There are 15 thousand handicapped in wheelchairs in Belarus

The statistic shows that their number is increasing by 100 persons every year. However there are few of them out in the streets. First of all, the most frequently they are not capable to leave their apartments due to the fact that entrances are not being fit for that. Secondly, there is little they can do out in the streets, as the city architecture does not allow people in wheelchairs feel themselves comfortable. From the point of view of those who face with problems of people in wheelchairs every day, the attitude of the government is changing for the worse. The state is reducing its assistance to this group of people. In the meantime, someone who suddenly found himself in a helpless position and in the conditions of survival, is left by himself vis-à-vis his problems, locked in his apartment and not being able to go for a walk in a park.

Among people in wheelchairs there is a special word: "broken". This word identifies the specific moment when due to certain reasons a person injured his back and has to move around using a wheelchair.

"While one is healthy he or she is merely thinking about what life is like for a wheelchair person in our society. However, anyone may become an invalid. Though no one plans to. The life of a person in a wheelchair is absolutely new for the person who could walk before. It is difficult to learn this new lifestyle; it is the same as for a child to learn things about life, starting from the first steps", says the Chairman of the Republican Association of Invalids in Wheelchairs, Sergey Drozdovsky.

Monopoly is an enemy of quality

The worst of all that a person in a wheelchair has to face is the indifference of the people that due to their professional occupation are supposed to deal with the issues of invalids rather than creating more complexities.

For instance, one of the biggest issues a person in a wheelchair has to cope with is how to find a proper wheelchair. De jure, the state is supposed to provide assistance in this regard, however the quality of such wheelchairs is terrible. They are almost impossible to use. At the same time, the Republican Unitary Enterprise "Belarusian Prosthetic Orthopedic Renewable Centre" is a monopolist at the Belarusian market of wheelchairs, says Sergey Drozdovsky. "They supply 90% of all wheelchairs for our market. It also turns out that it is also the same enterprise entitled by the Ministry to make purchases of rehabilitation equipment, which they manufacture themselves. Moreover, there is a laboratory on the territory of the production sight, which certifies the technical equipment for rehabilitation. They do not pay much attention to the opinions of the people in wheelchairs. When I come to the manufacturing sight, I am told that these wheelchairs are wonderful. I start explaining what is wrong with these wheelchairs however I am not being listened to", says Mr. Drozdovsky.

Right for benefits

Volha Korsak and Barys Bachkouski are the world's dancing in wheelchairs champions. Now they work as trainers at the Centre for rehabilitation and social support for invalids set up by a civil association "Belarusian Partnership of Invalids". The job they do is rather versatile, i.e. trainings for people with various health problems, including taking care of those ones with cerebral palsy.

The living conditions of handicapped worsened after the abolishment of benefits. “Previously they had discounts for automobile fuel, car services, public transport and use of landline phones. Now all these benefits are abolished. The invalids of I and II groups lost their benefits regarding the installation of landline phones without queuing. Isn’t it obvious that the landline for a person cut from the rest of the world and locked inside his or her apartment is the only link with the outside world and his or her hope for calling up for assistance when hard times come? All this is vitally important for a person in a wheelchair. It is yet unclear when the targeted assistance will be provided on a full scale. In the meantime, these people have to live their every day lives”, says Sergey Drozdovsky.

“Living standards of handicapped is a single painful issue. There was a case when a young girl committed suicide for she could not afford to buy herself diapers. Is it acceptable in a civilized society?” continued Mr. Drozdovsky.

It is important to know one's rights

Meanwhile people are locked inside their apartments vis-à-vis their problems, local communal services are obliged under current legislation to equip houses, shops, office building and underground passages with special equipment.

Boris Bochkovsky is assured that it is extremely important to know one’s rights and fight for them.

“The relevant legislation has been adopted. Regardless of the fact of its late adoption in our country, it exists and it is necessary to force the local communal services to implement it and to construct ramps in those house blocks where it is needed. The latter refute that apartment blocks are not fit for that and that is true. However they should realize that there are different types of ramps: folding, stationary and others… they only require fitting in. There is a ramp in my apartment block I forced them to fit it in. In 1984 I was injured with a knife and became an invalid of the Ist group. I managed to find a job; in 1986 I passed my driving test and bought a car for a half-price from a social security agency. Since then I am driving all the time…”

Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

The only recent positive change concerns opening of the district rehabilitation centres, admit my interviewers. Now they exist in every district of Minsk. “Such Centres are great achievements. On one hand, they simplify the lives of the parents of such people: they have an opportunity to go to work while their child is being taken care of at the Cetnre. On the other hand, the inmates have an opportunity to communicate, have relations and develop personalities. Therefore I believe it is a successful project. It should be developed, so far there are far more people that need assistance than the actual coverage by this type of Centres”, says Boris Bochkovsky.

Irina Osipova