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With Only $50 a Month Lavrin and Yeva Depend on Hesed to Survive
Born in 1948 in Torez, Ukraine, Lavrin was almost immediately diagnosed with childhood cerebral paralysis. Despite the physical challenges that pained his every movement, he studied at a math and physics boarding school and completed his courses with a silver medal. Lavrin persistently performed physical exercises in order to develop, and focused on his creative growth in order to feel stronger and happier.
In 1968, two years into his studies at the Donetsk State University, Lavrin met Yeva - "the girl of my dreams" - which propelled him to endure six complicated operations in order to be able to walk better. He and Yeva married in 1971, and the following year gave birth to their daughter, Raina. When Lavrin retired after 30 years of work as a school physics teacher in Torez, he and his wife then moved to Novorossiisk city to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. There the family lives in a small room at a communal apartment in deplorable conditions. Struggling to survive on Lavrin’s meager pension of less than $50, life becomes more difficult by the day. He relies on vital food, medicines and medical consultations from the JDC-sponsored Hesed social welfare center in order to live with the most basic level of dignity. While Lavrin is still receiving these services, many of his friends who have needs equal to his have had their services reduced. "We cannot manage without the help of Hesed," he says. "I don’t know what will happen to us without my medications and doctor visits. We will have no hope." January 2006 |
