At least some stability

The pandemic has brought many families in Russia to the brink of poverty. The Makarov family is one of them. Kommersant journalist Olga Allenova especially for TD visited the Makarovs at home and found out that she helps them survive

Help we need help help

For a long time we could not agree on a meeting: Anastasia in the country with children, me too. I waited for the family to return to Moscow. Finally they are at home - I write SMS that I will come.

“Only I have not been removed,” Anastasia apologizes.

“I have it too,” I answer.

While I get to her house in Krasnogorsk, the youngest daughter of the pasta Masha wakes up after a daytime sleep, which means that a calm conversation will not work, explains Anastasia.

A fifteen -year -old Victor, a tall curly brown -haired, opening the door to me, leaves the room, and his mother screams from the kitchen: “Come here, I’m cooking dinner here.” The blonde Masha stomps with bare legs on the floor, I follow her to the kitchen.

Anastasia, in a cotton robe, stands at the stove. The kitchen is a spacious, light, large oval table of milk with golden vignettes, the same shade of chairs.

- Good table! In my kitchen, this would not fit.

“Yes, the kitchen is the biggest plus of our apartment, although it requires repairs,” the hostess agrees. - Do you want tea?

Anastasia photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD

She lifts the lid over a large deep pan, from which the aroma of pilaf spreads, quickly evaluates the degree of readiness of dinner and lowers the lid back: not ready. Masha pulls her by the bathrobe, Anastasia takes her in her arms and kisses her. Masha goes into the room.

“The wallpaper has been pushed,” Anastasia shows on the light walls of the kitchen. - The neighbors flooded us, we agreed that they would make us a suspended ceiling, and we ourselves. Slowly glued to the pandemic. I have a credit card, I buy wallpaper, collect checks, then I will submit to social protection for matches.

A barefoot Masha appears in the kitchen again.

“This young Aivazovsky painted all the walls in the corridor and bedrooms,” the mother smiles. - Now there are new wallpaper. But this is not now. When the husband gets a job. In the best of times, we never managed to save something. Everything goes to food.

Writing her words in a notebook, I notice numerous dark scherbinks and broken vignettes on the dairy table.

- Do you know how old is this table? Well, at least ten exactly ten. The usual chipboard, but beautiful, right? We bought it when we got married with Sergey. I already had two children then. And now this table saves us, everyone here is doing lessons. More and nowhere.

Help directly

Anastasia’s husband Sergey worked in the store by a seller. In March he was reduced. A family raising four minor children - and this is not counting the elder, Artem, who is now in the army, was left without money and food.

The whole family, together with the parents of Anastasia, went to the summer cottage in the Istrinsky district. There were enough places: children could walk in the yard while mom was engaged in household chores. The only disadvantage of summer insulation was the bill for electricity: “In the first month, 17 thousand rubles ran, we have no stoves there, the heaters turned on.”

Vitya mows grass in the country photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD Victor photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD Victor photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD

It was difficult-mainly due to uncertainty in tomorrow, recalls Anastasia. The loss of the only stable source of income was alarming and anxiety. To feed the family was helped by the fact that children in Moscow registration in Beskudnikov, where the parents of Anastasia live. As a low -income, the family receives social benefits from Moscow monthly - 10,560 rubles for two -year -old Masha, 4224 rubles each for each of the three minor sons and another 7254 rubles - the so -called allowance for large families. But they tried to deprive these payments.

“At the beginning of spring, social protection came to my parents home, looked at the apartment and said:“ So you have two rooms, you can live in one and rent the other, ”says Makarova. - And on this basis they deprived me of the status of a low -income family with the children. I had to fight them. As a result, the status was returned to us. ”

Twice a year, social protection authorities are charged with Moscow low -income families points equivalent to rubles: 2 thousand points are given to one child for food and the same amount for clothes. “We eventually get 8 thousand points for products and 8 thousand for clothes,” Anastasia explains. - You can cheat them in network supermarkets “Pyaterochka”, “Dixie”, “Crossroads”. ”

In April, the family has no products. Anastasia began to look for funds that help families in a difficult situation. I found two - charity funds "Give me food!" and "Multi -Mama". Several times, the volunteers of these organizations brought Makarov to the cottage grocery sets and baby food for Masha.

Anastasia with her sons in the country photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD

“Our fund collects products for the poor in supermarkets and shopping centers - in Moscow, for example, in supermarkets of the Lenta and Tasteville networks are boxes in which customers fold products for our wards. Then these products come to our warehouse, from where we distribute them, ”says the Coordinator of the Darya Foundation! In Moscow and the Near Moscow Region Nikolai Kuprin. - Before the pandemic, we worked with other charitable funds that help the poor, and distributed food only through them - they themselves came to our warehouse. But already in March, we realized that we should give people the opportunity to directly contact us for help . Many lost their jobs in March - April, were left without a livelihood, and no funds knew about them. ”

Everyone who has turned to give a grocery set of seven kilograms: cereals, pasta, canned food, vegetable oil, pasteurized milk, cookies, sweets. More products can be allocated for a large family - for example, the Fund with a family with ten children took four sets at once.

Most often, those who were left without work turned to the fund and who simply had nothing to eat. The volunteers delivered food, “Yandex.Taxi” helped in delivery - it turned out very welcome, because during the period of self -isolation people did not leave the house and could not go to the food warehouse.

The President of the Center for Multimaam, Alina Contareva, says that from the beginning of the pandemic, even those who used to help the fund used to help. In total, since April, volunteers of the Center supported 15.5 thousand families throughout the country - products, legal and psychological help. “In Moscow, for example, large families were especially injured, which are not registered here and did not receive any social assistance. Mothers called us and said that there was nothing to feed the children, ”says Contareva. “There were families where parents had a small business related to children's entertainment - already in April they actually were left without business, in debt for renting premises, in loans.”

Dreams

Anastasia is married a second time. The first husband works in the police and was never particularly interested in children. The second son, Vitya, was born in the eighth month. He needed a special care, but all the worries lay on Anastasia. “The husband had one fishing on his mind. He is now the same, although he has a new marriage and his daughter. I somehow called him, the middle son needed an eye to eye, his retina exfoliated his eyes. The ex -husband says: “It's 60 thousand, where will I get? Take a loan.” I took a loan, did the operation. ”

When it came to alimony, the ex-husband demanded DNA analysis to establish Viti's fatherhood. Paternity confirmed the examination, but Vitya after that took the name of his grandfather.

Denis Photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD Denis Photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD Denis Photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD

After a divorce from her first husband, Anastasia again married - this time, it seems, was lucky.

“He immediately said that he wants children, he generally loves children,” says Anastasia about Sergey. - So we gave birth to three more. But for Sergey, all the children are him. He adopted all my boys. And fair with everyone. His own is not his own - he does not have this. "

The Makarovs returned to Moscow in July: Sergey began to look for work. He worked as a taxi driver, then found a vacancy in the security structure, now he receives a license to carry weapons.

“We are waiting for him to get up completely and at least some stability will appear,” says Anastasia.

- And what is stability for you? I ask.

“Oh,” Anastasia replies bewildered and sinks heavily to a chair. - Well, of course, I would like children at sea ... at least sometimes. Now unrealistic.

She looks around the kitchen, runs her palm on the dairy table.

- And it would also be repairs in the rooms. Well, at least change the wallpaper. And also ... well, these are generally dreams. The house would build.

After a country life in the city, it is hard for her. With Masha and the youngest son, you need to walk - without adults, she does not let them go into the yard. You prepare three times a day for the whole family - only two pots of soup: the guys are chicken, and she and Masha are from canned fish and rice.

Wedding photography Anastasia with her husband photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD

Masha screams in the room and immediately appears in the kitchen - with a victorious cry he rushes to his mother, clamping a notebook in her hand. An eight -year -old rum runs into the kitchen, Masha climbs on her mother and hides in her arms.

“Mom, I'm just playing with her,” Roma explains. “She took my notebook, mothers.” But I did not scold her.

He tickles the naked heel of his sister, Masha laughs, gets away from his mother and runs away with his brother into the room.

“My princess,” Anastasia smiles, gently looking after her daughter. “I have been waiting for eighteen years.” All guys and guys. I didn’t believe that my daughter would be.

Simple calculations

Anastasia shows me her apartment. The walls in the corridor are painted with Masha's felt -tip pens, the wallpaper in places is torn. In the doorway, instead of patterned glasses, there are plywood boards with children's drawings: "The boys were knocked out for a long time, the husband inserted the plywood and asked the children to paint."

In a small bedroom - a small closet and a bunk bed, other furniture would not fit here. Broken boxes with linen are put forward from under the bed and have long existed in this form-you need a difficult repair. Clean sheets hang on the doors. The balcony in the apartment is one and, as often happens in small apartments, it is forced by things that there is nowhere else to store.

Roma jumps on a trampoline photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD Roma jumps on a trampoline photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD Roma photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD

In a large room similar to the living room, three boys and Masha are sitting-the girl draws something on the floor, the eldest, Victor, looks at the computer, Denis stands behind his shoulder and also looks at the screen, Roma tries to distract Masha from drawing, Masha rejoices at the attention of his brother and squeals.

The room is crowded. In a white windowsill, right above the battery, huge holes are drilled. “This husband came up with the warmth from the battery to rise to the glass. In the winter, a terrible fungus on the windows is breeding here. ”

13.5 thousand rubles are paid for utilities in the Krasnogorsk apartment in the Krasnogorsk apartment. This is the full amount. Of course, one could register here and pay half as much - like a large family. But the registration in the Moscow apartment, with the parents of Anastasia, gives more: firstly, benefits and social assistance, and secondly, free travel. And also, which is important, annual payments for school uniforms. In Moscow, it is 10 thousand per child once a year, in the suburbs - 5 thousand.

But much more Anastasia is afraid that children will be sent again to distance learning. “I was very difficult to give me a greatly remote. Behind each child to observe - whether he connected in time to the lesson, how he behaves, whether he does all the tasks. We have one computer at home, in the spring we gave all the phones to children to make them engage. And still, Romka began to study very poorly. He does not want to read anything, you can’t take the book in your hands. Oh, and I cried with him. "

Anastasia with her sons in the country photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD

How now to occupy children is incomprehensible, says Anastasia. All children's circles, where the Makarov children went to the pandemic, are paid, there are practically no free circles in the Moscow Region. Victor and Roman visited the boxing circle, Denis - dance. All additional education took 10 thousand a month.

“Maybe my boys will return, but Denis will not go to dancing,” says Anastasia. - This is not a male thing.

- Or maybe he has talent?

- He has talent, I see it. But what will it give him in life? What will he live on?

It seems to me that the cost of a dance circle remains decisive in this matter-4 thousand rubles a month for the family too much money.

Everything will be fine

Help the eldest son, who serves in the army, is perhaps the most painful topic for mom. She is afraid to complain: the guy remains to serve for three months. But from her stingy story, I understand that they feed the soldier no matter, I lost weight, they gave out the form of the old one, the berets were infected with a fungus, so now it will be necessary to treat legs. Talking about this, the mother constantly wipes her eyes with her hands, but the tears do not stop. Each month, Anastasia sends her son a parcel of 17 kilograms and transfers 3 thousand rubles to the phone, to sweets.

How it is twisted is incomprehensible. She herself does not know. He says that he is used to it. Products give. Children tunn up clothes one after another. Only shoes have to be bought - it burns on children, there is simply nothing to bother.

She really wants the previous life to return - the one that they had before quarantine. When her husband had a job, the children went to school and to the mugs, when she visited her parents, not afraid to bring them some virus.

“Everything is fine with me,” Anastasia smiles. - Children, husband, mom and dad are healthy. And this is the most important thing. "

Anastasia photo: Anna Ivantsova for TD

She is actually tired. Anastasia often begins to cry, telling me about the family. The whole house rests on her shoulders - cooking, cleaning, repair, calls and campaigns in social protection. Such families really need support, they need house assistants-even if someone came here once a week to prepare lunch, work out with children, let go of his mother rest and sit on a park in the park. But there is no such service in Russia. There are no nannies, there are no animators for children from large or crisis families, there are no joint trips to rest. Therefore, the well-being of six people depends on the emotional state of a single woman who just needs to relax.

It seems that the peak of pandemia is behind, but in fact the lives of millions of people have changed irrevocably. For many, the loss of only work, a disease of loved ones, loss of income was a difficult test. And charitable organizations can help such families primarily. Support from the state to wait a long time, and help is not always proportionate to the necessary expenses.

The “NEED HELP” Foundation has united in the action #NPOs are changing, engaged in direct help to people affected by coronavirus pandemia. Among them are “Dary food!”, Which help Anastasia and her large family.

Please support people throughout Russia who do not have funds for the most necessary - food and medicine. Make a one -time or monthly donation in favor of the funds that solve this problem. Thanks to your help, almost 10 million rubles have already been collected - they received support in tens of regions of our country.