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We have a whole bunch of diseases: cerebral spastic infantile paralysis, microcephaly, convulsive disorder… Treatment is permanently needed. We cannot help with convulsions. The girl takes lots of medicines. Of course, it is very hard to find the way out of such a situation.
The girl takes two anticonvulsants at the same time. One of them costs 50 hryvnyas, the other is a bit cheaper. We get them from a hospital for free. But this is not enough. We need stimulating medications. There are no medications we need in Ukraine. A special Swiss medicine is delivered from Moscow. This medication is very expensive. One packing costs 50 US dollars. This is enough for a month, and the medicine should be taken regularly. The hospital cannot afford giving such amount of money.
When I turned to Prodyvus Fund, I just wrote in the application that I needed money for treatment. And the necessary money was given at once. Besides, they permanently help us with food. There is butter, oil, sugar, cheese, cereals, in other words - everything one need everyday.
I do not work because Karina is not able to sit without assistance, she does not speak and becouse of all the problems arising from this situation. We obtain the child's pension amounting 300 UAH. And my husband is a pensioner too. All in all, we have about 700 UAH for a family of four persons.
You ask me if we have enough provision. But can one have enough provision?
Each time I write an application for material aid to the Social Centre. And they give provisions there without any applications - just after addressing them.
Compulsory payments: 70 UAH is the apartment payment, 50 UAH - the telephone bill. If it is too cold, we turn on sometimes a heater. Then, of course, we have to pay more. We have also to pay some school charges. We always give money for this or that. These are our compulsory payments. A bit more than 500 hryvnyas are left for everything else - food, clothing, beds, washing powder, soap, tooth-paste and so on.
My mother is a pensioner, but she is still working. She tries to change me when she can. My husband's parents help me with provisions. They have a small summer cottage, and potatoes, beetroot, carrots are grown there… They provide us with this foodstuff.
In Vinnitsa the medicine is quite poor. We were constantly told: "The child has no pathologies". Taking into account that the child cannot speak, cannot walk… We were in Kiev, in Moscow. And there diagnosis was made. The hope for recovery is faint, it is possible only abroad and the costs are enormous. And for the time being, we were told to do therapeutic physical training, massages to prevent muscle atrophy. But the massage is very complicated and we cannot perform it ourselves. A visit of a specialist costs 10 hryvnyas. It is very expensive for us. And again - to take the girl to the hospital by taxi? After the trip she feels even worse. Karina is already 10 and she weights 25 kilos, she is heavy. And the hospital is in the centre of the town and we leave in the outskirts. So, we have massages infrequently. Though, it is necessary to perform a course of 10 massages every other month. In spite of the fact that there are centres for such children in the town, when they get to know that my child has convulsions, they reject to take her.
I would like to meet Volodymyr Stepanovych and thank him. Because nobody does what he does. Though, the social security agency might give a kind of present for a New Year. Sick children's mothers communicate with each other of course. And everybody knows, except for Volodymyr Stepanovych no businessman will give you a penny…
Once I filed an application for material aid to the social security agency. I was told that I would not obtain more than 50 UAH. It was a year ago. They have been deciding up to now whether I really need the money. They may have decided that I can cope without the money. I came to the social security agency another time, as they had to install a water meter for me. It os said, low-income people are meant to have such a meter installed for free. I was waiting for a year, coming to them, asking them. The answer was the same: "We know about you, just wait". And we have a common meter for the whole house. In spite of the fact that we have grants, every three months we get a bill to pay additional 100 UAH. Where can we take the money? We saved some money, my father helped us and we bought a meter for 40 UAH. Now we do not overpay at least this hundred. Today I pay for water only 10 UAH per month, and no waste. It is very significant for us.
I often ask myself, where such a kind person as Volodymyr Stepanovych has come from. Then I got to know that he himself comes from a poor family, he saw much in his life, he went through a lot. And now, when he managed to become independent, he became a thorn in someone's side. Why, they say: if he is rich, he is a gangster. If he wants to be elected to the authorities, he is a gangster. Recently I have learned that he is not going to be elected. I ask people, who he has hurt at least once. Nobody.
Instead, everybody knows the opposite. He is well spoken of in our houses. On the first floor a new neighbour have settled recently. Before he lived in "Vishenka" (a micro-district of Vinnitsa). When he learned that I apply to the Social Centre to Volodymyr Stepanovych, the neighbour asked me to help him just to see him. He said, he wanted to thank Volodymyr Stepanovych in person When they lived in "Vishenka", he repaired the roof of their house. It was 10 years ago, and the neighbour has still been worrying that he had not thanked the kind person.
You would better ask common people, not those who are in meetings. And people will tell you: entrance combinations locks were installed in our houses by Volodymyr Stepanovych. The houses were built in the 1960s, they are just tumble-down, entrances are dirty, God only knows who goes there to and fro. In the basements water was stagnant, stucco coating was falling down, in other words - there was a disaster. And all of a sudden a new door appeared in the entrance. All the tenants of the house rushed there. Asking how they succeeded. "We asked Volodymyr Stepanovych", was the answer. We went to the Social Centre with applications. Before, we applied to housing departments, various town service agencies - no reaction. When we came to the Social Centre, there was a great queue too. We thought it was useless. Though, we left our application. Can you imagine, masters came at once, made necessary measurement, brought the doors and now we have no such problem in our house. I do not walk about the town too much. But people say that Volodymyr Stepanovych installs such doors everywhere.
You know, it may be not so good that we turn to one and the same person with our problems. After all, he is not obliged to help strangers. And nobody helps, except for him. But it is useless to turn to the social security agency, housing departments… Strange as it may seem, Volodymyr Stepanovych has become for us both the housing department and social security agency… One can turn to him with any question. And youi know, he organized everything in such a way that you do not feel humble, though to ask is always shameful. And we try to turn to him only if the worst comes to the worst. We realize that he gives us his own, not stolen. He gives it to those people who will not be able to survive without his help. He has even never seen us, because he is a very busy person.
Still, you can see that he has found time to establish this Social Centre. And the people, who work there, are special - hearty and understanding. Where could he find such people now? That might be because he is sympathetic himself, and people surrounding him are sympathetic too. And he does not wait us to make bows before him.
… He has enough kindness for everybody. There are many of us who would like to thank him in person.