121.657 IMAGES • 290 FILMS   

2007

Project 15

2006

Project 14

Project 13

2005

Project 12

Project 11
Part2

Project 11

Project 7
Part3

Project 7
Part2

Project 10

2004

Project 9

Project 8

Project 7

Project 6

Project 5

Project 4

Project 3

Project 2

Project 1

Project Five: Believing in People

The family helped in the most recent 1% Initiative is one of many who live in similar conditions.

The family consists of 4 people and they live in a one room apartment. The main person of this story is 20-years old girl whose name is Luda. She has a 4-year old son Dima, a 12-years old brother Bogdan, and a a 53-year old mother who is mental invalid. Luda is forced to earn money by herself. She is working in a small cafe from morning till evening, and after that she goes to night school where she studies book keeping. She decided to begin studying again a couple of years ago when she came to understand that, in the near future at least, she is the only person who will care for her family. It's better to have some profession to be always sure that you will have a job.

When I asked Luda about the father of her son, she just says that she doesn't want to talk about him. As I've understood, he knows that he has a son but he has never seen him and has given Luda no help. Dima is a silent and shy boy. I couldn't even make him smile. But he liked the chocolate I brought and said "Thank you very much" when I was leaving. Luda's brother Bogdan is very curious and a nice boy. He is a good student at school and he dreams of being a veterinary surgeon and taking care of animals. I hope his dream will come true one day.

When I proposed to Luda that we could help with the Hegre-Archives 1% Initiative, she hesitated over what to choose: a washing machine or refrigerator. On one side, she has a lot of things to wash (two boys and a helpless mother make many things dirty), but from other side Luda has to buy and prepare food every day because she doesn't have the possibility to store food. It was very difficult for her, but finally she chose the fridge. We didn't buy a very big fridge because their kitchen is too small, but there is enough space inside to store what they need. I believe it will be very helpful and save some time for Luda to put into her studies. At least she was very grateful.

She said she never believed that there were such persons who care about absolutely unknown people. But now she sees that they exist, and she wishes them a lot of health and success. She is sure now that she will overcome all her difficulties because she knows that some kind people took care of her.


Tanya Shumeyko, for 1% New Nudes New Hopes.