«I exercise and do not complain.» How does grandma Maya live during blackout hours

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We asked the woman what it’s like for lonely elders to endure power shutdowns for 8-9 hours.

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«They said there will be no light for four hours today, but it turns out that the schedule is not being followed. I would like stability, but I understand that we live in a country that is at war, so we have to save up. In such a difficult time, everyone should help as best they can. For instance, I also help: by not complaining.»

Due to Russia’s attacks, Ukrainians receive electricity according to a certain schedule. There may be no light for nine hours or more. In order to find out how it is for elderly, lonely people, those of whom only social workers take care, Lviv Now visited 83-year-old Maya and to share her story.

Don’t complain, but smile

Maya Anatolivna Sobko lives in the centre of Lviv. We climb the steep stairs to the second floor, pass through the narrow courtyard, and reach her apartment through the balcony. The woman lives alone. Her daughter, also a pensioner, visits her occasionally due to health problems.

Social worker Natalia comes to help her more often, twice a week, for the fifth year in a row.

We meet with Maya Anatolivna at the time when the lights on their street are turned off again. It’s 4 p.m. on the clock, and it’s getting darker by every minute in the apartment, where the white plastic doors and windows are covered with diapers and a tarp to keep out the wind. We come in, and Maya Anatolivna heads for the candles. She ignites three at once, saying that such luxury is only for guests. For herself, the woman lights one candle, and not always. She saves up.

As soon as the light comes back, the woman immediately charges a small flashlight, provided to her by the Lviv City Territorial Center for Social Services, and two mobile phones. A push-button one serves for communication with close people and relatives, the second one, with a «secret» number – for calls to Natalia from the social service. Three dozen years ago, she was robbed, everything was taken from the apartment, even the furniture. She had to sleep on the floor.

Now everything is in its place, the chargers are in a duly signed plastic box. There is also a landline home phone. Neither Mrs Maya nor her daughter refused this. Now, when the mobile connection disappears, it is a real salvation for them – they can call each other or the emergency services.

A folk craftswoman with her own bust

It is quite warm in the spacious-looking apartment, which is conventionally divided into rooms by furniture – wardrobes and a sideboard. The tiled stove that Maya Anatolivna lit in the morning is still warm. Dressed in a light purple tracksuit over a T-shirt, in warm striped slippers, with a warm headband on her head, the woman smiles kindly and shares, as it’s now said, a lifehack on how to heat an apartment without a furnace.

Back in 2014, as soon as Russia attacked Ukraine, the woman asked the builders on the street for two white bricks. She puts them on a gas stove, heats them, and the bricks give off heat for about three hours. You can also heat tea in a metal mug on it.

The woman watches our photographer and invites us to look at the pictures hanging on the walls and the items on the sideboard. Here is what is dear to her heart. Above, under the glass, there are ceramic products she created in the pottery workshop: owls, dogs, and other animals. They can be used to serve drinks.

There is a bust on the closet shelf. It’s not difficult to recognize who it is. An acquaintance sculpted and presented it to Maya Anatolivna.

Her paintings hang on the walls – mostly animals and flowers painted on silk. Above the bed, we can see a picture of a Ukrainian soldier in the middle of a sunflower field. Above him, like a guardian angel, is a child who dreams that his father will soon return. Mrs Maya painted this picture in 2016, in the second year of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Now, she no longer draws, her eyes are tired, and the light is turned off.

Creativity has been accompanying her all her life, although Maya Anatolivna is a pharmacist by profession.

Every day, she writes down what day of the war is today

Maya Anatolivna listens to the news on the radio. Turns it on on the large music centre that is on the table. The most interesting thing that happened during the day is written down in a notebook. She notes memorable dates, the serial number of the day of the war, the weather, the results of blood pressure measurements, and whether she drank heart medicine or not.

«I’m still young, but I don’t remember very well and I don’t always remember what day it was, what interesting things happened, which medicines I took and which I didn’t. And so, I will go to the table, look at the record and remember. Today, they said that the darkest night will be December 21. Isn’t that interesting? This means that there is not much time left, that the day will soon become longer,» – she explains.

The 83-year-old woman remembers the Second World War, deportation to Russia, and other difficult times well. As a child, she had to freeze and eat raw buckwheat. Back in January, when few people believed in the Russian attack, Mrs Maya asked Natalia to stock up on products and more. Now at home, just in case, there are ten candles, six packs of matches, several kilograms of pasta, buckwheat, sugar, salt, and a supply of drinking water.

«I was still small, but I remember in fragments how we were evacuated to a village near the Urals. Although the children were fed better, I wanted to eat all the time. Memory is a tricky thing, sometimes many memories come to mind. I would not like to go through all this again...» – says Maya Anatolivna.

Grandmother occasionally goes outside, stands on the balcony or in the yard. Sometimes, she goes with Natalia to shops, a bank, and a clinic. A year ago, the woman was installed an artificial pacemaker.

«While it’s working, my heart goes tick-tock. This device sends signals and makes the heart work. The operation was performed under local anaesthesia. I remember how the doctors were watching to see if I was still alive,» – she says and adds that as much as God has given, one should live the longest time possible and not forget to enjoy every minute.

«You have to give the joy you have. And why keep it? Why not smile one more time, or say a kind word to a person? We should be kinder in this world,» – the interlocutor believes.

Peach stone massage

Maya Anatolivna has known the artificial international language Esperanto since her school age. She used to correspond with Ukrainian and foreign friends whom she was looking for through newspaper ads.

At a time when there is no light at home, a woman spreads a rug in the middle of the apartment and does Chinese gymnastics – qigong.

«Qi» is energy, and «gong» is work with this energy. In Chinese gymnastics, you don’t need to wave your arms and legs a lot, but concentrate and mentally direct the energy of «qi» in the right direction. And then this energy will disperse according to thought throughout the body,» – the 83-year-old woman says and, extending her hand in front of her, explains how she sees and feels this energy.

Maya Anatolivna also massages herself with a peach stone. In the semi-darkness, she takes out a massage «device» from a drawer and begins to rub it in her hands. Explains that there are corresponding zones on the hands responsible for this or that organ. 

Right and left hand are different. If you rub it on the bottom of the little finger on the left hand, the work of the heart will be activated, if on the right hand in the same area – it will activate the liver. Massage with a peach or apricot stone can also be done on the legs, head, and ears. In order not to forget anything, the woman has printed material – instructions.

There are always people who need help

Natalia Shkoropad, a social worker of the Halytskyi Department of the Lviv City Territorial Center for Social Services, has several wards, in addition to Maya Anatolivna. The worker visits four or five old women every day. They usually have it twice a week for an hour or a half. But if an unforeseen situation arises, for example, health deterioration, then she does it more often. Before the visit, Natalia calls and asks what needs to be bought: food, medicine, etc. According to her, during the war, the needs of old women did not change much, except that they were asked to buy candles, batteries, and flashlights.

The social worker takes out the trash, wipes the dust, and sweeps the apartments of the wards. If necessary, she washes the window, helps to take a bath. Still, she always leaves time for conversation.

There are 168 employees in the Lviv City Territorial Center for Social Services, each of whom is assigned 10 wards. In a year, the centre serves more than two thousand lonely citizens, elderly people, people with disabilities and those who cannot take care of themselves.

The Centre’s director, Vitalii Broslavskyi explains: «When we take a person under guardianship, we conclude a contract with him, draw up a road map, and discuss needs. Taking into account the state of war, days without electricity, and supply interruptions, the tasks of social workers have increased. For example, they must call their wards every day to find out about their health and needs. If they need any additional things like lanterns or candles, they can always solve this issue with our employee.»

Vitalii Broslavskyi says there is no separate list or additional need for help for the wards of the Centre. After all, these people will never let a stranger into their home.

«Since the beginning of the war, our medical centre has intensified work with volunteers and charitable organizations that help and provide the wards with the basic necessities. There are many needy people around, and maybe today, your neighbour, grandparents you know need help, so help them!» – urges the director of the Lviv City Territorial Center for Social Services.

Olha Shveda, translated by Vitalii Holich

Photo by Ivan Stanislavskyi/Tvoe Misto

Full or partial republication of the text without the written consent of the editors is prohibited and considered a violation of copyright.

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