The entire family of our heroine has been affected by political repression. She herself has already served her sentence, while her relatives remain in the hands of the regime. Her sister is fighting cancer while under “home confinement,” her brother is serving a prison term, and the woman herself is struggling through exile together with her niece.*
Hello. I am a former political prisoner, and I have decided to ask for help because of the extremely difficult situation my family is facing.
Political repression has crushed our family. I cannot disclose many details or even give my name, because my brother is a political prisoner and is still serving his sentence. My sister is also a political prisoner, but due to cancer she has been transferred from a penal colony to so-called “home confinement.”
My sister was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer while she was already imprisoned. Because of her illness, the court replaced her prison term with home confinement, but did not cancel the enormous fine imposed on her. For treatment, she has to travel hundreds of kilometers from home. Because of her illness, she can no longer work as she used to and needs to find lighter work — but you probably know how difficult it is to find paid employment with a “political” conviction.
I managed to leave Belarus and go abroad together with my niece. It was a difficult but very important decision for me.
I am currently waiting for a decision on international protection and can only work unofficially. I try to support my niece both emotionally and financially. But my heart is torn between my relatives who remain in Belarus and my current life here in exile. Financially, I am barely coping. At the same time, I need to support my brother with parcels in prison and help my sister, who is fighting a serious illness completely alone.
My niece misses her mother terribly. They talk online almost every day, but nothing can replace a mother’s embrace for a child. Because of her health condition and the restrictions of home confinement, my sister cannot leave the country. That is why it is especially important for me to support her now, while she is undergoing treatment.
I am asking for your help to relieve her of the financial burden of treatment and daily survival: travel expenses to and from the hospital, utility bills, medications, and food — she is completely alone there. I hope this support will help her in her fight against the disease.
I will be grateful for any contribution to supporting my sister.
* This is an anonymous story. For security purposes, we have changed some details of the story. The image is generated using AI.
Fundraising goal
€2500
This amount will cover expenses for the next 6 months, including:
travel to and from the hospital (hundreds of kilometers, twice a month),
utility bills,
medical expenses (which are overwhelming even for a working person),
clothing (after prison, everything she owns is far too large),
food (without income, she has no money even to buy basic groceries).