No. 6, 2003
Editor’s Column:
An error inadvertently slipped through in this year’s edition of Newsletter No. 3 concerning the “Drawing Competition”. Yasavey hereby apologizes to the children from Nizhnaya Pesha for the incorrect names under the drawings. Once the final results have been taken into account and a summary made, the awards will most assuredly find their way to their rightful owners. An announcement to this effect shall be made in August.
Trip to Cape Mikulkin
Based on the report made by the project coordinator V. Kotkin
In conjunction with the project “Kanin Krasnyi Chum 2003” which came to an abrupt end, a flight took off on June 23 to Cape Mikulkin. The failure by JSC “Archangelskgeoldobycha” (AGD) to finance the project was the reason for cutting it short. An agreement had been concluded on March 13 between the AGD oil company and Yasavey and included the budget for this project as well. The former leadership of the oil company as well as the present management reassured us on numerous occasions that everything would be carried out according to the time schedule as far as the company was concerned. Since that time there has been no official response from the company. Thus, the time limits set came and passed with no results and we were forced to announce the closing of this project as of June 12 this year.
Following this decision, Yasavey began a fund-raising campaign to close down the project. JSC “Naryanmarneftegaz” and AGD were approached with a request to finance a special flight. We received affirmative responses and since the AGD represented the executioner of the contractual obligations, a decision was taken to elaborate on the project somewhat with the company in question and the funds from JSC “Naryanmarneftegaz” for financing would be used as a warranty. This was a wise decision since AGD once again failed to carry out its promise.
The members of the group included representatives of the Association, the media from “Zapolyarya”, “Edei Vada”, and an activist from the structural division in Indiga. We took passengers aboard who could not leave since they had no ticket. Travelling to the city is very expensive for villagers residing in rural areas.
When we arrived in Oma it was drizzling and foggy. After refuelling in Nizhnaya Pesha, the helicopter took off for the final destination Cape Mikulkin along with all its passengers and packages for the reindeer herders.
The pilots probably had the intention to fly directly through the Bay of Cheskaya, but when they encountered fog which limited their vision, they decided to return and follow the coastline.
A brigadier from the 4th brigade - Gennadyi Latyshev became a member of Yasavey. To locate a nomad camp in the tundra is no easy task. There is no green foliage and the colours have the hue of khaki or yellowish grass. Finally we managed to locate the brigade and they came out to greet us and show the best place to land. Once we landed, the packages were handed over and everybody was satisfied. The hostess of the Red Chum Valentina A. Latysheva came to greet us and showed us her tent. We were invited to have a cup of tea. Our guide Vasilij Vasilyevich and his assistant were with the herd at the time. After resting up a bit from the journey we began putting up our tents and this is when Vasilij Vasilyevich found us. He was not aware of the abrupt ending of the project, but said that he surmised as much and was about to leave for the weather station in Mikulkin to get some information. A meeting had been scheduled for June 15th and it was already the 23rd of June. We had more tea in the guide’s tent and discussed the closing of the project. He became quite upset after hearing everything since everybody in the tundra was so eagerly awaiting the Red Chum.
It was decided to have a meeting with the entire brigade at nine pm that evening. Everyone arrived and gathered around the guide’s tent at the appointed hour. A semicircle was formed with the sleighs and the meeting began. Vladislav Peskov, the president of the Association explained the reasons for closing the project. The people listened attentively and questions were raised concerning various points such as the structure of the commune, communications and many other topics. The SPK “Vozhod” brigades did not have a radio transmitter and we decided to leave behind our cellular phone, a solar battery and a 1000-watt amplifier. A proposal was made by the reindeer herders that Vasilij Vasilyevich should fulfill the functions of a cultural worker. Plans were made to order a television and a video recorder via a cruiser and the only request was to help them in acquiring cassettes. The president assured them that this year the top priority of the Association was the celebration of the Day of the Reindeer in the SPK “Vozhod” and in SPK “Put Ilicha”. The appointment of a cultural worker was very timely. Moreover the Association pledged to compensate the family of the Red Chum guide for its work in view of the closing down of the project and to supply them with goods for their entire stay in the tundra.
The following day, we waited until the fog lifted and took off for Oma. When the passengers disembarked, the helicopter left for refuelling in Nizhnaya Pesha. Our group rested for a while and the journalists from “Zapolyarya”went to take photographs of the village. When they returned from Pesha, the helicopter pilots informed us that there was no weather forecast for Naryan-Mar and that meant a stopover for the night here. The activists from the structural division began with the arrangements for the meeting between the local population and the Association. The attendance at the meeting was low because today was the date when either pension money or subsidies were being handed out and this kept most people at home. An announcement was made at the meeting that the project KKCH 2003 was closed and then the time for questions and answers began. Most of the questions concerned housing and dissatisfaction with the local and regional officials.
News from Krasnoye
The International Day of Protecting Children was noted in the settlement in the following manner: The day started with children’s drawings on the asphalt “Childhood you and I!”, but since there is no asphalt in Krasnoye the drawings were made on cement. The bravest and loudest children sang songs with karaoke accompaniment.
A fascinating competition “Toys from our childhood” was organized by the House of culture in Krasnoye under the leadership of Valentina V. Rokina. In conjunction with this event, an exhibition took place “Childhood Toys” which continued for another full week. People brought toys from their childhood and among them the oldest one is a “Barashek” (lamb) which turned 103 this year. The owner of this toy is Zinaida G. Filippova who is retired. A series of cartoons for children was shown in the cinema hall of the House of Culture.
Anastasia M. Durkina - a teacher of methodology at the House of Culture presented an engaging theatrical play program “Vacation, vacation a happy time”. The main characters are: Baba-Yaga (a witch), two clowns and parents under a magic spell whom the wicked witch had turned into children. The program included competitions, games, and various guessing games. This day went by in an atmosphere of joy. Prizes consisting of candy were handed out to each participant of the festival.
On Russia’s Day of Independence the game “Zarnica” (sheet lightning) was played. This event was presented by the Youth committee together with the House of Culture. Two teams participated: adults and children. Homework was assigned: make a flag, think of a name and a slogan for the team.
The team with adults had the name “Karapuzy” (fatties) and the children’s team was called “Pepsi”. First the teams were welcomed by the House of Culture and the activities were then continued in the forest. The teams had 15 minutes to set up headquarters and hide the emblem. The task was to find the enemy’s emblem, their headquarters and the commander. The team of adults with the name “Karapuzy” won and in the evening, as part of the program, the adults could relax for a while in the video hall of the House of Culture called “Independent People”. Lyudmila A. Taratina was in charge of this evening of relaxation.
Exams were also over and all the students graduated. This was followed by graduation balls. But now a time of great anxiety is at hand for the students entrance exams must be passed to enter higher educational establishments in the country.
The kindergarten “Vy’ terko” in Krasnoye is closed for the summer and repair work is going on to prepare it for the next season. As of today the children’s platform is opened. Three meals a day have been organized for the children as well as games, engaging competitions, children’s movies will be shown and there are also discos.
The Union “Ya Erv” has taken its corral workers to the corrals: Yarei-yu and Hutarto-to. The SPK “Harp” is planning to take its workers to the corral Yarei-yu around the 20th of June.
Living at the dump site
Based on a report by V.N. Kotkin
On May 20, a trip was made to a storage place for consumer waste in Iskatel. The following participants were part of this group: Alexander E. Belugin - executive director of the movement; Vladimir N. Kotkin coordinator of the movement; Alexandra A. Lageiskaya chairperson of the structural division OD “Yasavey”, settlement Iskatel; Alexander I. Muravyev head of the municipal education administration in Iskatel.
This trip was initiated by A.A. Lageiskaya, a person deeply disturbed about the fate of her people. It was decided to make this trip in order to clear up the situation and to elaborate and clarify at the site itself who is actually living there, why and what was the reason for them to have ended up in this situation. This problem of people living at the dumps was also voiced by the head of the local municipality. Together we left for the site where the remains of consumer waste were stored.
At the outskirts of the dump site we met a woman who was of a retired age. She was not a resident of the dumps but was just gathering bottles for a refund. She said: “there is not enough money to live on and that is why I come here to gather bottles”. She indicated the place where the local people lived due to the heaps of various junk, smoke was visible and we headed in that direction. When we approached, we could see two people. One of them Pavel Pyrerko - definitely a Nenets and the other one introduced themselves as Volodya, and, as we later discovered, did not live at the dump site but just hung around to help and he refused to be photographed.
Pavel is about 24 years old and has lived at the dump site for the past two days. Before that he worked for a farmer at a pig farm where he also lived; he did not receive any wages. Recently he was not treated very well and that was the reason he left. An orphan who lived and studied in the A.P. Pyrerko boarding school attended the GPTU-24 after graduation to study masonry. When he completed his studies, he joined the army. Upon leaving the army he found himself without a place to live. That is how he found himself for the first time at the dump site. He has no documents he has lost them and this is how he lives. When we arrived Volodya together with Pavel were building a cellar. Not far away a tent had been put up where the local residents lived. A fire was burning and something was cooking.
We were able to find out that Pavel had a place to live in Krasnoye but it was acquired in an illegal manner. According to Pavel, he needs a place to live in order to lead a normal life even if it is just a room. Then he can get back on his feet. At the same time A.I. Muravyev was talking to Volodya about getting help for the residents of the dump site.
The question as to where the other residents were was answered by saying they had gone to work. Apparently the local people are in demand as a labour force.
On our way back we met four more residents of the dump site. The entire group was under the influence of alcohol. They were coming back from work. A local business man hired them as loading assistants. The Nenets Dima and Vitalij were also orphans. The story is the same as Pavel’s there are no documents.
We spoke with Vitalij and he also said with confidence that if he had a place to live he could lead a normal life.
Alexander I. Muravjev made a promise while talking with the residents of the dumps and said he would put up temporary shelters for them. One of the people was a bit doubtful and said that every time somebody comes they make promises. The head of the MO in Iskatel answered that he will certainly fulfill his promise.
On the way back to the town a proposal was made to find out from E.A. Ezyngova, chairperson of a charity foundation that once was involved with residents of the dumps, as to what documents she intended to restore and what in fact has happened. Once this was clarified, we shall start dealing with each homeless Nenets individually.
P.S. from the editors
An article in the newspaper “Novoye Slovo” stated that only representatives of the Nenets population lived at the dump site. As we discovered during our trip, this was not entirely true.
News in Brief
* At 4:00 p.m. on June 27th a meeting of the Council of Yasavey was held. The following items were dealt with at this meeting of the Council: information on the closing of the project KKCH-2003, information on arrangements made for the Day of the Reindeer celebration and other items. In view of the facts that summer holidays has started, it was decided to hold the next meeting of Yasavey Council in August. This vacation period does not affect the colleagues of Yasavey at all we will be working all summer.
* Representatives of Yasavey visited Krasnoye (Bolshezemelskaya tundra) on the 28th and 29th of June. In the evening of the 28th, a meeting was held with the skilled female workers in craft work of the “Yenabc handicraft shop”, a technical inspection was made of the automation equipment, various materials with information were handed out and video cassettes about the trip to Kanin to the SPK “Vozhod”.
* On the 29th, the representatives of Yasavey participated in events dedicated to the Day of Young People. The festivities included a program with competitions, songs, dancing, guessing games and jokes. The events also included six teams from Krasnoye: a team of young people, a team of retired persons and other teams. The weather was not exactly festive on this day: it rained a bit, there was some wind and it was overcast but this did not ruin the atmosphere. At the end a show of fireworks crowned the celebration.
50 children from regional settlements are expected to relax from July 31 to August 20 in a summer rehabilitation camp south of Moscow. The tickets for this journey were presented by A.N. Chilingarov - deputy chairman of the State Duma, R.F.
The price of the round trip ticket from Naryan-Mar to the summer camp has been fully paid for. It remains for the parents to pay for a round-trip ticket to Naryan-Mar, living accommodations and meals in Naryan-Mar as well as the medical checkups.
* The work involving the arrangements for putting together these groups and selecting those who will accompany the children is carried out by Yasavey according to an agreement concluded with A.N. Chilingarov. Thus, there will be 10 children travelling from Haruga; 5 from Horei-Ver; 13 from Nelmin-Nos; 5 from Amderm; 8 from Karataika; 7 from Yasavey of which 4 journeys have been handed over to Hongurei and the 3 remaining journeys are for those who accompany the children.
Meeting with Journalists
A.E. Belugin
A press conference was held on June 27th at 11:00 a.m. in the Hall of Ceremonies of the Naryan-Mar Administration with Yasavey and representatives of the mass media from Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark). Among the foreign media, journalists were present and correspondents from the Danish press agency and Barents-press international.
Vladislav Peskov, President Yasavey gave a presentation of Yasavey’s activities in the following fields: the history of the founding of the association, the objectives and goals pursued by Yasavey, the interrelationship of indigenous minority groups of the NAO and oil enterprises involved in production activities on the NAO territory, social projects bearing an influence on the traditional lifestyle of reindeer herders, and related material advantages. In addition, Yasavey presented the projects (the work of the Association’s information centre “Yasavey Manzara”, “Kanin Red Chum 2002”, the work of the Association’s information centres in Indiga and Oma, and also related and future activities of “Yasavey”).
At this meeting, every participant received a CD disk with material about the activities of Yasavey as a souvenir. Among the foreign journalists there was lively enthusiasm for the work and the activities of Yasavey.