Hello!
My pseudonym is Alina Vakulavets.
I am a photographer and I love Belarus. I have taken photos for the newspapers Sportivnaya Panorama, Gastronom, Berezka, Novy Chas, Nasha Niva, for regional libraries, the Capital Philharmonic, and for fast food chains. I also hitchhiked many kilometers across Belarus to film knight tournaments and festivals of Belarusian culture.
I am a friend of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada). In 2020 I was an election observer, collecting signatures for Valery Tsepkalo, and then I took part in protests and helped political prisoners.
I saw light and noise grenades exploding on Orlovskaia, near Riga, in Malinovka, near the emergency hospital. I saw the terrible lacerations that these explosions leave behind. I communicated with Roma Bondarenko, when we came to visit him in the courtyard of Changes….
And then the year 2023 came. I was at home — sick. Suddenly riot police burst into my apartment. They said that several denunciations were written on me and that I should go with them. They dragged me out of bed with a fever of 40 and took me to the pre-trial detention center.
At the same time they searched my house, found symbols of the BSDP(d) party, sheet music and songbooks, which raised suspicion of my participation in the actions of the “Free Choir”.
I spent 10 days in the pre-trial detention center. There was an investigation and interrogations. But the investigators could not find anything serious on me, so I was miraculously released, and I left immediately.
Currently, I am living in Poland and waiting for a decision on my request for international protection. Because of this, I do not have the opportunity to work full time yet. I have been through a lot of difficulties and now suffer from a condition similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. I really need support to pay for sessions with a therapist to cope with this condition. I also need financial help to pay for housing for the next few months while I recover and get my life in order.
How much is needed?
€1500
10 sessions with a therapist — €500
2 months rent — €1000