- Title: Elderly Belarus woman spends Christmas Eve alone in shrinking village
- Date: 25th December 2019
- Summary: HRODNA REGION, BELARUS (DECEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF 79-YEAR-OLD RESIDENT OF DANILOVICHI VILLAGE, VALENTINA ZHYKH, CARRYING FIREWOOD INTO HER HOUSE BARREL HOOPS HANGING ON WALL ZHYKH WALKING TO WELL ZHYKH COLLECTING WATER FROM WELL PLASTIC LEAVES ATTACHED TO FENCE ZHYKH POURING WATER INTO BUCKET CAT LYING ON GRASS ZHYKH CARRYING BUCKET WITH WATER ENTERING HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) 79 YEAR-OLD RESIDENT OF DANILOVICHI VILLAGE, VALENTINA ZHYKH, SAYING: "When we were young and my husband was alive, a big Christmas tree was here, decorated with fairy lights. Now I'm 79 years old and have no energy, so at least I got some pine branches. It grows nearby, I am not able to walk to the forest." ZHYKH OPENING OVEN DOOR FLAMES IN STOVE ZHYKH PLACING POT INTO OVEN POT SITTING IN OVEN (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) 79 YEAR-OLD RESIDENT OF DANILOVICHI VILLAGE, VALENTINA ZHYKH, SAYING: "I am alone, I used to live with a daughter and a son. Now my children live in their own apartments, have their own children and grandchildren."
- Embargoed: 8th January 2020 11:39
- Keywords: CIS Christmas Eve celebration lonely traditional celebration village life
- Location: HRODNA REGION, BELARUS
- City: HRODNA REGION, BELARUS
- Country: Belarus
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001BBH4JEH
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Seventy-nine year-old Valentina Zhykh celebrated Christmas Eve on Tuesday (December 24) alone this year in her home village of Danilovichi.
A practicing Catholic, decorating the house for Christmas is still an important ritual for Zhykh.
When her husband was alive the couple used to have a Christmas tree every year. Now, she collects a few pine branches and puts them in a vase with water.
Danilovichi is among the villages in Belarus where the population is in decline as people move away to larger towns and cities.
Only one in five of the village's 250 houses is inhabited, and most of Zhykh's neighbours are also elderly.
Her children, now grandparents themselves, are celebrating the holidays at home with their own families.
Looking at photo albums helps to pass the time on winter nights, Zhykh said.
Although she is alone this Christmas, Zhykh said her daughter and son and their families still live nearby and often come to help her around the house.
Apart from her relatives, there are also a few other Catholics in the local area with whom Zhykh can meet to talk and sing songs.
(Production: Vasiliy Fedosenko, Dmitry Turlyun) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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