Flooding on the Lena River

Kindred project 2017

Aiaana Nickolayeva, age 9, grade 3 Abagha School, Olekminsk, Sakha Republic, Russia

Abagha is a small village located deep in Siberian taiga forest on the bank of the Lena River, 11 world’s largest river.

My beloved grandparentsHello, This is me, Aiaana, and my Granny. My Grandmother, Natalia Nickolayeva, was born in 1960, October, 20 in the small village of Abagha. She learned veterinary and cured animals in the village.

My Granddad Alexey Gavrilovich Starostin was born on October 17, 1964. He was a herdsman in Demitrovsky farm. He led the cattle to better pastures in the morning and back to a dairy farm in the afternoon. He looked after the cows and liked his job.

Once I asked my Grandma why she chose the profession of veterinary?And she told me that when a child she used to help her mother who was a milkmaid. She loved animals and wanted to learn to look after and cure them. At the age of 15 she went to a college to study veterinary. She’s been working as a veterinary for 25 years.

In free time my Grandma likes to sew and my Granddad likes to read books. I like to walk in the woods with my grandparents. In the spring time we often go up the hills to see lots of snowdrops growing there. We spend much time by the Lena riverside. We make fire, my Grandad likes to fish and have barbecue. And I play with my Granny. In the summer during haymaking time we often go to the hay fields. I help my grandparents to harvest hay. In the late summer or early autumn we pick berries - currants, blueberries and red bilberry in the woods.

The happiest memory

One day in the evening after school I asked my Granny, ‘Tell me please about the happiest event in your life’. And this is what she said, “Lots of happy things occurred in my life. But the most unforgettable event was the birth of my first granddaughter. That was a great memorable day. I became a grandma, that was an unforgettable feeling of happiness and pride. My husband and I refurnished the house and prepared a separate room for our granddaughter. We went to the maternity clinic to meet our newborn granddaughter. She was so cute and funny.

The Lena River is the 4th greatest river in Russia, and  during the spring months large floods often occur because of ice jams.

The local population experienced the most devastating disaster in 1937, 1969, 1999, 2001.

Disaster

People had to leave their houses and waited for help. Some villages had been removed to other places after the flooding.

The town of Lensk which was damaged badly had been rebuilt anew after the greatest flooding of 2001.

Once I asked my Granny if she ever had some dangerous situations or experiences in her life. And she told me about the big ice-jam flood of the Lena River in 1969. My granny was 9 years old at that time. Her family was big and they lived and worked in a small village on the bank of the Lena River. There was a logging company at that place and its workers lived in that village.

What my Granny tells

Spring came. My grandmother’s mother was in hospital at that time, and her sister, aunt Maya, came from the other village to take all the children with her because of the flooding threat.

My Granny and eight other children of the family hurried to get into a truck and left the village extremely quickly. They even couldn’t grab their belongings. Shortly thereafter the village was flooded.

In a few days when the floods had subsided and the water went down they returned to their home and found a very sad scene of a disaster. The water had moved some houses and carried away others. Dead animals were everywhere. There was a lot of destruction and it all looked very scary.

My granny’s family lived in a tent for some time. But the damage was so great, there was no way of restoring the village and people left that place.

Since then my Grandma has been living in Abagha village, and this place is my homeland.

For Kindred Project, IEARN

Aiaana NickolayevaAbagha School,

Olekminsk Center for Creative Development

Sakha Republic,Russia2017

teacher Natalia Kouchmenko,translation into English Olga Evstifeeva