Not living, but surviving
They do not speak on their behalf because they are old, tired, and sick. I will speak on their behalf. It is our retired parents and grandparents who are wary of the current life in Ukraine because they are left with practically no means to survive. With the current economic situation in Ukraine and every-day skyrocketing prices for everything starting from a loaf of bread that costs 12 hryvnias now (average price), life for the older people turned to be a misery. It is so bad that I will not be afraid to say that during the Soviet times, they had more groceries at home than they have now. That is why when you ask a 75 year old grandmother about her life she would tell you that in the 1980s she had a better life. These people used to rely on the state and the state provided them with mostly everything. Nowadays they cannot adjust to the market economy with their scarce means to live a decent life. They are old, tired, and sick and do not receive a sufficient assistance from the government that they deserve for the years of their service.
I won’t even speak about vacations, clothes, and nice places because these people think how they can buy a loaf of bread and how they can move forward with their lives. Things like butter, meat and chocolate are luxury goods for them nowadays. They are making list every month what they can buy next month on their pension. If this month they buy a piece of fish, may be next month they can buy a piece of meat, and it is only if they do not get sick.
The town, where my grandma lives, used to be full of buzz with many children on summer holidays. We used to play games, fish, and swim in the pond. Every single summer I spent with my grandma. I never regret; I will cherish these memories forever.
Now when I go to visit my grandma, I am hiding my tears from her. All what I see it is only dark, broken houses left with the old pensioners just like my grandma, left alone to live on 1,100 hryvnias a month (it’s not even $50 under current exchange rate). No words! My grandmother gave forty years of her young life working at the “kolhosp” (collective farm). It was not easy. She used to take me there, so I could see how bread becomes the bread we have on our tables. Her farm was responsible for cultivating grains like wheat, rye, oat, millet, corn and beets etc. The government gave them the same products they cultivated in addition to a small salary. My mother and my uncle both graduated from the colleges. Now my mother, who is retired nurse, receives pension for the amount of 1,200 hryvnias a month (it is about $52) after working at the hospital for 30 years.
Things are different in Ukraine now. Farms became deserted; young people cannot survive in the villages. People used to live off their farms. But now it became inefficient because the cost they pay for the materials, labor, and service is much higher than they get back after selling the products. The beautiful villages turned to the ghost-towns and the endless wheat fields grow weeds now (not what you are thinking). What left for our old generation is to pray God every single day and a few times a day and ask to keep them strong and healthy for another day, week, month, and year. Where is the government whose role is to support its citizens? They forgot them. They were needed when young and healthy but when they are old and sick, no one needs them anymore, except, for their own families who barely make ends meet.
Last time, when I visited my grandma, she was crying and asking God so she could see me again one day. That was a heartbreaking moment that I would never forget. I hope I would see her this summer again. I live in the States, in New York, I am happy I can help my family in some way. But what about millions of grandparents – they are lonely and poor.
Recently I read in the news that the Ukrainian government was raising salaries for investigators who would “investigate and combat corruption.” “These people deserve to earn 30,000 hryvnias a month,” said the Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk (see Арсеній Яценюк’s Facebook post from March 29th). 30,000 hryvnias it is about $1,304 now. Just think about $50 for a 75 year old retiree v. $1,304 for a young man/woman. Someone can say $1,304 for month in Ukraine is not enough because everything is so expensive. What should a grandmother say who gets $50 pension..? She silently cries.
By raising salaries for some people and leaving behind other people, the government creates unfair inequality, dividing country on rich and poor. I could not sleep that night after reading that news. I felt pain for all those retirees who could not afford health care (Ukraine does not have government health care system). Those who complain about “Medicare” or “ObamaCare”, please, think twice.
My grandmother got seriously ill last December. To live, she needed surgery and $700 immediately (medications in Ukraine are extremely expensive). With my family’s savings, they were able to save my grandmother. What about a grandmother whose children do not have $700..?
Do not get me wrong, I do support the current Ukrainian government. I cheered when Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk came to New York City right after the Revolution to give his speech in the United Nations, I voted for them, I volunteered on both elections but I just wish they planned better economic policies. So a grandmother and a corruption investigator both feel protected and have bread on their tables. To help them, we have to speak about this and other problems in Ukraine and ask questions. Just like we do it in the United States.
Sources:
Author’s memories and observations.
Арсеній Яценюк / Facebook posts.
“Кабмін хоче створити національну поліцію та підвищити зарплати окремим слідчим до 30 тисяч гривень.” Більше читайте тут: http://tsn.ua/politika/kabmin-hoche-stvoriti-nacionalnu-policiyu-ta-pidvischiti-zarplati-okremim-slidchim-do-30-tisyach-griven-419548.html
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