The second mass event of the project "Protection of Life" from the Khmelnytskyi Charitable Foundation "Hesed Besht" and with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation was held on September 28, 2017 at the Shepetivska Central District Library. Palliative care, which is the object of the project's popularization, needs wider coverage in society, so the project team has enough work everywhere. Representatives of state structures, public organizations and all people who are interested in this issue were invited to the meeting at the Central Library.
The presentation of the project took place according to the usual scenario. However, it is extremely pleasant when useful ideas find like-minded people. Thus, a volunteer of the “Protection of Life” project, a resident of Shepetiv, Khrystyna Yanushevska, was so imbued with the ideas of our joint project that she took an active part in the event at the speaker level. She prepared an extended report on the state of palliative care both in Ukraine and in the world; made a comparison and selected the best examples of the successes of our Western colleagues in this direction. Khrystyna Yanushevska also initiated events in Polonnoye and Izyaslav - settlements that were not part of the “Protection of Life” project. However, now meetings will also be held in these cities, which indicates the relevance of the project, its viability and necessity for society.
Also contributing to the event was Roza Freilikhman, a resident of Shepetiv, the former head of the Hesed Besht branch in this city. She has more than one example of the successful use of palliative care tools that have had a positive impact on the condition of seriously ill people. That is why palliative care concerns absolutely all citizens.
The usual explanations of the content of palliative care from the project manager Lyudmila Shvartsman, the legal foundations from Lyudmila Novitska, and the history of the development of this phenomenon in different cultures from Raisa Gelman have become commonplace. The life-affirming story of Victoria Polisyuk – a girl who is bedridden, but thanks to the help of family and friends fills the world with kindness – became a good example of palliative care for all those present.
The project is developing and expanding throughout the Khmelnytskyi region. There are still meetings ahead in Starokostyantyniv, Kamianets-Podilskyi, and Khmelnytskyi. After today, additional meetings in Polonny and Izyaslav became possible. Each attendee receives an information booklet explaining the importance of palliative care and related materials. Library employees also received the same products so that everyone could find everything they needed here.
