Hello!
Despite the fact that I am now safely in Poland, I am not speaking publicly because of my spouse. She is still in Belarus, so I can't reveal my name (BYSOL has the hero's name). I still don't have enough money and no proper housing, so I can't take her out.
When the peaceful protests started in 2020, I went on strike by filing a corresponding application at my company. Colleagues supported me very discreetly, fearing the consequences. The administration reacted to my announcement of the strike in different ways: first they did not accept the application, then they persuaded me to take it back, and later they started threatening me. In the end, everything ended in dismissal.
Being unemployed, I tried to participate in all the actions and marches for myself, my wife and children. I believed that it was necessary to press on and keep up the momentum. After the first wave of arrests and dismissals, together with my wife, we collected food for the victims and delivered it to their addresses. As long as it was safe, we helped the victims financially: we replenished the phone balance, transferred money to cards to the families of the first convicts. I made bchb stickers and distributed them along the street “assigned” to me. They were regularly destroyed, so I had to repeat the stickers often.
Once, I and some of my former colleagues even managed to organize and hold a picket in support of democratic forces. However, repressions against active citizens only intensified. I decided not to risk my freedom and left Belarus for Poland.
I could not find a job in Poland, so I went to my friends in the Czech Republic, where I lived and worked semi-legally. With their help I tried to legalize in the Czech Republic, collected and submitted all the necessary documents to the migration department. But then the war started, and legalization in the Czech Republic for Belarusians by work became on pause.
And also with the beginning of the war I had a task to get my younger son out of Belarus, so that he would not get into the army. He was not yet 18 years old at that time. The only way for him to leave the country was to enter a university abroad. The son entered the university in Wroclaw, where he is now studying in the computer science department. In the meantime, he was already receiving summonses and calls from the military enlistment office at his home address in Belarus.
While my Polish visa was valid, I was working at my acquaintances' place, and could quietly pay for my son's studies, donated to PKK, VSU, BYSOL. At the beginning of October, when my visa expired, I applied for international protection in Poland. And from that moment on, I faced financial difficulties.
Officially, I have no right to work, and it affects my financial situation very much. The last of my savings went to pay for my son's school fees. I am annoyed by my own uselessness and lack of money, when I am able to financially cover only the bare minimum. I feel guilty that I cannot support my son. And as long as there is no decision on international protection in Poland, my stay here is uncertain and unreliable.
I am asking for help to pay for my son's accommodation in a hostel while I am waiting for a decision on protection. I pay for my own accommodation by earning small part-time jobs. But there is nothing left to pay for my son's dormitory, food and simple household needs.
I will be very grateful for any donation!
How much is needed?
€2000
€1300 — my son's hostel fees for six months (about €220 per month).
€700 — food, communication and household expenses for me and my son.