The House of Light by Sergei Stroitelev

Public Story

The House of Light

Copyright Sergei Stroitelev 2023

Updated Mar 2022

What sort of associations do you make when you hear the word hospice? Perhaps death? True enough, children die in every hospice. But the employees of the Children’s Hospice in Saint Petersburg try to illumine the lives of terminally ill children and help their parents care for them and overcome stress. Such so-called palliative (from the Latin pallium – veil) therapy consists of a system of measures aimed at sustaining the highest possible quality of life for each patient with an incurable and life-threatening disease. The Children’s Hospice in Saint Petersburg is unique in that is the only Russian medical institution providing a full range of palliative care, including medical, psychological, social and spiritual support. Since 2006, 40 employees have served 200 families in total.

Here, the word “care” is replaced by the word “love”, and everyone involved in the therapy brings the children’s life, happiness and comfort into focus. When one of the hospice patients dies, a large candle is lit and the parents, together with the hospice staff, can say goodbye to the child in a special “sad” room. In 2015, the candle was lit 18 times…

914

Sergei Stroitelev

Also by Sergei Stroitelev —

Sacred Cremations

Magnificent Man

Russian Women's Bags from the Inside

The Revived

From Day to Day

Where the Champions Are Born

The Outcasts

The Vicious circle / The Edge - Drug Addiction in Nepal

Book - "The Color of Violence"

Moldovans who sheltered Ukrainian refugees at home

Two wars - Ukrainian veterans of the WWII now refugees in Moldova

Migration crisis in Moldova

Behind the Snow

Stigma

Lost Light

Sologubovka

Am I Not Scared Anymore?

Inside I See

Holy Waters

Teresa's Hands

Welcome Home

The Connection

The Spit

Random People