Hello, dear friends!
This is the BYSOL team.
A girl in a difficult financial situation came to us for help. Before she was forced to leave the country, Polina had a creative profession. She was talented, active and saw the purpose of her life as a contribution to the development of Belarusian culture. She decided to hide her name to take care of the safety of those who protected her from political persecution. Most of them now live and work in Belarus.
Polina had an active civic position before 2020, so after the rigged elections she could not stay away. She went to peaceful rallies and marches, signed letters against violence. Because of this, she got into trouble at work.
In the fall of 2020, Polina was detained at a march after the explosion of a flash-bang grenade. During the detention she was badly beaten and Polina spent her twenty-four hours in Okrestin's custody without food and water, and then in the pre-trial detention center. Even then, people were fired for participating in protests, but the management valued Polina and realized her potential.
After a while, Polina learned that she was a suspect in a criminal case. The girl went through a search and interrogation. But she decided not to give up and not to leave. In the winter of 2021, the Ministry of Culture sent “black lists” to institutions with demands to dismiss “unreliable” employees. Polina went to the authorities, defended her rights, but unfortunately did not achieve anything.
Polina was looking for a way out, already realizing that she would not be allowed to work in Belarus. During her search she found a scholarship program in Europe, which she enrolled in, and in December 2022 she left the country.
In Europe, she could not find a job in her specialty, and her only income was a scholarship for her studies. But after a while there were problems with the funding of the program where our heroine studies. The scholarship has been delayed for 3 months, and so far they can't solve this problem.
The situation for Polina became very unexpected, and the girl had to borrow money for mandatory rent payments. Besides, Polina started working with a psychotherapist, counting on the regularity of receiving the scholarship. Now without money it is impossible to continue meetings with the specialist, and the course of meetings is not over yet.
In forced emigration the loss of finances is a very difficult ordeal, because you are here alone, among similar emigrants, without the support of relatives and friends. And almost every emigrant, having gone through their suffering, realizes how hard it is to fight alone, and what a strength we are when we gather a little from everyone!
Polina needs your support now!
How much is needed?
€1400
€300 — debts (for psychotherapy and medication)
€600 — housing costs (€120/month for the previous three months to pay off the loan and for the next three months until the scholarship is renewed)
€500 — continuing treatment with a therapist (€50/ appointment)