Archive for April, 2011

Gintautas Kaminskas lives in Wollongong, Australia. Throughout his life, since his teenage years, his dream and hope was to settle in an independent Lithuania, the country his parents fled during the Second World War. He kept the dream of his ancestors' country alive through many post-war years and in 2008 his dream finally came through; Gintautas moved to Lithuania. Towards the end of 2009 he returned to Australia, disillusioned and sad to have experienced a country totally different from what he had imagined and hoped for. I asked him to explain why.

Here is his story:

I usually don’t like to talk about my family’s story, because most people don’t understand. But I can tell from what you write that you are an idealist and you are trying to understand Lithuania and Lithuanians so I will tell you my story, briefly.

I will start by mentioning that I have a friend in Iceland and I tell him (probably ad nauseam!) that he should be ever so grateful that he was born in his own normal (unoccupied) homeland and therefore automatically grew up speaking his native language in his home, at school at work, and automatically married a woman of his own nationality and therefore naturally spoke his native language at home with his wife and children and now grandchildren. I had none of those privileges.

My parents were married in Kaunas in 1943. If Lithuania had been a Scandinavian country, I would have grown up in Kaunas, happily, and would probably still be there today with my Lithuanian wife and children and grandchildren, just like my friend Jóhann in Reykjavík. But no, not for me. Having experienced one Russian occupation already (1940-1) and having narrowly escaped deportation to Siberia the first time (some of our extended family members weren’t so lucky), my parents decided to flee to Germany in June 1944, just as the Russians were trying to re-occupy Lithuania. My mum was pregnant with my sister, who has born in Germany in November 1944. I was born there (München) on 15 February 1948 (one day short of Vasario 16-toji, unfortunately).

When I think back, I wish my parents had been able to stay in Germany; at least I would have grown up European, close to the languages and countries that are my passion. But no such luck. All the displaced persons had to go elsewhere. Almost all wanted to go to USA, but that was not possible. You had to go where you were sent. We were sent to Canada. Things were OK in Canada I guess, apart from the climate. (We were in place a lot colder than Toronto, where most of the Lithuanians were.) In 1959, when I was 11, my father decided we would move to New Zealand for a better climate ... and better fishing! Ironically, it was this move that made me appreciate my Lithuanian identity and to cling to it like never before. I was teased by the NZ kids for speaking English with a Canadian accent. I hated that. I started telling myself that as soon as I was old enough I would go back to Canada. But after a few years (we were in NZ five years) I started to realise that I was cherishing a silly hope, because I wasn’t really Canadian anyway. So I became very Europe-focused, studying my native language, insisting that my parents speak it with me, and also studying Spanish all on my own from a little textbook. Since Lithuania was blocked to me, my dream became to live in Spain for a while. (Which I did do eventually and enjoyed it immensely.)

Eventually (1964) my sister met an Australian and followed him to Australia, so my parents decided to join them. We settled in Adelaide and it was there that I finished high school and did my B.A. Hons. degree (majoring in Spanish and French). I was a lot happier in Australia because there were more Lithuanians there and I participated heavily in Lithuanian cultural and even sporting activities (basketball). I got a scholarship to do an M.A. in Melbourne (in Spanish/Linguistics) so I left home in February 1970 (the day after I turned 22) and went to Melbourne. It was there that I got married to my first wife, an Australian, at age 22. We were married for 32 years. We lived in Canberra (I was a Public Servant) and we brought up three sons. The highlight of my career was 1979-82 when I was posted to Australian Embassies in Europe, first Rome (I also speak Italian), then Madrid. I wanted to go on more postings but my wife didn’t. As I approached early retirement age (55) I realised that I was never going to feel fulfilled unless I went to live in Europe again, so sadly, I got divorced and left Australia.

My plan had been to take early retirement in 2003 and go straight to Lithuania. As it happens, I took a detour to Montréal, Québec, first. After five years in Québec, I left and went to Lithuania in February 2008 to join my dad who had returned to Lithuania in 2007. I did not live with him because he moved in with a lady friend, but I saw him a lot, and toward the end I was helping the lady nurse him full time. (He died in August 2009.) At first it was wonderful being in Lithuania and speaking my beloved native language all the time, with everyone. But then I started to notice how unhappy so many people are, and how much dishonesty there is among crooked businessmen and tradesman and landlords who don’t pay taxes, bribe-taking public servants, policemen and doctors, people falsely claiming invalid pensions, etc. At a higher level some major scandals have shown that even some judges and Cabinet Ministers are not beyond taking a bribe. The Seimas members are notorious for their greed and many have been exposed as corrupt.

It is mainly my experience with the Lithuanian health system, doctors and hospitals that has caused my greatest disillusionment with Lithuania and has in fact made me too frightened to live there myself. We could not leave my dad alone in hospital. We had to be with him 24 hours a day. We had to bring him food (you would die of malnutrition if you depended entirely on the inadequate meals the hospital gives you), we had to be there to bribe the doctor every few days (the amount of attention they paid to my dad dropped off noticeably if a new bribe was not received every few days), we had to be there to help him go to the toilet and in the end phase to change his nappy, we had to be there to make sure he got his medicine. The hospitals were disgusting. One single toilet on the whole floor for 50 patients! No toilet seat! No paper! No soap! No fly screens on the windows – in a hospital! No lock on the toilet door – men come in and smoke while you are using the toilet – despite the “No Smoking” signs! No facilities for the patients to have a shower or somehow wash themselves. Cold in winter and hot in summer. Hygiene very dubious. An absolute nightmare and disgrace. When my dad died we even had to bribe the cemetery officials to get a decent burial site that wasn’t down in the gully where a big puddle forms and the ground goes boggy every spring. (They deliberately offer you the lousy places to make sure they get a bribe.)

So by the end of 2009 I had left Lithuania too, with aching heart. I blame the bribery and corruption entirely on the Russians. If Lithuania had been left alone (preferably right from 1795, not just 1918!) I am sure it would be like Sweden now. There are a lot of hard-working decent folks in Lithuania and my heart bleeds for them. The only way out of this quagmire that I can see is for journalists and other brave people to campaign against bribery and corruption and to convince the general public to start doing so too. There are a lot of political decisions that need to be made. It is crazy that Lithuania does not have a car tax (automobile registration fees). The Government could raise millions annually like that – every civilised country has it. Same goes for local government taxes (called ‘rates’ in most English-speaking countries). It’s absolutely crazy not having that. You cannot have Scandinavian-style welfare with a Soviet-style taxation system.

I am still an idealist, but now, belatedly, also a realist. I understand that I will be unlikely to see much of an improvement in my lifetime, and therefore I will not be able to end my days in Lithuania, as I had hoped. But the flame of hope burns brightly in my heart that the past sacrifices of brave Lithuanians for the homeland have not been in vain and that one day there will be a living standard in Lithuania not far behind that of the Scandinavian and leading Western European countries. I hope I can make some contribution to the process, no matter how minor. I value your work as a journalist, keep it up! That’s why I have taken the time today to tell you a little about one Lithuanian’s life as an exile.

Gintautas Kaminskas
Wollongong, Australia

LITHUANIAN DOCTORS HAVE NO OTHER CHOICES THAN TO STEAL OR ACCEPT BRIBES

Dear Mr Kaminskas,

I was touched by your thought provoking letter to my friend Aage and it made me cry how agonising your experiences were in your ancestral country. This is the Country that people like Aage and myself and many more like us have adopted as we too had dreams of living in a country which held many promises and hopes and our frustrations are not different than yours.

I however take the Liberty to touch upon some of the points raised by you and believe me your observations are 100% true. Let me talk about the Doctors and the Health care System. My own wife, a Lithuanian (born 11 years after you) became a Doctor because her father and many more in the family were Doctors and the Profession was called noble. She did Post graduation in Psychiatry and followed it up with a post graduation degree in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. So with internship etc, it took her nearly 15 years to complete her education. But there were not enough jobs, so she had to bribe heavily and get a job where her princely salary in this Independent country was 450 US$(when US$ was 4 Litas ). Please tell me where can you hire Doctors for such salaries other than the third world countries with lowest per capita income. And this was the story of thousands others. To subsist, to bring up children, to give them good education, they had to either steal or accept bribes and the second choice was the easiest. It however had its own pitfalls, in order to take bribes and still not get caught, they had to bribe those in position of power so as to have kind of Godfathers and those Godfathers in order to remain in that chair for endless years had to find their own Godfathers. And so on. And the story is similar for the Teachers, for very many other Civil Servants and Professionals.

One fine day, my dear wife comes to me and says that she has volunteered to go and work in Afghanistan with the Lithuanian Mission. Shocked and surprised I asked her "Is it For More Money".-she laughed and said that if Lithuania cannot pay her a decent salary here-how would they pay it there-Logical I thought. So I asked where then was the motivation to work in an environment where she could even die. Her answer was unbelievable "I was trained to be a Doctor to serve the Humanity and that is why I want to go there to serve the humanity with dignity as here one when takes bribes, one not only falls in one’s own eyes but most of all in the eyes of the patient and that is the most humiliating experience to go though day in and day out. As for the death-if that is destined -let it be at least I will die for a cause and my country will mourn me as a Hero and not as a thief". It is another story that she could not go as the Budget Cuts came soon thereafter.
5 months back she left for the UAE  on a 3 years contract to work as a Specialist in a chain of Hospitals and gets monthly salary equal to 18 months salary in Lithuania. She gets the respect of the people of that Country and of the patients, she holds her head high and she has sound sleep every night. This has meant a lot of sacrifice on her part, to leave her children,  and husband behind, to leave the roots of her country, to leave her friends and relations and on the other hand cope up with different work ethics, new language, different culture but she is not the only one. Professionals are fleeing ever so often-question is only of time-some sooner-some later.

If the Legal System here was World Class I could knock the Doors of the Courts to demand justice that My Conjugal Rights have been denied to me by her country which cannot pay its Doctors and many professionals appropriately and yet there are hundreds of Billionaires and Millionaires here within a short span of 20 years of independence.
So Mr Kaminskas, it is not one Aage or One Mr Kaminskas or ten or 100 or 1000 like them who can change the destiny of this Nation-it is the Newer generations who can do but will they! I doubt, I remember my own stepchildren asking their mother after every duty; "How much did you earn today"

Warm Regards to you Mr Kaminskas.
Raj Chaudhary
Owner Director Sues Indian Raja Restaurant, Vilnius

LITHUANIA NEEDS A NEW ‘REVOLUTION’ NOW

Dear Mr Chaudhary

Thank you for your sincere and very interesting feedback.  If you have not already done so, I would urge you to give Aage permission to publish your comments.  The 'revolution' to achieve Lithuania's independence in 1990-1 needed leadership from the top, but Lithuania needs a new 'revolution' now.  This one has to start at the 'bottom', among the people.  Lithuanians have to start admitting what is wrong with the country and not just shrugging it off any more: they have to start demanding change.  As I have already told Aage, I firmly believe the path to change and reform is first popular demand, followed by the initiative being taken up by journalists and other professionals, including that rare beast "politicus honestus" – if they are not totally extinct in Lithuania.

Best wishes, ypatingai „geros sveikatos“ !

Gintautas Kaminskas
Wollongong, Australia

LET US PRAY THAT THIS COUNTRY WILL TURN AROUND

Dear Mr Kaminskas,

Thank you for a very prompt response and some very caring words.

All I can say is that Hope is a Big asset for the mankind and It is gratifying that in most hearts there is a trace of it-So I too hope for the Better for my adopted Country. Let Me Submit that India at one point of time was described by a World Famous Economist "India is a Rich Country-inhabitated by the Poor."-a saying which is sadly applicable to the Modern Lithuania now (rather than India which has made progress by leaps and bounds) with a young democracy and that reflects sadly on the Powers that be for it to happen. Let us pray that this Country will turn around to be one of the greatest even though small in size but they say Size Never matters.

Kind Regards and I remain,
Yours Truly,
Raj

IF THE BLACK ECONOMY WORKS, THEN THERE IS NO REASON TO FIGHT IT

Hi,

Thanks for the rest of the story of Gintautas. I had written him a letter I suppose while his father was in hospital offering to meet if he was in Vilnius, but he said Kaunas had everything he wanted. Since I am rarely in Kaunas, we never did meet. But my experience in VIlnius has been day to his night. Last May I was a couple of days away from death from a gangrenous gall bladder. The care was fantastic. I paid no bribes and it cost me about 750 in all (self employed so I paid 600 for compulsory state health insurance and we had to buy medicines. I would probably be dead if I had been in the States as I would not have seen a doctor as soon and would have been hours instead of days from death when I would have sought help, which I could not afford. 7500 dollars would not have covered the bill. 20-30 thousand dollars would have been closer to the mark. 

To live in this country, you have to network. Almost everything is word off mouth.

Yes, there is a lot of black economy, but if it works, then there is no reason to fight it. For example, police were allowed to collect brines for speeding. Everyone thought that was terrible, except me. The purpose of speeding tickets is to keep those idiots from ramming my car and killing me, and to keep me from doing the same to others. So they got rid of bribes and now there are very few tickets and lots of violations. I don't know how the motorcyclist survived. No one was moving and the light was red for him, so he gunned the engine. The bike ended up under a SUV and he flipped over it. Soon after theyy changed the light system so that yellow is not concurrent and there is a pause between them. 

When I came here, lending was tight and building was sparse. Then the banks started lending to everyone, Western style, prices skyrocketed, and now we have a bad economic crisis. Even so had the industry switched in the last few years from building new units to renovating old ones, then they would still be employed because they would be receiving EU funds now instead of holding worthless mortgages. That was caused by Lithuanians not understanding Western practices. It is going to take a while until people here understand the Western world enough to protect themselves.

Iki,
Arturas Bakanauskas
Vilnius

PS: Kaunas is something of a tragedy

Kaunas is also something of a tragedy. For many years, the local government was inept at best, corrupt at worst. So no infrastructure improvements were made and businesses avoided Kaunas like the plague. You can see that in real estate prices. It is more expensive to buy in Klaipeda than in Kaunas. Only in the last few years have they finally started to change things. That is why I surprised by Gintautas's answer that Kaunas had everything. For example, they have never sanded the sidewalks in Kaunas since I have lived here, except perhaps on hills. Laisve al. was an ice slick when I visited in winter. That is one sure way to limit business - keep people at home.

Arturas

LITHUANIA IS FAR MORE INTERESTING AND FULFILLING THAN FINLAND AND USA
Dear Aage, dear Mr. Kaminskas,

I need to reply to the March 27 VilNews, as the very same reasons, which are driving Gintautas Kaminskas away from Lithuania, are keeping me drawn to Lithuania! I was born and raised in Finland, one of those wealthy Scandinavian countries Mr. Kaminskas keeps comparing to Lithuania. I am currently living in the US, in another well organized, wealthy society. However, my life in Lithuania is far more interesting and fullfilling than my lives in Finland and the US. That is because in Lithuania I have a chance to make things better.  

Yes, hospitals in Lithuania can be scary places! So for five years now I have been part of International Charity Christmas Bazaar, a charity event, which for example in 2007 collected 100.000 lt for Vilnius University Children‘s hospital. I am part of the change for the better! When my children started schools, I realized that it might take some years for the government to improve the quality of education in Lithuania. So I started a school with my friends! Vilnius International School is now an example and inspiration for many government schools and teachers working in them. My favorite hobby, horse riding, is also still suffering from post-Soviet recession. I joined a private initiative riding association and started organizing competitions, fundraising events and seminars to raise the standards and make opportunities for young riders to dream about big competitions – who knows, maybe Olympics some day! Yes, any of these things I could do in Finland and in the US, but for sure the effect of my actions would not be so dramatic and concrete than in Lithuania. Sometimes the change is not about money. Sometimes I just need to smile and compliment an overworked, stressed government emloyee to get better service.

The quality of life in Lithuania is not about perfect order and wellfare. It‘s about relationships between people and being in control of your own situation, just the way life should be! When a traffice police stops me in Finland, they write me a ticket, wish me a good day and let me go. Everything is very well organized and polite. When a traffic police stops me in Lithuania, they first yell at me for whatever bad thing I was doing. Then they ask ask me where I am from. Then they want to know something about Finland. I might end up spending a good half an hour by the roadside chatting with the policeman. He learns about my life, I learn about his life. So who wants Lithuania to become an organized Scandinavian country? Not me!

No doubt a lot of corruption and robbery takes place in every day life in Lithuania. Well, I have read my 13th century Livonian Chronicles. Lithuanians appear in the pages of the chonicles as mysterious troops from the woods, riding their fast, little horses, spreading fear, stealing everything, killing everyone and again dissapearing into the deep woods. This is something unique! The way Lithuanians still know hundred and one ways to bend the rules has nothing to do with the Soviet era, in my opinion. It is almost 1000 years old tradition of mischievious entrepreneurship spirit!

So please stay in a country where people still matter!

Best regards,
Liisa Leitzinger
Florida, USA