(15 Sep 2019) LEAD IN: For the residents of one tiny Russian island she's a local hero.
Alexandra Brynkina is the only postal worker in Russia to reach the island's 35 inhabitants, who rely on her not only for parcels, but life's basic necessities.
STORY-LINE:
Every day Alexandra Brynkina leaves the island where she lives in the Rybinsk Reservoir in northern Russia to row two kilometres across the Volga river to Sudoverf town.
There she visits the local post office and collects packages for her island neighbours.
But Brynkina, the island's only postal worker and government employee, doesn't just concern herself with mail duties.
"There is my island," she says, pointing to a small map on a wall which shows Yurshinsky.
"Here is our post office, this is the Rybinsk Reservoir, it's a dangerous area. We get here and then we go through the villages. I cover all these villages, and then go back to the pier. And I don't have to worry about the road home, cause I live there."
On the mainland, like any normal postal worker, Brynkina collects letters, newspapers and magazines.
But she goes far beyond this responsibility, retrieving the most important thing for the islanders: food.
Resident Alevtina Zhernova says Brynkina is irreplaceable.
"Everything is ordered through her, this amazing woman. She's kind and sympathetic and will never say no to anybody. We would be toast if it wasn't for her...she is irreplaceable around here."
When the reservoir was being built, the neighbouring town Mologa went underwater, but Yurshinsky survived.
Most of the island is woodland and Alexandra is seen as the only local representative of the Russian government, and mail is the only way to interact with the outside world.
Today, Brynkina's load includes five letters, a few newspapers and one pension.
The remaining space in her bag is occupied by groceries the islanders ordered from mainland.
20 years ago, a small ferry used to visit the island every hour, but these days it only navigates twice a day, weather permitting.
A rowing boat is much more reliable.
Before heading out, Brynkina gets her life vest and signs in the register for the valuables she received.
When asked if she finds her job difficult, she replies "No, it's not hard, I'm used to it."
"Why, don't women work at other male jobs?" she adds, "I'm guessing they probably do. There are female chauffeurs even. All kinds of professions a woman can take on, a boat is no biggie. There are female captains, let alone post carriers with paddles."
Back on the island shore, Brynkina and a neighbour discover a seagull trapped in a fishing hook.
She can't continue on her mission without setting the bird free.
Off the boat and onto a bicycle, she gets on with delivering the mail along the 16-kilometre route.
There are five villages on the island and not a single shop, so locals rely on her to battle on, whatever the weather.
"It's just great that we have someone who provides the elders with groceries, delivers their pension," says Ekatirina Adspol, a local senior citizen.
"She's a selfless person committing a heroic act every day. Every day, she risks her life to get to Sudoverf, get the correspondence, buy the groceries. We are so thankful to her, so thankful."
Her last stop is Nikolay Ovchinin's house.
His son, Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin, is far from home, taking part in a joint mission on an international space station.
But before Alexandra can call it a day she has her own household to take care of.
Find out more about AP Archive:
Twitter:
Facebook:
Google+:
Tumblr:
Instagram:
You can license this story through AP Archive:
0 Comments