"Old Lady Came Up And Said That Lukashenka's Time Was Over"

A new day, new people and new stories of collecting signatures.

At the beginning of the day I decided to go to the apartments till the picket to collect signatures on Niamiha, there was a couple of free hours. Then there was a picket to collect signatures in front of McDonald's at Ramanauskaya Slabada.

People of different ages came up, took pictures with flags, me and my assistant Yura, asked questions, shared opinions and stories with us.

An old lady came up and said she was too old, that she forgot her passport, but she really wanted to sign, because she couldn't stand living. She said that she was sure that Lukashenka's time was over, and that soon it would be his end, as there was no way that she would die and not see how it would end. She said that she did not have enough money for medicines, that "this idiot dressed up all the people in the second hand", that she had to use the Internet to read the normal news - Charter, Narodnaya Volia.

Amazing old lady, I sincerely wish her to see the end of the regime.

Once a girl of my age came up and said that she was studying candidates, but she didn't know that there was opposition in our district, too. I told briefly about our goals and plans - she said that she would come to the next picket with her passport.

In the evening after the pickets we went back to the apartments, climbed to the ninth floor, and a young man, about 20 years old, opened the door.

I say :

- Don't you want to take part in the political life of the country? We collect signatures for a European Belarus candidate

- No, politics do not concern me.

- Well, okay. Wait until it will.

- And what is your opinion on military service?

- On service - positive, on the law on determents - negative.

- I am just facing this nonsense... Where should I sign?

- And you say that politics does not concern you!

Not everybody understands that politics concerns everybody without exceptions, just points of touch are not always noticeable and visible at once, but, unfortunately, they are almost always more or less painful in Belarus.

When we all take an active part in the political life of the country, then the decisions for us will not be made by a handful of agile cynics, then we will live better, much better.

Andrei Voynich, European Belarus activist, Facebook