Personal reflections of Belarus
Family in county where life is hard and winters are very cold
Retired school principal, aged 63, life is hard!
My wife and me hosted two children from the city of Mogilev five summers ago through Chernobyl Children's Life Line. We visited Belarus that October 1998 for the first time. It was a great culture shock that has never gone away, even though I have been back several times.
My first impression was the excitement of the teachers and parents of the children who treated us as royalty. Most of the people had never met westerners before and I imagine it was as great a shock to them as it is to us. Their generosity at their meal tables and in giving their time was a never to be forgotten experience. I fell in love with Belarus at that first visit.
The second impression was the poverty of the people we met and the poor state of repair of all the public amenities that we take for granted. The toilets in the city were unimaginably dirty and ineffective and the queues for buses arduous and time wasting. It takes people hours to get to work at times. The shops, when we could find them hidden in the dark and without any advertising, were depressing with little to offer but the basics. Generally the people were depressed but resigned to the inefficiencies of the system.
On subsequent trips things have not improved. One can still drive hundreds of miles without seeing a petrol station or a toilet or a cafe. All this is soon forgotten because the countryside is so full of forests and small villages that it is a pleasure to drive though this beautiful land. Incidentally I would not suggest that it is wise to drive there yourself, especially in the cities, as few people have insurance. The roads are straight but apart from the one motorways from Brest to Minsk and then to Moscow there are no motorways, only two lane A roads. The roads in the villages are mud and few paved off the main roads.
I must return to the people. They are a beautiful people in character, they are so keen to learn about our life-styles and our customs. They are mostly a very cultured and well educated people Their television, though drab by our standards, presents mostly serious drama or documentaries about the Great Patriotic War! They are desperate to do business with us but have no money to further their ambitions. They mostly lack ideas and a visit to the west would soon give them a thousand new ideas and motivations.
Life in Belarus has been one of survival for centuries. They barter ceaselessly because they cannot rely of their currency, the rouble.Four years ago the exchange rate for the dollar was 50,000 roubles, last July it was 500,000 roubles. The governoment has since dropped three 0’s from rouble. With inflation like than survival is very difficult. Wages are very low. The highest paid are carpenters but professionals like teachers, lecturers, dentists and doctors are lucky to earn $25 (£16) per month. The cost of food, for many items is very high and most Belarusians survive on potatoes and vegetables and they buy meat about once a week - if they are lucky. To live at a better standard most people work with two full-time jobs.
