Winner of the competition

Seeing Irina Shumaeva at the rally of front-rank workers, I was not surprised at all. On the contrary, her appearance there was taken for granted -- the technician for artificial insemination of cattle at the "Ladna" joint-stock company has been a winner of the competition among workers of her profession for several years. We have met her more than once on the farms of the enterprise, and talked in her cottage in the village of Zaluchina. Perhaps this time I would not have written about the undoubted merits of the specialist, if not for the fact that on the eve of my visit to the "Staroye Ladna" farm, the chief zootechnician Lyudmila Vertashonok described the inseminator from another, previously unknown to me, angle. Irina travels around the farms in her own car when the enterprise experiences technical transport failures -- anything can happen. And I decided to talk to Shumaeva again and discovered new facets of her life.

One figure from Irina Shumaeva's production performance is puzzling. From 100 cows, she obtained 103 offspring. How can this be?

-- It happens that one cow calves at the beginning and at the end of the year, -- explains Irina Shumaeva. -- It happens that one animal gives birth to twins.

It happens, but for some reason only Shumaeva achieved such a result.

At first glance, it might seem that Irina is a hereditary livestock breeder, who has been attached to hard peasant labor since childhood. But no. Ira Konakovich was born in the city of Volzhsky, Volgograd region. She encountered village life only during school holidays, which she spent in the virgin lands of the Kustanai region of Kazakhstan, where her grandparents lived. But even there, the girl had no time for farm village affairs -- there were no fewer peers in the large village of Gaydar than in Volzhsky. Games, entertainment, hikes around the neighborhood... After the eighth grade, she entered the pedagogical college. She did not stop visiting the Virgin Lands during the holidays. And in her fourth year, she transferred to a correspondence course and went to Gaydar for her own wedding with the state farm's electrician-fitter-stoker Sergey Shumaev. She began to teach mathematics and drawing at the local school.

The Shumaevs built themselves a house. Irina gave birth to a son, Sergey, and four years later, a daughter, Nastya. They earned well. They lived prosperously. They would have lived to a peaceful old age if Kazakhstan had not separated from the Soviet Union. Soon, the water supply was cut off. Electricity was disconnected. Bus service between the district center and Gaidar, lost in the vast steppes, was cancelled. The local Germans rushed to flee to Germany, the Belarusians to Belarus, the Russians to Russia. The Shumaevs chose Lyadnetskaya Slobodka, where Valentina Smazhevskaya, Sergey's mother, spent her childhood and grew up.

They could not sell the house because Sergey had not worked for a certain period in the state farm. The Shumaevs arrived at the Chapayev collective farm in Lepel with the money earned from selling furniture and livestock in 1997. The chairman, Vasily Pshonka, allocated a house in Staroye Lyadno, and Sergey was appointed an electrician. Irina went to milk cows. Soon, they received a new cottage in Zaluchye.

The diligence of the new milkmaid and her knowledge of animal habits were soon noticed by livestock specialists from the district. They offered her to master the specialty of an inseminator. It was a responsible job. However, she took on the new task. Special courses were not needed – she had gained enough practical experience during seven years of work as a milkmaid. The chief veterinarian-gynecologist of the breeding station, Nikolai Khamichonok, quickly taught Irina the new profession. The woman has since independently mastered the duties of a livestock specialist breeder.

Vladimir SHUSHKEVICH
Photo by the author

In the photo: Irina Shumaeva in the recreation room of the "Staroye Lyadno" farm