Winter in our Backyard

The Early Days

The picture shows our water supply early 2005. Clean water on the table, dirty water under the table. One of our youth did the hauling of the clean water from the lake and later from the well, as well as carrying the dirty water out. Bath days were a challenge!
The house itself was built in the 1920’s. Lack of care for the house during the Soviet years of occupation left its mark. The roof leaked, walls were caving in, there was no indoor plumbing – not even water. Water was carried from the lake that froze over during the winter. Imagine life like that with small children… It was like turning back the clock 100 years, but that is still not uncommon in the rural areas of Latvia! Reconstruction began. The house received a new roof; windows and doors were installed. A new staircase was needed; rooms needed repartitioning. Plans made for toilets and a shower. An unexpected surprise was that the beams of the house had rotted – they too needed to be replaced.
Who paid for this? Since Zvannieki is an NGO, there are no governmental funds for the support of this work. Initially- the first couple of years - most expenses: reconstruction and food for the children was paid by Juris Calitis. His pension fund and all savings have found their home in the house itself. Later congregations and organizations, both in Latvia and outside of Latvia, began sending donations – donations for plumbing, boiler, washing machine, beds etc. Many thanks to them!
The kitchen initially was a nightmare. Cooking was done on a hotplate that was not adequate for the number of persons living at the shelter. Through another NGO’s help, a shell for the kitchen was completed, including and saving the old wood stove. The kitchen was furnished with used odds and ends from various individuals. Since our family has grown to over 20 children and youth, the kitchen fittings no longer can serve our needs. We are thankful that various businessmen in Riga have undertaken to refit the kitchen with industrial fittings. (See blogspot “ScotinRiga”)
Heating of the two-storied house was and still is done by one wood fireplace. A blower system has been added to help distribute the heat throughout the house.
Laundry was initially washed in Riga by members in their homes. Then we were gifted with a washing machine – but had no water… A well was drilled. That is a story in itself 170 meters deep! What an expense, money ran out, but the diggers continued to drill. We then had water in the house – one tap. Water for the washing machine – but where to expel the used water? A huge pot was set up beside the washing machine… Our teen boys got tired of having to empty this pot – we do a lot of laundry in one day – and they rigged a hose out through the window. This worked fine and well in the summer, but in the winter, the house lost too much heat! Anyway, we now have a laundry room with an industrial sized washer and dryer – thanks to our German friends – and we can do laundry normally.

Greetings to readers of "Zvannieki"

Welcome!

"What is Zvannieki?" It is a home and shelter for children - orphans or children from dysfunctional families. Zvannieki is also home for youth whose families are in crisis and the teens need a safe haven for a while.

Where is Zvannieki? Zvannieki is in Latvia (found on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea), approximately 100 km north of the capital city, Riga. It is found in the deep in the country area. Poverty and alcoholism are a constant for most persons living in the rural areas of Latvia. Unemployment and low wages create the areas of deep depression. (Most persons work for 1-2LS per day – approximately $.60 - 1.20USD – a pair of inexpensive shoes costs about 30LS and used shoes 7LS. A loaf of bread costs about .50LS and a kilogram of pork about 2LS. Go figure…)

Zvannieki is an NGO and all who work there are volunteers.

Who am I, the writer? My name is Sarma Eglite. I have spent the last year and a half working at Zvannieki as a volunteer. I have been chauffeur, bottle washer, grocery shopper, laundress, cook, dishwasher, child bather, soother, and paper shuffler – in essence ‘mother’. Immediately prior to this I was pastor for thirteen years of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Boston. During that time I visited Latvia approximately two to three times a year, so have been able to visit Zvannieki since the beginning and had already come to know and love the children.

THE BEGINNING
Zvannieki exists since 2001. Its founders are the Reverend Juris Calitis and members of the Riga Ev. Lutheran Reformed congregation in Riga, with Sandra Dzenite as the driving force. It all began as in a dream, perhaps more accurately it began with a nightmare – there was a knock at the door… An inebriated man incoherently spat out “A baby is lost.” It was snowing and snowing hard. To believe or not to believe, that was the question. Is a baby lost in the snow? Two kilometers later, they came upon a rundown two-story apartment building. They tried to talk to the man’s partner, but she would not open the door or answer any questions. The Reverend Calitis found a ladder and climbed up to her window, but not to say “Rappanzal, Rappanzal, let down your hair!” He conversed with the woman through the window. She was drunk and clearly had been beaten, but no baby. Help was called for the woman. By then neighbors were becoming interested in the proceedings and one of them, in answer to the question does anybody know anything about a baby, answered that she had taken the baby a couple of days ago to care for it, because the baby’s parents were drunk and the infant had been constantly crying because it had not been fed or changed in quite a while.

One would think, a happy ending. The infant is found alive and well. There is a but. The neighbor did not want to continue caring for the infant. The mother was taken to the hospital. The father was still drunk. What next? There followed a discussion between the Reverend Calitis and Sandra Dzenite, a member of one of his congregations. Sandra was convinced that they should care for the child until the mother was released from the hospital and then help the mother learn to be a mother. The mother was only 24 at the time. Calitis was against this plan, knowing that it would not be so easy. Sandra convinced him. And so it all began.