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Original written by Yevdokia “Dunya” Sheremetyeva and published on her littlehirosima blog; translated from Russian by J.Hawk
This is Pervomaysk’s current reality.
There is no water. Bottles, pots, bathtubs–every available container is filled.
The UAF cut the city’s water supply in May.
Can’t wash, can’t cook food, can’t wash children or bedridden elderly.
It’s a catastrophe for the city.
The city right now has two recently dug wells.
People are manually filling bottles and take them home.
But the problem is that, in order for the city to provide water through its mains at least twice a week, the water tower would have to be supplied by at least four wells, and would need two additoinal pumps.
Which means that two more wells have to be dug.
Ideally as quickly as possible, before the cold sets in.
In the meantime water trucks are delivering water to all parts of the city on designated days, with people filling up their containers.
One has to keep in mind this procedure burns a lot of gasoline. And people have to carry their bottles back to the apartments on foot. The majority have no cars.
And what about the elderly, the single mothers?
Some of them carry over 30 liters of water on their carts, barely standing on their aching feet.
Every drop is worth its weight in gold.
Washing dishes.
Flushing the toilet.
Washing faces.
Cooking.
What more needs be said?
Can you imagine living in a city without water?!
And what will happen when it gets cold?
Heating multi-story houses is impossible without water. Moreover, many apartments don’t have glass windows, only plywood. People are afraid install glass windows, worrying that, in spite of the ceasefire, they can be shattered once again by artillery shell fragments.
The only thing that is being discussed on the internet, on this city’s many forums and groups, is the water problem. Everyone is complaining about the current city administration. But for some reason everyone is forgetting that it’s not the administration that deprived the people of water. It was not the city’s government that deliberately, yes, deliberately, shelled the city’s water supply system to bits.
I saw how Olya Ishchenko, the acting mayor of Pervomaysk, went to visit the drilling workers. I don’t understand anything about it.
There were signs on walls, covered with wise words. And Olya talked to the workers as if she was doing the drilling herself and understood the precise weight of everything in this world.
In the meantime the workers are doing everything to solve this problem.
Lugansk has not given any money for the drilling and pumps–“your own means will have to suffice.” Which is understandable, considering the catastrophic situation of the region as a whole.
But how is the city to deal with it? That’s not clear. The main sources of income for the city’s budget, namely taxes and housing fees, are not being collected. Simply because many have no work, and in addition many no longer have anything to pay fees for–there’s no roof, no windows, no walls. The city is more damaged than any other city on the Donbass. Every house bears signs of shell damage. Nearly everyone spent the winter in cellars. I’ve seen in personally and wrote about it more than once.
Many don’t have money because they have nowhere to get money from.
The city’s utility workers deserve a monument–many of them have worked even under fire and with no pay at all. They patched up roofs, repaired pipelines, eliminated leaks faster than in peaceful cities. They did it to the accompaniment of howling artillery shells.
We’ve brought a lot of food and medicine to this city, and I’ll write about it later.
But right now it’s not as important as the problem of water.
I had a thought, what if we tried to collect money to help the city to buy pumps and drill wells more rapidly?
We’re not even talking a lot of money. For example, an average pump costs 50 thousand rubles. Give or take, depending on its power and where you buy it.
So I’m asking those who trust me to participate.
I understand this may sound like a strange request. It’s abstract, and it’s not as understandable as, say, bringing the elderly with diapers and care supplies. But I think it’s more urgent. Considering that EVERYONE needs water. And especially heating.
We are going to continue delivering aid to the most needy in the region (orphans, homeless, retirees, multi-child families, retirement homes, orphanages, etc.).
But if you decide to send money specifically for the water, then write in your letters or payment descriptions “Pervomaysk Water.” If you don’t indicate that, the money will go directly to humanitarian aid for the needy.
I will transfer the entire collected sum, and only the collected sum, as specified by you, to the acting mayor Olya Ishchenko. Everything we buy will be photographed and posted here.
If anyone wants to evaluate the purchase, or even buy the pump itself, please write me, we’ll think of something.
In general, we are considering all possible aid options!
If you want contribute to humanitarian assistance to the people of the Donbass, contact me in person through my livejournal account, through Facebook, PayPal, or via email: littlehirosima@gmail.com.
Thank you for caring!