LINGUIST List 9.1660

Sun Nov 22 1998

FYI: Help a colleague--Natasha Gagarina

Editor for this issue: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar <aristarlinguistlist.org>

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  • E. Wayles Browne, Help a colleague--Natasha Gagarina

    Message 1: Help a colleague--Natasha Gagarina

     Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 19:03:36 -0400
    From: E. Wayles Browne <ewb2cornell.edu>
    Subject: Help a colleague--Natasha Gagarina


    [Moderators' Note: LINGUIST has a policy of not posting appeals, because of the large number of them that appear on the Web, and the possibility of detracting from our main purpose. This situation, however, is so unique and so clearly involves a fellow member of the profession, that we have decided that we are simply going to violate our own policies. The message from E. Wayles Browne of Cornell follows.]

    ***************************

    Please help Toni Gagarin (8), Natasha Gagarina's son

    Our Russian colleague Natasha Gagarina from St. Petersburg (Herzen Pedagogical University, Dept. of Child Language Studies) urgently needs help to save the life of her son Anton (Toni), aged 8.

    At the beginning of August 98, during their summer holiday stay in Russia, Toni was found to suffer from acute leukemia (monoblastic bone marrow leukemia: AML, type M5). Although Natasha & Toni had spent the last academic year in Vienna, and were planning a stay in Berlin (where Natasha was supposed to start a job within a research project on child language), Toni's state was so severe that he had to be hospitalized immediately, that is in Russia. He was treated there through August and September, taking massive chemotherapy. At the same time the economic crisis in Russia got into its most (?) dramatic phase, which among other things meant no money for hospitals. Toni had no chance to recover there.

    At the beginning of October, thanks to the combined efforts of several Natasha's friends and colleagues, they both moved to Berlin. Toni's treatment was taken over by the university clinic (Charite-Virchow Clinic). He is treated partly on an ambulant (out- patient) basis, partly in the children's hospital, depending on how he feels and how his immune system works in a given moment. However the treatment is extremely expensive:

    the ambulant treatment costs 848.- DM (= ca. $520) per day the stationary (in-hospital) treatment - 2.416,- DM (= ca. $1490) per day.

    So far, the therapy costs in Berlin have been in large part covered by private donors from Vienna, Berlin and other places.

    Unfortunately, the money donated IS RUNNING OUT VERY FAST.

    There are some chances that a health insurance will start to cover at least some part of these very high therapy costs. But so far this is not decided, and the child has to be treated.

    On October 20 Magdalena Smoczynska from Cracow, Poland, launched an appeal list to help Natasha and Toni on info-childes bulletin-board. The call was addressed to the international community of child language researchers. Since then many of Natasha's colleagues - child language researchers, linguists and psycholinguists, as well as their friends - have contributed to the help action, by sending donations and/or providing their time, looking for helpful information, and so on.

    Money for Toni's treatment was collected at several conferences, most recently at the Boston University annual conference on Language Acquisition.

    In this situation we urgently appeal to those of you who can afford it to make donations in behalf of Toni.

    There are several ways of sending in donations:

    For most European countries:

    There is an account of a charitable organisation in Germany where donations can be made for him.

    Account holder: Kinderluftbruecke e.V. Bank: Haspa (= Hamburger Sparkasse) Account number: 1221-122300 Routing symbol (Bankleitezahl): 20050550 Code word: Toni PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THE CODE WORD!

    The Kinderluftbruecke e.V. (Children's Air Bridge) is a private foundation whose goal is to help children in Russia. Their address is: Kinderluftbruecke e.V. Brabantstrasse 59A, 22297 Hamburg tel. +49-40-5110154.

    For those who will send money it is important 1. to ask for a confirmation (receipt) and 2. to send an email message to me <ulsmoczyvela.filg.uj.edu.pl> stating the sum that has been paid, so that we know the amount of money at Natasha's disposal. This is what I was told by our German colleague Dagmar Bittner <dabittzas.gwz-berlin.de> from the Zentrum fuer Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Universalienforschung und Typologie in Berlin, who helps Natasha on the spot.

    American donors:

    our colleague Barbara Zurer Pearson agreed to be the contact person in America. Checks can be sent to her:

    Barbara Zurer Pearson, Ph.D. Project Manager, NIH Working Group on AAE Department of Communication Disorders University of Massachusetts, Amherst 117 Arnold House Amherst MA 01003 413-545-5023 fax 545-0803 bpearsoncomdis.umass.edu

    Barbara Pearson says: "Make checks payable to BARBARA PEARSON and include a note with your name, address and phone, in case someone needs to contact you about it. I will prepare receipts and forward the money (and an accounting of it)". The money will be forwarded to the Kinderluftbruecke, and by them to the clinic. Barbara has worked on the issue of finding a way to collect money on a tax-exempt account of an American charity, but so far no charity has agreed to do so.

    Italian donors should get in touch with Giuseppe Cappelli from Pisa <beppeilc.pi.cnr.it> The account number is: numero 7500 della Banca Nazionale del Lavoro intestato a CRAL-CNR sezione Pisa ABI 1005 Cabi 14000 Please add: "Versamento per le cure di Toni"

    Please feel free to write to me about whatever you can think of in relation to Natasha and Toni. My address is <ulsmoczyvela.filg.uj.edu.pl>. Since I cannot help Natasha & Toni with a lot of money, I am prepared to give them my time in the coming weeks and months.

    If you want to send a personal message for Natasha, you can write to her directly <gagarinazas.gwz-berlin.de>.

    UPDATE, November 4, 1998

    Thank you to all of you who made donations to the Kinderluftbruecke. I visited Natasha & Anton in Berlin last weekend, and they were going to start the next phase of chemotherapy. The financial situation is not yet clarified, therefore funds are still needed for the child to continue the therapy.

    Magdalena Smoczynska

    UPDATE, November 14, 1998

    Here is a letter from Natasha:

    Dear Colleagues,

    with this letter I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who responded to the call of Magdalena Smoczynska. Your attention and care brought us not only financial support, but also more energy to struggle and the feeling that there are people willing to help us and that we are not alone.

    Anton is getting now the block of consolidation chemotherapy, after which he will get the X-ray therapy. Then the question of further treatment would be discussed. He feels now better than in St. Petersburg and has each day some joy - Magdalena brought him small presents, to be opened one per day, for the next three months.

    Unfortunately the treatment is not finished and we know that Toni still has to overcome many difficulties, but we hope very much he will recover and be healthy again.

    Thank you to all of you who did not pass by the call for help Toni.

    With the best wishes,

    Natasha Gagarina



    Dr. Magdalena Smoczynska Dept. of General and Indoeuropean Linguistics Jagiellonian University Al. Mickiewicza 9/11 31-120 Krakow, Poland tel. +(48) (12) 6336377 ext. 302 fax. +(48) (12) 4226793 home +(48) (12) 6341037 ulsmoczyvela.filg.uj.edu.pl

    [forwarded at Dr. Smoczynska's request by: Wayles Browne, Cornell University, ewb2cornell.edu]