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Kharkov Hesed Brings the World into Natalia's Life
When meeting Natalia, age 90, for the first time, one can see traces of the striking beauty of her youth, despite the struggles and hardship she has faced in her long life.
Born in 1916 in a small town in Western Russia, Natalia's parents raised her in a Jewish home. She has vivid memories of eating matzah and watching her mother unwrap different dishware for Pesach. "Unfortunately, I don't know Hebrew" she says, "but I say my prayers in Russian looking through the window and talking to God in simple words."
Natalia's only view of the world outside is through this one weathered window. "My only connection to this world is my Hesed caregiver." Bedridden for the past 5 years, Natalia depends on the Kharkov Hesed for life sustaining services. She never imagined that this is how her days would end. A graduate of college and law school, Natalia became an accomplished attorney serving as Chief Assistant for the Public Prosecutor in Ukraine. Her husband also held a prestigious post, Head of the Department for Capital Building, a job that sent the couple on exciting travel around the USSR -- the pair surely would be called a 'power couple' today.  Decades ago, when World War II reached Kiev, Natalia and her husband were enjoying their many successes; among them their three-year-old son, Ira. The family was then forced to evacuate the city and leave their lives behind. Four long years later they returned to a recently liberated Kiev, eager to resume their once happy life. This was not to be; Natalia soon divorced and moved to Kharkov to care for her ailing homebound sister. Today, permanently homebound, there are no other family members left to care for Natalia. Two strokes have left her visually and hearing impaired, severe Osteoarthritis limits her to rest only on her right side, while her left arm is paralyzed. Ira, her only remaining relative, has suffered two heart attacks and can only make the trip to Kharkov once a year, for his mother's birthday. The $70 a month pension she receives falls short of providing the basic necessities for survival. A client of Hesed since 1997, Natalia receives fresh food packages, medications, laundry, medical treatments, bed linens, adult diapers and even hairdressing services. "I would be dead long ago but for the vital help I receive from Kharkov Hesed ." "I am so satisfied with the services I receive and so very grateful for this help that I don't even know how to put it into words." February 2007 |
