Residents of Lepel have been to Yamal more than once. For several years now, a youth construction squad has been formed in our town, which travels every summer to work in the Russian Far North, in the permafrost zone. This year, twenty-four young men from the Lepel region, students of the lyceum and college, headed to the Yamal Peninsula, “beyond the fog and the smell” … of money.
They returned not so long ago, in mid-September. The guys not only worked “normally” but also earned “normally”. They also brought cool souvenirs and a lot of different impressions back to their homeland.
They travelled by train from Minsk to Moscow. There they changed trains and again by train from Moscow to Labytnangi. Then they spent the night in a dormitory, and in the morning they took a train to Bovanenkovo. This is their base. From there, it is a stone's throw to the Kara Sea – only sixty-four kilometres. Nenets people roam there, herding reindeer. They are a peculiar people. They wear reindeer skins and have dogs. But they have their own generators. They have computers and DVDs. They live quite well. Their children study in city schools.
They worked on construction sites – at a communication hub, at sewage treatment facilities, painted overpasses, fences, levelled soil, and also worked on road construction. The first shift was from seven in the morning until six in the evening, the second shift was at night.
There is something to remember. They travelled half of Russia. They crossed the Ural Mountains – such beauty! They stopped in Moscow, visited Red Square. They saw Ukraine, as they returned through Kharkiv. They saw the world. For those who always stay at home, it is difficult to even imagine how beautiful and multifaceted the world is.
Uladzimir MIKHNO
In the photo: Yamal weekdays of Lepel guys