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welcome to visit the
reality in
UKRAINE
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I won´t bored you
out from here with some trivial, official facts about Ukraine that you can
find elsewhere!
This is simple how I
experience the situation
Jan.- Feb.-99
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I went down to
Kiev after the media reports of the extremely cold winter, that poor
people were freezing to death over there. A couple of friends here
in Stockholm (no organization) gather up some warm clothes, shoes and
money and then they kicked me down to check...
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First of all - I
divided this journey in two sites the other one is - if you wish - a visit
in an orphanage(childhouse)
or
kinderheim (Deutsch)
in the city of
Boyarka, a town 90 km south of Chornobyl.
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I was living in
some private flats with different families, so I had an unique opportunity
to see and share their daily duties. ( Also hotels are extremly
expensive.)
I was even, for a couple of days, living with a "rich"
family who were separated from the rest of the "pack" with huge locks and
other safety devices, but I leave them behind here, because I found them
quite cynical.
But it might give you a rather one-sided
description, then I choose to guide you around the poor and middle
classes, but on the other hand - thats what interesting
here.
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So, let´s start
down town in Kiev, we
visit a hotel and check the rooms.
-Prices for one night? From $200
and up...such as this or
this room
(no hostess
include...)
Just
around the corner - down the city tunnels - is this a cold fact:
cold.1 cold.2 cold.3 cold.4 cold.5 cold.6 cold.7 cold.8 cold.9 cold.10 cold.11 cold.12 cold.13
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Quite scary...and
cold...let´s warm up in Mac Donalds, here are two of them ...inside it´s
warm and crowdy...and cheap, one Big Mac around- $1.30...so let´s invite
some beggars here!
No reaction from the staff, here are everybody
welcome (if you can
afford it)and the kids love it.
They think it was a splendid idea...
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-Now let´s catch
the metro to a suburb
and celebrate...yes today it´s the 7.th of January...it´s Christmas!!!
The Metro (from 1960) is a smooth, cheap (8
cent) and a clean (Yes!) way to cross the city.(Bit
crowdy)
5 stations and we
reach Obolon (where they
make very good and famous beer)...this house seems
interesting let´s go inside and check...here´s the caretaker
priviet! (hello)...
now on the second floor, let´s check
inside a flat...and...Priviet......and where
is the party...???...aha...priviet...and...
plenty of peo...priviet
...*...HI...*...
priviet...*... priviet
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-People here are
friendly, very friendly! I´ve never met such kind mentality before, at my
tours worldwide!
But to night we´ll party...first some food. and
then a lot of this...CHEERS...
-Now everybody´s
happy and dancing. Kids
goes from flat to flat and sing Christmas
songs and it´s really a good atmospherehere...by the way...
CHEERS... a
Merry X-MAS and a
Happy New
Year
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Next day we´ll
visit "Sascha" his life and future changed that stupid summer day 3 years
ago at the main river of Dnepro. Eyewitnesses to the accident says "it was
really dramatic and sad"...
"Vovva" drives us to
Sascha.
Sascha tells: Yes it was terrible, all I remember was that I
dived from a cliff down into the water...
Vovva: Yes and we warned you
didn`t we?
Sascha: Yee it was crazy, I know, but what can I do about
that now?
(He point at his legs) 22 y.o, and quick as a snap, he
changed from a healthy sportsman to a cripple...just like
that!
Sascha is paralyzed from
the waist and down, he has a sickness benefit at $10 a month, he lives in
his mothers one-roomed flat. His mom is working every day, her salary is
$40/month.
Sascha has a dream - A new wheel-chair - Yes, so I can come
outside, this chair is broken, "I´ve not been outside since last summer"
Sascha is really down - if you want to cheer him up with a postcard or
something write to:
Update:dec-00
Sascha now have access to a mailbox:
Sascha
Poderveanskey
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Some economic
facts:
Now, if
the salaries are that low (if you get salary) how in the heck can you
survive???
Here´s one answer. biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness/ biz-ness...
Or this might
interest you. Price? one music CD= $1 (cassette less) How much does the
composer get...?
- Yes it,s "biz-ness" big and small, everywhere,
everybody, every way, everyday and everything, it can be from the man who
had to sell his mirror at the street in order to survive - to the Truck
logistic company which was taxed to death by the gov. Nowadays private
persons handle such business, from their home phones and charge 10%.
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Here are
"supermarkets" but the prices are the same - or even more - than in West.
Most of the families has a "datcha" where they can grow what they´ll
need, the harvest is really hard currency here. Ukraine is bigger than
France and have the best ground in Europe (the black soil) most of the
products goes straight out to the street markets as milk directly from the
farmer. (15
cent/l)
Big farm properties here are still run by the gov. (kolchoz)
If you get unemployed, you´ll get nothing in benefit. Here exists no
insurances at all, not even for cars or houses. If you get sick you´ll get
problem, (unless you can afford a private hospital) It dosen´t need to be
more explained than that the hospitals run by the gov. are dependent of
foreign aid.
It is possible to get retirement pension: (norm)
$20/month
It is possible to get child benefit during 8 years:
$5/month.
If you want to buy a car, check these prices...
You´ll
need Dollars to make following business, people don´t trust their own
value: hrivna.
(Avto Bazar
20.01.99)
BMW 316-91=$9900
BMW
316i-91=$12000
BMW 325-91=$11800
BMW 325-91=$13500
BMW
520-91=$10000
BMW 520-90=$9500
BMW 530-94=$25000
Mercedes
190-91=$10500
Mercedes 200E-94=$16400
Mercedes 230E-97=$38000
Mercedes 320-93=$31000
Volvo 740-84=$4500
Volvo 740-86=$5200
Volvo 850-94=$16800
Volvo
940-92=$18000
(gasolin=$0.40/l)
Or may bee you are
interested in a bike BMW
original made in USSR...I´ll
return with more facts and the possibility to export them, they are cheep
compare to cars.
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Interested to buy
an apartment in this house?
(Village) Price 65 sqm.=$16000. Or suburb in
Kiev $24000.
Or may bee
you want your own house, like in Cherkassy? (A town with 500.000 citizen)
Price 250 sqm.=$30.000 Here are a few samples of typical houses in the UA:
house*
house*
house*
house*
house*
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Today
Alex &
Dennis visit us they are
students in this school which is
free of charge, but... you get what you pay for - for instance - there´s
no computer available at their school.
All the lessons are nowadays in
(which was forbidden before) in the Ukrainian language.
- Otherwise we
speak Russian to each other.
Alex & Dennis are fortunate that
their parents pay for private lessons in English, and it´ll increase the
possibility to get (as all young peoples dream is) a work abroad, in the
future...
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If you want to
check out Ukraine by your self this
guy can open a visa for you
- he has a spare apartment in Kiev as well. (close to the subway)
My
second journey to UA was in July - sep.-99 (another
*delivering.)
I´ll
return with some more facts...
Any reactions out there???
Please
mail
to me
If you want to help these streetkids
mail to Mirjam she has now (2003) worked for them during 13 years...(!)
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Trip to
Ukraine -00 here | 
