"She walked as if she were flying on wings." This Belarusian woman presented the President with a loaf of bread twice at "Dazhynki" in Mosty

Topic news One of the most beautiful and touching moments of the regional festival-fair of rural workers "Dazhynki-2024", which Mosty hosted in Grodno region on November 2, was the karavai ceremony. According to an ancient Belarusian tradition, President of Belarus ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO was presented with a rich karavai as a symbol of the hospitality of the generous Mosty land. The fragrant fresh bread was presented to the HEAD of state by a simple rural woman from the agro-town of Bolshaya Rogoznitsa, Irina Ksaveryevna Sosnovskaya. She worked in agriculture for almost half a century, for many years she managed livestock farms, which under her leadership showed high results. She raised four children with her husband and was always a public activist. For her services to her small homeland, the veteran was honored to greet the President with a karavai made from the grain of the new harvest . And one detail, one can already say historical, made this moment especially touching: in 1997, Irina Sosnovskaya also presented a welcome loaf of bread to Alexander Lukashenko at the second national "Dazhinki" in Mosty.

To be honored twice at the main holiday of Belarusian farmers is a unique case. Irina Ksaveryevna Sosnovskaya told a BELTA correspondent about how it was, her many years of work and rural life.
When 27 years ago Mosty was preparing for the second national "Dazhinki" in the country, according to the tradition that was being established back then, they not only renovated and decorated the city, but also thought through the organization of the ceremonial honoring of rural workers. The significant moments of the holiday were prepared with special care: they wanted to do everything at the highest level and show the most worthy people of Mostyshchina.

Then, on behalf of the residents of the district and the entire Grodno region, Irina Sosnovskaya, a villager from the village of Malaya Rogoznitsa (later annexed to the agro-town of Bolshaya Rogoznitsa), was asked to present a festive loaf of bread to the distinguished guest, the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. There were good reasons for this choice. By that time, Irina Ksaveryevna had been working for about forty years on her native Adam Mitskevich collective farm. She started in the accounting department, and soon, having entered the correspondence course at the Grodno State Agricultural Institute (now GSAU), she became the head of the cattle fattening farm . The management entrusted the farm to the young woman without a doubt: she had already demonstrated her responsibility, desire to learn and move forward. They knew that with her, the farm would also grow. And so it happened.
"But this is only told simply and quickly," says Irina Ksaveryevna. "In reality, everything was not so easy, but we are used to work. I came to Malaya Rogoznitsa in 1957 from a neighboring village, married a local guy. At first I worked as a telephone operator, and in 1961 I came to the farm, where I worked until my retirement and, after a short break, for 16 years after that. I really wanted to get an education, and although I was already married, became a mother and was building a house with my husband, I made up my mind - I entered the Grodno Agricultural Institute to specialize in "zootechnician scientist". How I studied is a separate story. I will only say that for some time during the exam sessions I went with a small child. My mother came to Grodno with me, we rented a room closer to the university, and during the breaks I ran to feed the baby."

Irina deservedly received her diploma. True, in the first years she had to move from her farm to another, a dairy farm, closer to home, and work as a lab assistant. But soon a manager's position became available there too, it was offered to Sosnovskaya, and she again took on the difficult work of a manager.
So, year after year, she combined responsible work with caring for a growing family, in which three daughters and a son were raised, with work on her own considerable farm, and then with social activities - she headed the primary women's council on the farm. She supported her beloved husband in his desire to master the profession of a driver: while he studied for several months in the regional center, she took on all the worries about the family and the farm. But, she says, not in vain. First at GAZ, and then at the large ZIL-130, he worked for 37 years, and his total length of service on the farm is approaching half a century. "It wasn't easy, he would leave home before dawn, sometimes at 4 a.m., and return at night. The children would sometimes ask when they would see dad. But we managed to do everything. We even went to a sanatorium for a vacation, the farm provided the vouchers. I was in Sochi, Yalta, and Palanga. And my husband was in Alushta, in the Berestye sanatorium in the Brest region. Now we say that we have a century of experience between us," the veteran shares.   

For the last 16 years, before finally retiring, Irina Sosnovskaya worked as a MILK collector at the Adam Mickiewicz State Agricultural Enterprise. She was asked to pick up the slack for a couple of months until they found a worker, and she stayed for many years. "My husband was still working then, so I would get up at 4 a.m. to feed and milk my livestock. Then I would go to the pasture, harness the horse, load the flasks into the cart and drive around three villages. One drive - 1.2 tons of milk. Can you imagine how many buckets I had to pour out in the morning? And after handing over the milk , wash all the containers and prepare them for the new day." At the same time, Irina Ksaveryevna considered the work of a milk collector very interesting, calling herself "the earliest bird." She says that she was the first to learn all the village news , felt the pulse of life in the village.
The woman talks about her children and grandchildren with joy and pride. Although there was little time for raising them, they were probably taught by their parents' example. All four of them received higher education. The son has an economics degree, worked at the Neman glass factory, and headed the Berezovsky City Executive Committee in the Lida District for 8 years. The daughters have diplomas as a librarian, DOCTOR, and teacher. The two eldest are already pensioners, the other two are a school principal and the head of a children's clinic in Mostovshchina. Eight grandchildren, most of whom spent every summer in the village with their grandmother, also received higher education in prestigious Belarusian universities, only the youngest is still studying at the Grodno Medical University.

The family house in the agro-town has been inspected, it is convenient and comfortable to live in. Moreover, after the commissioning of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, the Sosnovskys were the first among their fellow villagers to install electric heating in their home.

Therefore, when they were preparing for "Dazhinki-2024" in Mosty, the organizers had no doubts about who to entrust with presenting the loaf of bread to the President - only Irina Sosnovskaya. "The joy was enormous," she shares. "I still remember every second from those old "Dazhynaky", how I approached Alexander Grigoryevich, said that I was presenting the loaf "with the thought of the people's happiness and may God give me long health", how the President hugged me and thanked me. And now again such joy - to present him with Mostovsky bread after 27 years. I walked as if I was flying on wings, and presented it with the words: "Accept the result of the work of Mostovsky grain growers". And it was cold outside, the President hugged me and said: "Dress warmer!" And I answered: "You warm us with your presence". And it is true.   

Of course, Irina Ksaveryevna has already shared this happy moment with her family and friends. She believes that Belarusians are very lucky with the head of state, because behind him it is like behind a stone wall, under reliable protection. The President sincerely cares about people, worries.
And the life of her entire large family is going as it should in a stable, confidently strengthening and developing state. In her respectable years, she is deservedly proud of the path she has traveled and its results.

Talking about this simple village woman, I would like to say: a worthy fate of a worthy Belarusian woman, who was never hindered by either the gender issue in professional growth and social activity, or a large family with traditions and foundations, or difficult times in the first post-war decades.   

And it is worth saying that her example is from that generation, hardened by trials. While the material was being written, I often remembered a recent meeting with a similarly large rural but young Andyk family from the Ivyevsky district at a holiday dedicated to the Week of Parental Love in Grodno. Five small children, seven dairy cows, nine hectares of land for rent. Optimism and joy in the eyes.

It was people like them, and there are thousands and thousands of them in Belarus, that the President said at other regional "Dazhynki" events, which were held in Mogilev Oblast on November 16: "The main thing is you. That's for sure. This is without flattery. It's true. If you are there, the country will be there."

Liliya NOVITSKAYA,
BELTA. Photo from Irina Sosnovskaya's personal archive and from BELTA's archive