We help incurably ill people to live out their lives with dignity and without pain

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«Galya, this is not a hospital. We do a little»

STORY 1

Thank you, I'm no longer afraid

«Galya, this is not a hospital. We do a little»

At the Centre for Palliative Care it’s Okroshka Evening.
Patients do everything themselves: chopping, mixing, adding kvass or kefir, eating, congratulating each other, laughing. They enjoyed discussing what to make next: pizza, pelmeni or Olivier salad. They say it's boring always eating what they cook for you. We want to cook for ourselves!

«What an attentive man, noticed how prettier I was»

STORY 2

Thank you, I’m no longer lonely

«What an attentive man, noticed how prettier I was»

Hospice patient Lyuba is a very stylish woman. She can no longer get out of bed, but she always wears rings and bracelets and a string of pearls. On International Beauty Day Lyuba had her hair and make-up done. Towards the end she was tired and had to have additional painkillers. But she entered the lounge like a queen. The duty doctor was walking by and paid her a compliment. Lyuba blushed, laughed and recalled this moment a number of times, saying happily, ‘What an attentive man, he noticed that I was looking better.’

«She dreamt and waited and her dream came true!»

STORY 3

Thank you, I’m no longer lonely

«She dreamt and waited and her dream came true!»

At the Butovo hospice, for the first time in its 15-year existence, there was a wedding. A patient and her husband renewed their vows on their golden wedding anniversary. Nadezhda, the VERA Fund coordinator who helped organise the ceremony, described it as follows: ‘The most important thing was the smile on the patient’s face. She dreamt and waited and her dream came true! I have never before seen such pure, beautiful happiness on a person’s face’.

«A hug from dad is the greatest gift»

STORY 4

Thank you, I’m no longer scared

«A hug from dad is the greatest gift»

Zhenya shared his dream with us: to wish his daughter, Lera, a happy birthday. She is 13 and lives in Cheboksary. 700 km? That’s no problem. One of the VERA Fund volunteer drivers has a comfortable car and at the hospice there’s a doctor who is happy to be with the patient 24/7. Travel expenses? There are people prepared to help with that. A gift for his daughter? The main gift is to hug her dad, who has managed to come all the way from the Moscow hospice to Cheboksary. With a teddy bear, roses and a bracelet which will remind his daughter of the meeting of her life.

«The girls played really well. Mum would have enjoyed it»

STORY 5

Thank you, I’m no longer afraid

«The girls played really well. Mum would have enjoyed it»

Our patient Liliya Ivanovna used to be an opera singer. She was waiting for her son Leonid, a jazz pianist, to arrive from America. He managed to see his mum and spend some time with her. The next day, while there was a concert in the hospice hall, Liliya passed away. The hospice staff were worried that the music was inappropriate. But musicians are amazing people. In the hospice garden Leonid suddenly said, through his tears, 'The girls played really well. Mum would have enjoyed it'.
Music to the end of life.