With the assistance of volunteers from Germany and students from Belarusian educational institutions, 26 new houses have been built in the village of Stary Lepel for people relocated from the Chernobyl zone, using environmentally friendly materials – long wood shavings and reeds.
With the assistance of volunteers from Germany and students from Belarusian educational institutions, 26 new houses have been built in the village of Stary Lepel for people relocated from the Chernobyl zone, using environmentally friendly materials – long wood shavings and reeds. In the near future, a new paramedic and obstetric station and a house for medical workers, built using new technology, will be commissioned.
To ensure that the villagers' leisure time is interesting and memorable, a cultural and educational centre was built on the initiative of representatives of the charitable organisation “Houses instead of Chernobyl”. The head of the centre, Lyudmila Supeeva, and her like-minded colleagues, Olga Dzemko and Svetlana Tukhta, are the authors of the interesting project “Life of the Elderly in Germany and Belarus”.
The centre offers programmes for the elderly, children, and youth. Everyone has the opportunity to attend various clubs and courses, together in a warm, friendly atmosphere. For example, foreign language lessons are held at the centre. Both the elderly and young people have the opportunity to attend the “Golden Needle” and “Handicrafts” courses. Visitors to the centre enjoy participating in the “Local Lore” courses under the guidance of Olga Dzemko, the “Rainbow” fine arts studio, and the “Ceramics” and “Modelling” clubs. Pensioner women who are good at cooking actively share the secrets of culinary mastery with young housewives in the “Old Grandma’s Recipes” courses.
The main focus of the work is to establish strong connections and continuity between young people and the elderly, who in their time dedicated many decades to honest work in organisations and enterprises and possess rich life experience.
The German foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” in cooperation with the International Public Association “Mutual Understanding” is implementing the programme “Meeting Place – Dialogue” in Belarus. The aim is to provide financial and methodological support for projects that contribute to the improvement of the social and psychological state of the elderly, especially victims of Nazi persecution and Stalinist repressions, and to develop dialogue between the older generation and youth. The project of the International Charitable Public Association “EcoDom” has received financial support from these organisations.
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For many years, guests from Germany – Hinrich Hermann Rusmeier, Dieter Stockmeyer, and Gisela Schomaker – have been visiting the Lepel region. They come to our district to meet and hear the memories of those who endured the terrible paths of war, and to promote reconciliation between the peoples of Belarus and Germany.
The latest visit of our German friends to the village of Stary Lepel became a memorable event. In the hall of the cultural and educational centre, following a good tradition, a "sweet table" was organised. The elderly guests were warmly welcomed by Hinrich Hermann Rusmeier, as well as his colleagues Dieter Stockmeyer and Gisela Schomaker. The director of the centre, Lyudmila Supeeva, invited everyone to enjoy fragrant pies. A sincere, friendly conversation over a cup of coffee took place. The guests were shown vibrant photographs depicting joint events held at the centre and interesting trips.
Gisela Schomaker suggested taking an excursion into the past and reminiscing about their school years with the elderly guests. Using photographs, a presentation was given about the work of German schools from the early 1930s to the present day. Residents of the Lepel region also shared their memories of their school years.
During the presentation of Hinrich Hermann Rusmeier's book, each attendee felt with their heart the great bitterness of the war that affected the destinies of Belarusians. From the pages of the books, familiar faces of people who survived the horrors of war looked out. Among them were Galina Gerasimovna Klavovich, who worked at a school for many years; concentration camp prisoners Nadezhda Femichna Arkadyeva and Sigismund Frantsevich Stankevich; Maria Trofimovna Lameko; and nurse Anna Ignatovna Filipova, who saved wounded soldiers more than once and was awarded the title "Honorary Donor of the USSR". Also included were recollections of the war from Anatoly Semyonovich Khanyak, who became an Honorary Citizen of Lepel in 2009, his wife Alena Petrovna Cheklina, who dedicated many years to working at a school, and many other people.
As a memento of the meeting, our German guests presented the centre's director, Lyudmila Supeeva, with commemorative souvenirs. For example, a souvenir depicting a fish symbolises the connection between the Baltic and North Seas, and thus, a strong friendship between the peoples of Germany and Belarus will continue. Each participant of the meeting also received a beautiful postcard as a keepsake, depicting famous places and monuments of Germany.
Every guest received an excellent mood on this day. Both the elderly and the youth sang Belarusian folk songs and danced. People who experienced the difficult post-war years have not lost sincere kindness in their hearts, and therefore each of them deserves special respect and warm words of gratitude from the younger generation.
Sviatlana SILVANOVICH.
In the photo: Hinrikh Herman Rusmeyer presents memorable souvenirs to the director of the cultural and educational center, Liudmila Supeeva.
Photo by the author.