Monday, May 22, 2006

Video: A Baba Feeds the Fowl in Western Ukraine

I now have a vlog (video blog) site through which I can cross-post footage to this, my Ukraineblog. This is the first entry on that site; the text and foto below appear here according to vlogger's cross-posting format that uses a still-foto I selected from and text I wrote about the footage.

Many more entries are soon to come to that site, which you can go to
here; here on DYKUN, I will cross-post only Ukraine-related stuff. Enjoy.

Watch the video
This is footage that was shot in the town of Pidhajtsi (pop approx. 4,000), state of Ternopil, in western Ukraine in September, 2005. The people of the small towns and villages in this region--the Pidhajetskyj rajon (county of Pidhajtsi), which is among the poorest regions in Ukraine--survive as subsistence farmers with some degree of waged labor. The official unemployment figure for the county, according to pre-Orange Revolution stats, is 10-15%; a number of county officials told me that the actual figure is between 35-45%. Average wages/pensions are about $60/month. Nearly every household in the town of Pidhajtsi (Ukrainian counties are named for their seat of government) has three generations present whose members usually survive $2/day or less ($2/day being the true poverty line for people of the northern hemisphere, due to heating cost). The people of this region in general can not survive without raising and growing their own food. The scene in this clip: Nearly every household keeps chickens, geese, and ducks, while some also have turkeys. Baba Feeds the Fowl.

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