Progressive school for the blind suffers from poor sanitation facilities (03/07/99)

Progressive school for the blind suffers from poor sanitation facilities

by Christine H. Rakowsky

PARMA, Ohio - Countries that were once part of the former Soviet Union do not mainstream students with disabilities as we do in the U.S. whenever possible. Blind and vision-impaired students are taught, and often boarded, in special schools for the blind. In Ukraine there are only 24 schools for the blind in the entire country and those who cannot get into one of these schools are usually home-schooled. The oldest school for the blind in Ukraine, and perhaps in all of Eastern Europe, is in Lviv.

Since the Lviv School for the Blind is the most experienced and most avant-garde school for the blind in Ukraine - applying Western methodology and using the most modern equipment, including computers for the blind - it attracts students from all regions of Ukraine. Its academic standards are high: 50 percent of its graduates gain admission to the humanities and technologies faculties of various universities. Thus, the Lviv School for the Blind, a facility built in 1901 for 60 students, now educates and houses over twice that number - 136.

Unfortunately, the school's sanitation system - plumbing, toilet and bath facilities - is also of 1901 vintage. The school intensely guarded this dark secret from Western eyes because, in the words of teacher Luba Hryciv, who also happens to be blind as are most teachers at that school: "We dared not make public this sanitary disaster so as not to appear entirely helpless and lay bare our utter poverty."

"However, dire necessity forces us to ask for help," she recently wrote to Cleveland's Fight for Sight Association in a plea for assistance.

Fight for Sight Association is a Cleveland-based organization of professional women who help the blind in Ukraine - in particular, blind children and the 24 schools for the blind. In its work, Fight for Sight often calls on its medical advice team, which includes Cleveland ophthalmologist Ihor Zachary, M.D.; University of Texas Medical School and School of Public Health toxicologist Dr. Andrij Holian; and Schenectady radiologist-oncologist Alexander Jakubowycz, M.D.

In response to this plea, Fight for Sight turned to Dr. Jakubowycz, who had previously served on an American medical team at work in Chornobyl, and who happened to be in Lviv at the time this plea for help came. Dr. Jakubowycz agreed to verify the case.

During his visit, Dr. Jakubowycz was so horrified by the school's sanitation facilities that he immediately telephoned Myra Oryshkewych, president of Fight for Sight Association, urging prompt action. Fight for Sight authorized Dr. Jakubowycz to engage a team of local architects to find the original 100-year-old building plans, and to prepare a realistic remodeling plan and cost estimate. Upon his return to the U.S., Dr. Jakubowycz detailed his observations to Fight for Sight during a recent meeting, after which he gave this interview.

Q: Dr. Jakubowycz, what are your most vivid impressions from your visit to the Lviv School for the Blind?

A: From the outside, the building looks fine. But upon entering, one is at once overwhelmed by a horrible, horrible stench. Upon closer inspection of the facilities, the cause of the stench becomes obvious very quickly: The sanitation system - or lack thereof. Everything leaks, drips, is broken, and entirely corroded. The floor in the shower room is cracked and broken. So are the water pipes and the sewer pipes. And so are the water closets. For 136 student boarders, there are only four showers. There are only four commodes for boys and four for girls - all cracked, chipped, leaking. By the commodes stand covered buckets (one can only surmise why). There are nine cold-water-only sinks for boys and nine for girls. The hot water tank for the showers is so corroded that it leaks constantly and is beyond repair. The sewer system is in parallel disrepair. It is a century old and primitive. Whenever it became clogged, holes had to be drilled in the pipes to allow cleaning.

The entire system needs to be replaced at once, for it is in such disrepair that it will surely collapse in the very near future. It will be impossible to do the job piecemeal. It must be done as a single project, beginning with the central sewer system, plumbing, toilet and shower facilities, and bringing hot water to the wash basins.

Q: How much will this project cost?

A: Keeping in mind the fluctuating monetary exchange and equally unstable costs of plumbing materials, the local architectural team stipulates that the entire project will cost between $70,000 to $75,000. Perhaps a safer figure would be $100,000. If any money remains, the leaking roof can be addressed.

Q: Who will carry out this project and under whose supervision?

A: Individual "brigades" or project teams will be engaged for the various aspects of the renovation. The architects who have prepared the plans and cost estimates will oversee the technical aspects of the project. I have agreed to stay in Lviv for the duration of the project to be sure that Fight for Sight monies are paid out to the people and for the jobs for which they were intended. Fight for Sight will retain full financial control over the project. Since I already have some personal experience with building renovation in Ukraine, I have agreed to supervise the project locally for Fight for Sight to be sure that not a single penny be paid out unless the job has been completed to my satisfaction.

Q: What percent of the funds that Fight for Sight will collect will go toward administrative expenses?

A: If architects' fees are considered part of the renovation cost rather than administrative expenses, then 100 percent of the funds collected - every penny - will go toward renovation. There will be no administrative costs whatsoever. I shall travel to Lviv at my own expense. I shall live in Lviv at my own expense. As a matter of fact, I myself will contribute money to this renovation fund. There will be no administrative expenses. Period.

Q: Do you recommend that Fight for Sight take on the project?

A: One has to be realistic and practical. Ukrainian authorities do all they can to support the school and its faculty. If the project is to be done, funding must come from the West. Under Ukraine's current economic conditions, it is hardly possible to expect government funding for such remodeling in the foreseeable future.

The school was established and initially endowed in 1851 by a local Polish nobleman, Count V. Zaremba-Skrzynskyj, in memory of his son. The building was opened in 1901. It has survived two world wars, nearly half a century of the Soviet reality, is almost a century old, and has never undergone any structural or capital improvements. Until World War II the Lviv School for the Blind was supported by dividends from the Zaremba-Skrzynskyj endowment and through generous donations of Lviv's inhabitants. It was only under the Soviets that the school became the government's responsibility. Historically, it was not a government trust. To the contrary, historically, this school had been funded and supported by private generosity - the generosity of individual benefactors, people of good will. It is essential to remember that. And perhaps now is the time to reassume that responsibility more and more. Since the people of Lviv are as yet unable to do that, who will?

So, if we think that these 136 blind children from throughout Ukraine who came to the Lviv School for the Blind deserve to live and learn in a more sanitary environment, then we must reach into our own pockets and provide the dollars necessary to do the job. There simply is no other way. The need is grave. You must realize that in the U.S. a school with toilet facilities that are in half as bad a condition would have been declared a disaster area and a health hazard, and would have been shut down long ago.

* * *

Fight for Sight Association is launching a major campaign for the renovation of plumbing, sewer and sanitary facilities at the Lviv School for the Blind. "It's a big project," says Mrs. Oryshkewych, "but we must place our trust in the basic human kindness and decency that prompts all good people to respond to human misery and need. We hope that many will find it in their hearts to help." donations may be sent to: Fight for Sight Fund, Account No. 6425, Cleveland Selfreliance Credit Union, 6108 State Road, Parma, Ohio 44134.

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