By Yelena Borisevich
The first stage of a reality show-style contest has just finished in the Vitebsk Region. The innovative project aims to promote village life by sending young families to live in the remote and lonely village of Antonovka, which has only one resident — a pensioner. Five families spent three days in the village, competing against each other to show their ‘survival’ skills.
Despite difficulties, each family was keen to remain and do their best, catching fish, mowing grass, gathering mushrooms and berries, sewing and sorting the ‘archives’ of abandoned houses, finding out about the life of former residents.
The Kovalev family has won the first stage of the contest, which is to run for three years. Olga works as a programmer at Lepel’s Dairy-Canning Combine while her husband Dmitry is an electrician. Next year, the entrants will meet again for the next stage of the House in a Village project.
