While some people are mastering nanotechnologies and launching satellites, others live an old life or a bit worse. Only about 100 people remained in the village of Novoyemakovka in the Omsk region ( Russia ). They have no Internet or mobile connection, and guest workers do not stay there for long. But they have a farm where villagers work. But we want to tell about one Russian woman, Lubov Andreevna Lavrentyeva, the pride of the whole region, repeated winner of various livestock competitions. She has been a milkmaid for thirty years. Each morning she comes to the farm. Even on Sundays and Saturdays. It’s always the same: rubber boots, manure, cold. Cows are to be milked daily. Morning milking starts at 5:30. Lubov Andreevna and her partner Lena should milk 120 cows! They all have names and the women remember them all. Lubov Andreevna says she likes her profession and it’s already hard to work being not so young. In 3,5 hours they are done with milkng. If it’s colder than -20C (-4F) the cows do not walk and the women may leave earlier. Men work at the farm too.
They are responsible for bringing hay and other food. But almost all of them like to drink. At home she is awaited by her grandchildren, children, husband and livestock. Lubov Andreevna has three daughters. Two of them live in the village with little babies. One of them is divorced. The elder one lives in Magnitogorsk. They have much work to do every day. Mother of Lubov Andreevna is a milkmaid with thirty years experience. Now she has to be taken care of. Till midday she is busy with the children, domestic work, cooking. Then she has to go back to the farm again. The cows are to be milked in the afternoon too. Lena was advised to live in her native climate after giving birth to her baby. She left Magnitogorsk for the village where mother lived. She is planning to stay there till summer. Her husband Nikolay didn’t want to leave the city but love was a stronger feeling. He changed a more profitable profession of a trucker to the job of a cattleman at the farm. He likes the village bath where the whole family go once a week. Once, Lubov Andreevna got the regional prize – a car “Zhiguli”.
The keys were given by the city governor himself. But when the car was brought to the village it turned out she had to pay for it. About 1 000 dollars. Alas, they had no such money. She hadn’t earned this much for thirty years of making hundreds of thousands litres of milk. So she had to sell the car to those who could pay this sum, the remaining money was spent for a sofa, two armchairs and a new TV set with a videotape recorder – an amusement for her daughters. The house of the Lavrentyevs is plain but clean and cosy. The people themselves are very hospitable. They treat guests to dumplings and give them lard. They have two cows, a calf and seven pigs, in summer they breed chickens. That’s what helps them to survive. Because their salaries are too small – one of the best milkmaids in the region earns 200 dollars only. For such a hard work! The average salary is even less.
But they never complain: “We live well and earn enough. Our farm is one of the best in the region”… Evening milking starts at 5:30 and lasts for three hours like in the morning. She is back home at about nine o’clock in the evening. And again she has a lot of work at home, wash children’s clothes, wash kids themselves, cradle them… But the next day she will be back at work at 5:30 a.m. This is how it has been happening for thirty years… It’s all about that very Russian soul – when you think about children, grandchildren, old parents, and almost never about yourself. Millions of people live such a life. And they really deserve much respect. ( 5elected from www.englishrussia.com )
