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ternoon raking up all the dried hay and loading it onto the cart with long-handled
pitchforks. They sang religious songs and hymns as they worked, and talked of
their lives as we pitched in by their sides. The whole extended family worked hard
all through the summer, gathering hay and growing potatoes. They did not drink
or smoke, and by growing more than they needed for the winter, they were able
to sell their leftover produce in the village market. At twenty-six, Andrei was also
a highly skilled welder; he worked long hours to bring in regular commissions.
The family and all of their devout relations in the village were prospering while
other villagers seemed to wilt with bitterness. We asked them about this at dinner,
and after a moment of consideration, Andrei explained. 'Most Russians were better
off under the old regime. They had jobs and security. Their pensions were always
paid.' He looked at us and we nodded. We had heard that many times before.
'But for us and people of our faith, things were different. We were prisoners
under communism. My father, Slavic, spent fifteen years in a gulag labour camp
because he refused to deny God!'
I looked towards Andrei's parents with a profound new respect and understand-
ing. Their eyes were filled with tears that told of the anguish of their lives, filled
with unimaginable hardship and suffering, as well as the newfound peace and tran-
quillity of their old age. Clara looked lovingly at Andrei, himself choked up with
tears. Her gaze held the quiet, loving pride of a parent, watching her son grow to
live in a new world, taking advantage of opportunities and chances that she had
never known.
'Our country has changed,' Slavic continued gently. 'Our lives are hard but now
they are free.' He smiled and gestured at a heavy, leather-bound bible in the centre
of the table. 'Before, we kept this topic of God's word in our house at the risk of our
lives. Now it lies there for all to see. People yearn for the return of communism, but
all they really wish for is a return to the days where they lived easily because they
were not free. People want the riches and the benefits of capitalism, but they want
to keep the security and safety of old times. They wish to earn like westerners, but
they also want to work lazily and without risks, as they did during the communist
times. That is why their lives have become harder. We have always lived by God's
laws. We have always been free in spirit. And so you see, it is easy for us in the
new system. Now we can live freely too.'
We sat up talking late into the evening. After working a summer of eighteen-
hour days, Andrei had been able to buy a video camera and television. He showed
us hours of wobbly footage: the extended family singing hymns and slashing hay
