The Naked and Barefoot Cannot Go To School 

Paradoxically, it took a flood to show a society which had hitherto never noticed them those who might be called dry flood victims, especially to show them to high state officials.

Mykola Pipash lives in village of Verkhnie Vodiane. He is an unemployed widower with eight children, ranging in age from seventeen to two. He owes Hr 257 for electricity. The family's total monthly income is Hr 65. The state owes him Hr 650, which gives him hope. All he has for the winter is 90 kilograms of potatoes, two of beans, and ten kilogram of mixed fodder. Presently Pipash feeds his children bean and mixed fodder soup. The children (except for some wearing something like a loincloth) are naked and barefoot. They have only one pair of torn tennis shoes, so they can go to the outdoor toilet only one at a time.

Olena Pupas lives in the same village. She is single with five children. Her family's monthly income is Hr 65. Her children are also naked and barefoot. You might think you are in Africa, if it were not so cold. For the winter they have 30 kilos of potatoes and three of beans. She never mentioned bread during our meeting.

Anna Stefaniuk lives in the village of Lazeshchyna. She is single with six children and has a Hr 48 monthly income. She owes Hr 125 for electricity and has 40 kilos of potatoes and half a kilo of sugar for the winter.

The village of Luchi has supplied much wood in recent years. The local budget was not enhanced by it. School is held in an "adapted" residence.

Halyna Savchuk and her pensioner husband live on the his irregular pension totaling Hr 43. Their six children are worried that they owe Hr 185 for electricity, while the state owes them Hr 546. They do not have a single piece of clothing for the children. They only have torn boots and an outdoor toilet. One phrase she said stuck in my memory, " Kuchma loves us so much that it's simply astonishing why we have it so hard."

The attitude people take to each other is amazing. It was announced that the water had cut the road to Ust-Chernensk for armored troop-carriers and tanks. We managed to reach the place by foot wearing rubber boots. Humanitarian aid had arrived. Yet, it is amazing how our own people are burying others. They were selling the products they received free of charge: a hryvnia for a box of matches, Hr 7-10 for a half liter of oil, Hr 2-3 for a kilo of salt, Hr 2 for a loaf of bread, and Hr 5-6 for a pack of cigarettes.

And the act of God is taking on another visage: the flood has created a danger of landslides, threatening over 300 houses in Kosivska Poliana, over 200 in Kobyletska Poliana, and about 80 in Rakhiv, which was cut in two by a stream. Seven houses were washed away in the stream without a trace. In the village of Bohdan 40-50 houses are threatened by mud slides. Seventy meters of road from Kiziy to Dilove village is out. So is another section of the same length to the village of Kvasy.

In all, 1200 houses have been ruined or flooded in this district. Over five thousand people are left without property, food, or clothing. 211 kilometers of road have been destroyed along with 125 bridges, 80 kilometers of levees, and 42 power lines. Total losses reach Hr 100 million. Up to now the state has earmarked only Hr 60,000 for the suffering districts.

"Transcarpathia will soon face a more serious ecological catastrophe than the autumn flood," Emergency Management Minister Valery Kalchenko stated at a press conference. "It is obvious that all people, whom we will have to move, should be given the status of ecological refugees.

In addition, operational services of the Health Ministry expect a substantial rise in intestinal infections. In particular, the Healthcare Ministry's press office told Viktor VORONIUK of The Day that physicians seriously think some may be infected with typhoid or viral hepatitis A. In this connection, Svaliava district should be especially closely monitored, for has been known for many years that typhoid is endemic there. Services have recently disinfected 29,376 wells, 109 water supply lines, 5,339 residential dwellings, and 24,396 outdoor toilets. As a result of these measures, considerable water abnormality (up to 38.5%) in private and public wells was discovered.

The Health Ministry press center told The Day also that anthrax and rabies epidemics could break out in the region due to the considerable reproduction of rodents, which carry those diseases.