.
When everything has been recounted three times, the driver is paid his
11,632,157 Belarusian rubles in the director's room. We now know the exact size of these mattrasses: 195 x 80 cm.
We have a big talk with Viktor Ivanovich, the director.
They have just had an extensive inspection: everything that you can think of has been checked: the books, the level of training of the staff, the kitchen utensils, the presence of the doctor's equipment, etc. On paper, it will all have been in order....
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In front of a real car! |
The new mattrasses just arrived |
We tell about our contacts with the Irish and the British organisations. None of them work at Tarasiki with a contract. If we want to do so there is no problem. The idea of us joining forces as /Friends of Tarasiki/ meets with approval.
For the time being no extra help is to be expected from the government: the normal sum of money for maintenance and daily expenses, and that's all. The sum they received this year for restoration has been all but used. It's often difficult to find building materials. Thanks to the huge building effort in Belarus these are now in short supply and more expensive than before.
At the moment another 80 new beds with mattrasses, sheets and pillowslips are needed. They have enough pillows and blankets. As to sheets and pillowslips the answers are conflicting.
Another big problem: the washing-machine. It was used for the laundry of the residents and the staff. It has definitively broken down, which doesn't amaze us after having seen it before. A new machine - a big one - will be 14 million rubles, about € 4350 (more than three years of a nurse's salary!).
Another thing has broken down: the blender they use in the kitchen to produce edible food for the 40 residents without teeth or dentures. Such a machine is about 1 million rubles; some days later we will buy one in Minsk from our reserve fund.
We take down the question for particular medical things. It ought to be possible for us to import freely from the Netherlands those medical things that are hard or impossible to be got in Belarus. One week later we get the proper information to apply for such a permit at the Department of Labour.
The big wish we cherish is for Viktor to join us in a visit to Internat No. 3 in Minsk (Navinki). He consents! The visit is booked by Margarita for next Tuesday.
Tatiana, Natalia's daughter, joins Hans to Zhodina to buy trousers and socks at the factory outlet. With about a million and a half's worth of trousers and socks they return.
Marga and the others stay at the Internat. As it is very nice weather there's quite a number of people who have left their cheerless rooms for the blue sky. This makes it possible for Marga to have several talks while walking the grounds. With Zina's help, she writes down a number of ‘life stories’ of residents. Utterly bleak stories and she cannot but conclude that humanly speaking these people's situation is hopeless. People like all of us, but with an entirely different background, an entirely different future and one that is not particularly cheerful, to put it mildly.
Thanks to the talks, the faces of last year's pictures get names, each with a story. It doesn't simplify matters, however, because when a face gets a name it compels you to more action: it is impossible to stay neutral or detached. You aren't the better person, are you? That you (read: we) are not is our firm conviction.
That evening we have a talk with the doctor, Tamara Ivanovna (65) and the head nurse Larisa Jevgenyeva.
At the moment they have 274 residents, with physical and mental problems. Among these residents about 100 need extra help. There are 40 residents who have lost all mobility due to paralysis. There is an everlasting shortage of pampers, sanitary towels and bandages. We take down some very specific questions for various bandages that cannot be found in Belarus.
Then there are questions about medicines that they cannot afford to buy. We decide on the spot to go the the pharmacy at Barysau the following day and procure a small supply of these.
At the moment 16 nurses are employed in 4 shifts. Tamara says this means one nurse for about every 20 residents. Her figure is not exact as 100 residents need nursing. None of the nurses has special training for working with these specific residents. There ought to be 2 doctors at Tarasiki, but at the moment Tamara is the only one and she is on the point of retiring.
According to the staff list there ought to be a psychologist too, but the last one retired more than 2 years ago. So this is a psychoneurological internat without a psychiatrist, without a psychologist, without a physiotherapist, without any staff with qualified training for these residents!
The problem is well-known: the remote situation and the low wages. A nurse on average makes 380,000 ruble per month; that's about 113 euro. Tamara as a doctor makes 500,000 ruble; about 150 euro. For these wages they work 12 hours a day, because the bus arrives only twice a day: at half past 8 in the morning and again at the same time at night. Tamara has been working at Tarasiki for 2½ years now. Her dream is for a better future for the ‘children’, a term widely used for the residents even though their ages vary from 18 to 85.
That evening, under the inspiring leadership of Zina and Masha, we play various games with a big group of residents. Very simple games, such as calling each other's name while throwing a ball, making longer and longer strings of these names. The ball will play an important role throughout the evening. The biggest fun comes at the last game: we are divided into two groups that stand in line opposite each other at the distance of about 10 metres. By turns, each group challenges one from the opposing group the try and break their way through its line. If they are successful they can take one of the opponents to reinforce their own line. If they fail, they must join the opponents' line. In the meantime, 3 children from the village have joined us in the game. They seem to be well-known among the residents. The game is played fair: the weaker ones also get their turn and they are loudly encouraged by both groups.
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Blind man's buff is popular at Tarasiki too |
With the price he won |
While Hans was at the shop in the afternoon and Marga had her talks, she together with Masha also visited Anton's room, at his invitation. He was very proud to show his place. He lives in a four-bedded room where they boast a TV-set on a table in the very middle. Over his bed there is a rack with an old radio annex cassette recorder. It's his only private possession and therefore very important for him. Unfortunately, the machine has stopped working properly.
In the room next to Anton's lives Slava. He is a robust, tall man who starts telling a confusing story. He relates his problem and indicates he longs for rest. When it was time to go, Marga asked him whether she was allowed to pray for him. She had scarcely finished her question when he was ready with bowed head and solemnly folded hands. He also told that he never gets outside, because - in his own words - he doesn't belong here!
When we were having our games that night, we saw him approach hesitatingly, without taking part in the games but watching them from a distance.
When we are taking our leave the next afternoon we are often told: "Life is so boring and monotonous here, but last night we will never forget!"
Stung and sucked by gnats we retire into the buildings when dark has set in and soon after we make our beds and go to sleep.
On Saturday morning we are awoken early by all sorts of shouts outside. The weather is fine and several residents seem to have escaped early from the night nurse's watchful eye. Judging by their sounds they are not the easiest residents pottering about.
Marga tells: As I woke up early and as it was still quiet in the building where we slept, I went outside to see what a beautiful morning at Tarasiki looks like. As the weather is nice and dry, a number of men are leaning against the walls of their building, each of them in their own world, with hardly any verbal contact with each other. At the other side of the building they all sit down on the pavement. I see men in wheelchairs, apparently taken out by fellow-residents. Some stumble, some mumble. Cheerless faces. An elderly woman talking to an invisible friend.
On the lawn a man in his pants, sleeping or sun-bathing. Strange, for it's teeming with gnats looking for fresh blood. As the internat is next to a swampy area and the sun is shining after a few days of rain, the gnats are coming out in clouds looking for humans.
By far the majority of the residents go around in dirty clothes, trousers that are kept up by narrow bands of cloth. In the distance I see Dima coming, with a limp because of his unilateral paralysis, and in his terribly dirty clothes. Dima took part in last night's games and how much he enjoyed them! One with the crowd, great!
After breakfast, Tatiana Osinina, the voluntary creative therapist comes to see us. We learn a little more about her work. Apart from what she does at Tarasiki she also has a job in Barysau, where she lives with her husband and her 4-year-old son. Besides, she also studies designing, part-time in Vitebsk. She tells that for her work at Tarsiki she is indeed paid by someone from Ireland. She is very happy with the new room she now has for her work. There is a steady little group that spend as much time as possible with her, drawing, painting, making music. She sometimes goes to the barracks to work with the bed-ridden there.
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Larisa and the medicine |
Some works of art done by residents |
Off to the chemist's in Barysau with Larisa and Masha. Larisa's budget for today is a million and a half. In the end she buys exactly what is needed and nothing more. After an hour and a half she has bought all sorts of medicine for more than a million rubles. Everything is checked three times and found to be in good order. They don't have stuff for the war on gnats - that we will get somewhere else. At that shop Larisa buys for 300,000 rubles' worth, with expenditure totalling about a million and a half. She seems to have debated with herself quite well how to spend her budget.
As it is the 1st of June, the Day of the Protection of the Child, there are two ‘shows’ on at the Club for the residents. The artists are some residents who like singing and who with the help of Yana and a karaoke tape sing some songs. Sometimes a Punch and Judy show is called in for assistance, where the same people bring a story to life: what was first, the hen or the egg? A fight ensues, but in the end it is babushka who of course knows the answer: God created both!
Heartwarming! The 'hall' is crowded and practically everybody is listening intently to what is shown and told. As some people have found out that Marga can play the piano, she is offered the opportunity to sing and play. Not at the grand piano, but rather at a ramshackle electronic keyboard instrument poised on a shaky table, but never mind.
Last year, Marga attended a service and then she heard songs that we know in the Netherlands too. Apart from two English songs (first translated by Zina), Marga sings some of those songs. It is nice to see people showing signs of recognition. What a great phenomenon music is! Fortunately, no language barriers there.
After the concert, scarves and bonnets are handed out outside. These have been devotedly knitted and crochetted by some ladies from Veldhoven. Here and there you can hear some protests when a member of the staff swaps a scarf or a bonnet for one that matches in colour and design, but in the end everybody is satisfied with the loot hauled in.
Taking leave takes a lot of time. Pictures have to be taken without end, hands have to be shaken, hugs have to be shared, thanks have to be given for last night's great fun. At long last we manage to get away.
We later realised we haven't put all the questions we wanted to put, nor got all the answers we were eager to have, nor seen and checked all the things we wanted to see and check. Nevertheless, we have made the most of our time.
Sunday we have kept as a day of rest as much as possible. Monday is spent on other visits that Natalia has organised for us, among them a visit to the poignant war memorial at Khatyn.
On Tuesday Viktor arrives with his driver from Tarasiki. We pick up Masha, who will interpret for us. She lives near Internat No. 3.
After we have got acquainted with each other, followed by a short introduction by the director of Internat N 3, Anatoly Semyonovich, he and the head of the nursing staff, Alla Sosnovskaya show us around. Now and then Viktor cannot restrain some tears when he sees how most things here look absolutely great. Many double bedrooms with their own toilet and shower, privacy, beautiful strong beds from Russia. Compared with Tarasiki the situation here, which actually ought to be normal, is heavenly! Here no second-hand stuff, apart from the snoezel room from Eindhoven, which by the way, looks like new. Much room and time for all sorts of therapy.
Anatoly offers Viktor help with specific management problems and also to receive a delegation of the Tarasiki nursing staff to get acquainted with new approaches to treatment. That's exactly what we had hoped for!
Why does it take us from the Netherlands to get these two directors together? Anyway, today we are the catalyst that gets the reaction going. All in all, an inspiring and emotional visit.
After our visit we have to wait for some time, for the blender must be bought and now it is lunch break. Marga, Masha and Hans go and have a look at the nunnery on the corner of the street. Two beautiful churches, surrounded by a wall with a splendid flower-garden inside. Then we have to say goodbye to Masha. She has been a fine companion and interpreter.
After the lunch break we buy the blender. It costs 1,165,840 ruble and now food can be prepared again for the 40 residents without teeth.
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Viktor Ivanovich discussing at Internat No. 3 |
The flower garden at the nunnery |
Vladimir takes us to Stanislav Buko. He is in charge of the department that deals with complaints from the citizens. He tells that his department was created by the President personally and that they have to solve any and all problems put before them. If they fail, they have a problem! The office is in the Presidential Palace.
We have a very constructive conversation. Fortunately, we can tell a few things about the progress we have been making: about the things we have bought and the visit to Internat 3 we have made.
Stanislav calls Maria Alexandrovna at the Department of Labour and Social Care and arranges an appointment for us for tomorrow.
Wednesday, 4th of July. At 10 a.m. we report at the Department. Vladimir is with us. We are met by Maria Alexandrovna and her colleague. We explain what we have been able to do for Tarasiki so far. We don't forget to mention that we cannot pay the costs for all the buildings and the infrastructure, not to mention Maria's dreams as she related it to us last year: moving the whole internat to a place nearer Barysau. What we can do is buying beds now and perhaps later chairs and tables as we have seen them at Internat N 3 in Navinki. We also want to apply for a permit to import medical stuff from the Netherlands. It is true that the dressing material they have asked for is easy enough to smuggle into the country, but being a foundation we want to stick to the rules. Maria's colleague writes down where Viktor must apply for such a permit. It will be a long procedure - and if Belarusians call it long, it might be very long indeed.
Then a very important point. We tell about last year's visit we made with Ingrid van der Lubbe and what she has already done for Internat No. 3 and that she wants to do the same for Tarasiki; how we hope that Viktor is now ready to consider help from Lunetzorg in The Netherlands.
Now our problem: why is there no psychiatrist, no psychologist, no psychiatrically trained staff, no fysiotherapist? Whereas they do have them in other internats. Of course, we understand the problem: Tarasiki is situated far from anywhere, but even then.
Maria explains that according to the staff register there ought to be a psychologist. She looks and finds that the last one retired about 2½ years ago. It is Viktor's task to find a new one. We emphasize the importance we attach to such a person working there by stating that we are willing - if necessary - to supply a premium on top of his or her salary. As a result, Maria calls Viktor to discuss the point. It is a lively conversation, though a bit unilateral.
We touch the idea of working according to contract. Maria indicates that such a contract must state clearly the duties and rights, and must include plans for professional training. Under such a contract it is possible to send someone abroad for further training courses.
With feelings of satisfaction we say good-bye. We are invited to visit again next time to evaluate the situation then.
That night a ‘train’ cabin trunk full of drawings and paintings done by Down children is delivered to Hans' Minsk home by Yura and Tatiana. Marga will try and sell them back home.
We are grateful to be able to say that this was a very valuable visit again. With thanks to all the people who have supported us with donations and prayers, in word and in deed.
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Real Veldhoven bonnets and scarves |
Friends all around |
The Pearls of Tarasiki
On the 26th of March 2007, we made our first visit to Tarasiki, a tiny village about 60 kilometers to the north-east of Minsk in Belarus. Tarasiki is also the name of a psychoneurological institute. It is situated at the end of the road. The only way to get away from it is by tracing your steps back. We could do this, but the inhabitants serve a life sentence for the one and single crime they have committed - they have a mental handicap.
In Minsk province there are 13 such institutes. The national government spends a dollar and a half per day on each resident, a paltry sum even by Belarusian standards.
Working with handicapped people is not very popular in Belarus. This is made worse in the case of Tarasiki: in summer the situation of the institute may seem idyllic, but its remoteness from the nearest cities, Zhodina and Barysau, makes it harder than usual to find people interested to work there.
On the outside, things look pretty reasonable, especially when the weather is fine. But even from the distance you are confronted with an unfamiliar pungent smell. This smell is all pervading, but outside and inside all the buildings, including the director's office.
This is small wonder when you consider the condition of the toilets, showers, beds, mattresses, blankets. Several of the residents are incontinent, but sanitary material is scarce: one nappy in four days. A bath is a fortnightly luxury. Underwear something for the happy few.
When you see and smell some of the mattresses you would think those without are better off! And the toilets you couldn't persuade us to use, not even in our direst need....
The barracks were built by German POWs in 1944. The outside has recently been white-washed, the inside has seen very little maintenance. By a miracle some Irish, in cooperation with some locals are now doing up one of the barracks for men. This means the other building for the men is overcrowded, with the majority of them sleeping on the concrete floors. Their bed frames have been thrown out and is seems unlikely that even in Belarus they will find a scrap-dealer interested in them.
Yet in the two barracks for women we saw some decent rooms, offering no privacy, but having a homely sight when compared with the other rooms. In one or two we even saw lace-curtains!
One of the biggest buildings is the Club. When we arrived quite a few residents were walking around outside. Some had a very pleasant appearance and they came to meet us cheerfully; others just loafed around. One was lying on the scarce grass, fetus-like. Inside the club we passed through a room where a group of residents with glazed eyes were watching TV. In the next room there was a long table piled with jigsaw puzzles. Later we learned that this room was used for occupational therapy, led by a young woman, Tatiana. She even takes on some of the aggressive residents who normally spend most of their time in an isolation cell. It was her faith that brought her here and that keeps her going. Tatiana is a miracle.
Our guide is Zhenya. He is the so-called kult-organisator, which means that he is responsible for the spiritual welfare of the residents. He works there 6 days a week and has been doing this for 8 years now. The only thing he can offer for free is the gospel. Every morning at 7 - apart from Sundays when he is with his family at Barysau - he conducts a Bible and prayer meeting. Together with his great help, Yana, he sings songs and shows fragments of a film on the life of Jesus. Marga attended a meeting and she was struck by the fact that some of the 20 people present beamed happiness and cordiality.
Other things that are done by the residents? Some of them help to fetch the food from the kitchen for those who cannot go to the canteen for meals. Some help to hoe the few flower-beds there are. Others help the boilermen to collect firewood or carry coal. Some even work at the nearby collective farm in exchange for the use of the farm's truck. There is no vegetable garden as they have no seeds to plant. They do have some pigs and cows, though. In this way they can provide for their own meat and milk, probably rare items at meals, esp. meat.
We also noticed two tractors, long since retired, and a bus without an engine. What to do when someone has to be taken to hospital? They know the problem but not the answer.
One of the many problems is drinking water. This is pumped up from the local swamp, which means it is stiff with all sorts of contamination - a disaster for people's teeth. The majority of the residents have only some brown stumps left of what were once their teeth.
What about the people as we saw them in their barracks? In most of the rooms we saw people. Several of them were bedridden because of severe physical handicaps. Imagine the worst and you will find them here. Other were on the floors or on their beds, sometimes with their limbs in unimaginable array as though they had been broken and put together again in a clumsy fashion.
Anxiety and angst in many eyes! In one of the isolation cells there was a woman who cried out this from the bottom of her soul, unintelligible words, but a very clear message.
In another room about 10 people were huddled together in some strange attitudes. They stared at us with anxious or angry faces. Dogs in our country have far better living conditions than these people have. Do they get any treatment, we wondered. In the course of our visit we only learnt about medication: sedatives for those who turn violent now and then.
Our visit - unintentionally - meant a holiday, a prazdnik, for the residents, because we had brought some boxes with fruit: apples and oranges. Bad luck that we didn't have one for everybody. We should have bought more, but now we cut each into halves. We were persuaded to make the rounds and hand out the fruit to the residents. We were utterly embarrassed to do this but we had to do it. It was a very useful lesson: what we at home consider practically nothing (half an apple) is here a treat! And we will never forget that one room where it was impossible to breathe and hence stay for more than half a minute because of the stench. There some women crawled from under the table to grap their treat from our hands and then with their grimy faces, their torn skirts, their scared faces, hurried back to the safety of their den, the dark hiding place under the table, at the feet of their companions in misery.
It shouldn't be hard to imagine that we want to work for these people, to help change their living conditions, to find means for psychiatric treatment, to bring dignity into their lives.
We left this hell, they are still there, waiting for God to release them. You can help us if you want to share our task:
Speak, yourself, on behalf of the dumb,
on behalf of all the unwanted;
speak, yourself, pronounce a just verdict,
uphold the rights of the poor, of the needy.
(Proverbs 31, 8-9)
