November 17, 1996
Lydia Kubik-Bauer visited Chernihiv earlier this month where the The Chernobyl Fund with the help of Compassion Humanitarian Relief delivered a twenty foot container on August 30th. Click here for the story. Another container with the support of the Lafayette, Indiana community is headed here in mid-December. Lydia files this report....
-----------
After our stop at the Kiev depot, Yevgeniy, Galina and I continued our journey north three hours to Chernigov. Traveling is always so precarious in Ukraine. The driver needs to be prepared for any repair necessary. We had a flat tire along the way and the driver even carried a small, portable compressor in the car to inflate the spare. I told them I just call for help from my cell phone and get roadside service within 30 minutes. While we were waiting for the tire change, I took a walk in the woods off the road. There were mushrooms everywhere. I also noticed many people selling mushrooms by the road. Wild mushroom gathering is a very popular pastime in Ukraine but obviously you need to know what you are doing. This year many people told me that over 2000 people died from poisonous mushrooms, mostly children. The news shows were asking people to be extra cautious. The theory of why all these deaths this year is that many people who do not know their mushrooms are gathering them for food out of economic necessity with tragic consequences.
We finally make it to Chernigov to the Hotel Pri-Desnyanski where you and Maurice stayed in April. Again, the hotel was practically empty and the sign at the front desk still said "NO VACANCIES." At 7 PM Dr. Vasiliy Pasechnik, Director of the Ukraine "Revival" Children's Centre picked me up and took me to the restaurant "Druzhba" that you recommended. There we had a private dining room and met with Dr. Anna Yakobova, Dr. Nataliya Zenchenko, and two others. The six of us had a wonderful time and the food was very good. The next morning, I would get a tour of the Centre.
The tour of the Centre the next day was one of the highlights of my trip. It was the first institution I saw in Ukraine that was moving FORWARD rather than just trying to survive. The serious economic decline of the country since the breakup of the Soviet Union has had major negative effects on all institutions: hospitals, clinics, collective farms, schools, etc. The Centre, however, grew out of a great need (many disabled children in the area, resulting primarily from the after effects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident 10 years ago) and the vision of a group of physicians headed by Dr. Pasechnik. The one word that describes the Centre best is "un-Soviet" (if there is such a word). The Centre is warm, bright, colorful, cheerful, unique. There is no other center like this in Ukraine. The children (30 at a time) come to the Centre daily for 4 weeks of therapy. They are given instructions for continued therapy at home. If they continue to improve, they get to come back for another 4 week round of therapy that they all want to do because it is so much fun.
The Centre fully integrates the physical, emotional, and social needs of the children in their treatment; a concept new to Ukraine. Another unique feature of the Centre is that the parents are actively involved in the therapies of their children. A parent or guardian accompanies the child daily to the Centre. The child goes through the different therapies daily: physical therapy, massage, hydrotherapy, vocational training (sewing, hand crafts, woodworking, computers) and is seen by physicians for medical needs: shots, vitamins, testing, etc. Another "forward" thinking concept of the Centre is that it is located next to a daycare center for well children. Previously, in Soviet days, disable people were never integrated into society. Prior to this visit, I had spent a total of 5 months in the Soviet Union and had NEVER seen one disabled person. I commented on this to the staff of the Centre and they said that in old Soviet days anything outside of a range called "normal" was not recognized. This concept applied to both sides of the range called "normal." Dr. Zenchenko is very interested in starting a program for gifted children in the future, another new concept contrary to old Soviet ideology.
I hand carried some requested medicines to Dr. Pasechnik from the Chernobyl Fund: antibiotics (penicillin, amoxicillin, erythromicin) and epilepsy medicine (dilantin) and they were very grateful to receive the medicines. I also got to see a number of the items previously shipped in a container they received in August: art supplies, paper, scissors, glue, medicines, and vitamins. It was great to see the items the Chernobyl Fund provided being used.
Vic, it was a great visit. Thank you for introducing me to your friends in Chernigov. Their work is making a huge difference in the lives of the children they treat. The work of the Chernobyl Fund is helping make their work possible.
Lydia