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Coming to Ireland for the first time in the 1990s, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya realized that things were not normal in her home country.
At 12 years old, he first tasted ketchup and chips when he arrived at Roscrea in Tipperary, as one of the children from Chernobyl who were taken in by Irish families for a breather during the summer months.
“The gap between life in Belarus and Ireland was very, very deep,” he told the Irish Independent, speaking via video link from Vilnius in Lithuania.
“For the first time in my life, I saw all those big malls and I tried the ketchup.
“We lived behind the Iron Curtain and we had no fries.”
Tsikhanouskaya (37) rose to international attention after her husband, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, was arrested. He was a vocal critic of Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, and was an opposition candidate in the August presidential elections.
Sviatlana then took it upon herself to start the campaign and ran in her place. While it appeared that she would win, Lukashenko claimed victory and massive protests broke out in Belarus, alleging electoral fraud.
Many Belarusians do not accept the election results.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya learned of a different life at age 12, when she first traveled to Roscrea, where she spent many summers as a child, teenager, and young adult.
“It was so exotic for me and the people who were always smiling, we didn’t smile in Belarus at the time and we didn’t say thank you in the store. It was absolutely a different culture and I was in awe of this, ”she recalled.
“And when I came [back] to Belarus after this and I said to everyone ‘Thank you’ ‘Thank you’ ‘Thank you’, they all looked at me very strange. It was the first step to understand that there are other cultures, there are other attitudes towards people ”.
The day after the elections, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya was forced to leave Belarus and is currently based in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
The unlikely politician, formerly a homemaker and English teacher, has been leading the revolution against the man she calls “Europe’s last dictator.”
However, his ties to Ireland remain very strong and he remains in contact with his Tipperary host family Henry and Marian Deane to this day.
Yesterday, a Belarusian flag signed by her was delivered to the family home. In it, a message from Ms. Tsikhanouskaya reads: “To Ireland, which I love forever. To the best family, the Deans of Roscrea. “
Henry Deane (72) established a charity called Chernobyl Lifeline in the early 1990s that brought children, including Ms. Tsikhanouskaya, to Ireland to stay with a host family, including that of former Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
“He is a very close member of the family and we are very proud of him,” Deane said. “She was always very attentive to the younger children, took care of them and helped them. She stood out from our perspective, she was kind, gentle and thought of others and I guess that’s what brought her to this day. “
He added: “Svieta (Sviatlana) came here and like all children, they admired the Irish system, that we could criticize our government and speak openly and we were not afraid to speak. Children were always afraid to speak.
“Svieta was able to speak more openly because she understood more English,” he said.
Belarusians who do not recognize Lukashenko as a leader have organized demonstrations every Sunday since the elections, usually with more than 100,000 people flooding the streets of Minsk.
More than 27,000 people have been arrested and many of the protests have ended violently, with more than 2,000 complaints of torture.
A Belarusian People’s Embassy has been established in 16 countries, including Ireland, to show solidarity and support for Belarus. “We have family, friends there and we fully support them,” said Alexander Repeka of the Belarusian People’s Embassy in Ireland.
“There is a long way to go, but people do not recognize this government. We need to show solidarity ”.
When asked about her favorite memory from Ireland, Ms. Tsikhanouskaya said it was a “constant happy feeling”.
“Families used to do their best for these children who came from Chernobyl to make their lives happier, so I remember the constant feeling of happiness in Ireland.
“A part of my heart belongs to Ireland, to Roscrea,” he said.
“My heart wants to be in Ireland. I look forward to visiting Ireland as soon as possible and in real life. “
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