I used to live in downtown Minsk, and many of the videos of the August and Fall 2020 events you may have seen on your Telegram channels were taken from my balcony. On August 9-11, when there was no Internet in the whole country, I was glad that I had managed to set up a proxy, had Internet, and was able to quickly send the necessary information about the movements of security forces to the people who needed it. I had no idea at the time that this connection with the administrators of telegram channels would “bounce back” back to me almost a year later…
Throughout the fall I tried to actively participate in women's and general marches, and if I couldn't (I was raising a child alone), I tried to help in other ways — I participated in events in our neighborhood, organized meetings, distributed flyers, stickers, etc. And I kept up a correspondence with the administrator of a popular Telegram channel, sending all the information available to me, until I realized that someone else was answering my questions on his account … I deleted the correspondence, but of course it was already too late.
On July 14, early in the morning my mother called me. She said: “you don't have much time, you'll have them soon.”
She had just been searched, the officers were looking for me, since I was registered there. My mother was in a state of shock, they took her by surprise in the morning, wouldn't let her stay alone in her room to get dressed, searched her things, “joked” that they could plant drugs if they wanted to… She could hardly speak because of the stress, but said that they knew about my “walks” in the fall and about “connections with extremists”. I realized that I almost didn't have time, since our houses were not far away. It took me an hour to pack my backpack — my laptop, documents and some stuff. Luckily my kid was at camp and didn't experience that stress, so I had time to quickly leave the empty apartment. That night I was able to leave the country thanks to the help of concerned people.
On the way to the border with Ukraine, my traveling companions and I were in a very serious traffic accident. The story of the family we were traveling with can be found here.
We were all wearing seat belts, but were seriously injured. I had 7 broken ribs and bruises and spent a week in the Kiev emergency hospital. It has now been three weeks, but I still feel acute pain when I move, and I was prescribed bed rest for another month, as multiple rib fractures can lead to complications and lung disease. I take painkillers all the time and it can be difficult to collect my thoughts, but the most difficult thing is to sleep, I can only lie in one position and wake up in pain if I turn around by accident… I still have to have several expensive examinations and I don't know when I will be able to start working, the doctors have difficulty giving prognoses with these kinds of injuries.
My child is still in Belarus with my relatives and I can't bring him here, so I have to support him and myself here. My savings, which I hoped to live on until I find a job in another country, are already spent on medical treatment, and I have to ask for help to keep us both alive until I can get back to a healthy life.
Thank you in advance to all caring people, I know for sure that there are many of us and that together we will win!
How much is needed?
3,530 € — 1) Home rental for 3-4 months: 850 €;
2) Accommodation and food for a child in Belarus for 3-4 months: 1200 €;
2) Food for 3-4 months: 480 €;
3) Stuff (clothes, stationery, dishes, personal hygiene): 250 €;
4) School preparation and September living expenses (clothes, stationery, payment of school books and required contributions): 200 €;
4) Three to four months' expenses for mobile services: € 50;
5) Repeated medical examination after the accident. CT scan, doctor's consultations, medicines: 300 €;
6) Refund of money borrowed from friends for the first period of treatment and examinations: 200€