The district of Vetka

The district of Vetka lies on the banks of the river Sozh, 22 miles from Gomel, the regional capital of south east Belarus. Vetka town is roughly on the same latitude as Witney in West Oxfordshire. Vetka town has a population of some 7,700 people. The district includes 11 outlying village soviets (another eight had to be closed as a result of Chernobyl), and has a total population of around 21,000. Vetka was founded in 1685 and lies in an area of forests and marshland.

The People of Vetka
The people of Vetka are kind, thoughtful and overwhelmingly hospitable. The leaders of the community, Council members, school staff, hospital staff, youth centre leaders and the people in general are committed, resourceful and justly proud of the work they do. The quality of the art, music and dance produced by the young people of the District is phenomenally high and they are able to mount a show for visitors at a moment's notice

Places of Interest
The town of Vetka is famous for its folk museum that contains a unique collection of icons.
In 2003 a new Orthodox Church was erected with the help of parishioners, organizations, enterprises and individual entrepreneurs.

Agriculture
Agriculture had always been a major part of the local economy. Today the biggest employer remains the collective farms. However, farming is in deep and severe crisis following the Chernobyl Disaster. The economic situation generally, and the particular problems of being in a contaminated area, mean that investment is hard to maintain. Without working capital there are shortages of seed, fertilizers and fuel.

The forest has traditionally provided additional foodstuffs for local consumption, such as mushrooms and berries but Chernobyl means that the forests are now out of bounds. Wild mushrooms a favourite of the local community are particularly dangerous.

Some families have plots of private land on which they keep livestock: geese, cows, chickens and pigs. They also have small orchards. Care needs to be taken to prevent produce becoming sources of contamination.

Ecology
More than 50% of the district territory is polluted as a result of Chernobyl. 70% of the zone is covered with woods. All agriculture activity is forbidden in this territory and settlements have been abandoned. Peat-beds are also situated in the contaminated areas. As a result there are special ecological conditions; within the contaminated area wildlife is flourishing, there are many birds of prey living there, and also nests of the big white heron. This territory of the zone has a good perspective for the arrangement of a national park or forest reserve.

For more details of Vetka go to www.vetka.server.by/?lang=en