Episode Transcript
Hello, my name is Aziz, and I'm the son of a divorce mother.
She is really my superhero.
That's why it's important for me to support women, to share their uniqueness, their personalities,
perspectives, and emotions about this world.
In these difficult times in human history, we need more peace and to bring the people
of the world together, and when we hear the voices of women, when we listen, to real
lives of women from other countries we connect our cultures without differences or stereotypes,
and we get inspired by their stories to live a better life.
That's what this podcast is all about.
My guest today is Melitina Staniota.
Melitina is a rhythmic gymnastics champion.
A three-time world all around bronze medalist.
The 2015 European Games all around bronze medalist.
The 2014 European Championships all around silver medalist and 2009 Grand Prix Finale all
around bronze medalist.
In Olympian in 2012 and 2016, a struggle with the dictatorship in Belarus, and she refuses
to accept the wrongs happening there.
You and H.C.R. Belarus celebrity supporter and she lived in exile in Kiev as her second
home before the war.
Melitina, how are you today?
Hey, how are you?
Happy to join you and happy to share my story.
Well, quite different, but it's okay.
Let's start.
Let's start our conversation.
Thank you and I'm happy and honored to hear, to listen, to feel, to understand because
it's very important to not stay silent about these things.
I want to hear your story as someone with the nationality of Belarus who has been against
the war yet you try to live a peaceful life and find another home in Europe, but it was
very difficult for you.
Can you share details about that and bring awareness to situations of people who maybe
have the wrong nationality somehow, but they're against the war and they don't deserve
to live in those situations?
Yeah, that's really bothers me and my friends who have to leave Belarus in 2020 after
the presidential elections, it's been obvious that it's been fake to the results and
lots of people have been against that.
We just wanted our voices to be really counted and they've been like peaceful protest
in the streets, people have been saying something in social media, for example, me.
I started to rise my voice even before the elections when I have seen peaceful protest
of people trying to be heard in the streets of the Belarus, been severely stopped by the
right police, I wrote my message in Facebook and Instagram that I'm living in a peaceful
country, in democratic country and if I'm not doing something out of law, I should be protected
by the law and if I can just stay in the streets and clap my hands, it's been our Belarusian
way to protest, just to stay in the street and clap hands.
That's not something forbidden according to the law, but unfortunately it's been severely
stopped.
So after that, after that, I have posted on my social media, I've been working on television
those times, I've been fired from television because they thought it's something extremism
to say something like that, something against the president and against the government.
To keep freedom, lots of Belarusians just left in 2020, Belarus mostly to Ukraine, Poland
and Lithuania, that I moved to Ukraine and I've been living there with the other Belarusians
who doesn't have the opportunity to be back safe in Belarus, so we found our home in
Ukraine, but they were started, they were started, unfortunately, so once again, Belarusians
with the Ukrainians have had to leave the country and right now, I mean, thanks to lots
of countries, they are the way you support the Ukrainians, but not Belarusians and that's
a pity, so I'm the way trying to legalize myself in the other country, it's almost a year,
yeah, it's actually a year, I'm trying to find the job, I'm trying to find the legal
state because with Belarusian passport, you can't stay without using your European Union
or in US or in UK, but we don't have the opportunity to go back neither to Belarus because
we can be imprisoned because our thoughts and some messages against the dictatorship
and against the violence in Belarus, nor back to Ukraine because it's worth their
exchange for the life, so that's a struggle, that's a really struggle because everyone
judged upon your nationality, upon your passport, yes, unfortunately, right now in Belarusian,
together with the Russian ones, I'm the representative on aggression in Ukraine, but
it's a pity that people in administrative part and upon the law as well are judging upon
the nationality when they see Belarusian and Russian passport, they don't ask you which
is your position, which is your personal position on the war, and they just like, no,
you are not Ukrainian, we upon the law, we don't have something to help you to legalize,
so yeah, like that.
That sounds absolutely horrible and it's not judging the person by who they are, but through
stereotypes literally and prejudice and it's really, really hard and I understand you
as a champion, as someone who can find ways to find a visa that could work for people
who are highly skilled or highly qualified, but can you share what's your opinion on the
possibilities, the options for other people who are fleeing Belarus to find freedom abroad,
what struggles do they have, anything you have discovered maybe a place they should consider
going to because they will find more help and more possibilities, please share more about
like your friends or any people you know who might be struggling, but they don't have such
important qualifications that can make even like 5% easier for them, which is still
horrible to you, but can you share a bit more about that?
As I know, upon my friends who left Ukraine or Belarusians, they could find a bit easier
ways to legalize in Poland or Lithuania, so those countries are the way more flexible and
a bit more helpful for Belarusians who lived in Ukraine, but it's again, it's still not
easy, and upon the stories I know the other friends, all the Belarusians who decided
just to stay in Ukraine, they thought like yeah, to leave the country and to start one
more legalising, it's quite hard, so they decided yeah, it's dangerous, it's the muscle,
the bombs are the way flying, but at least they have hope to stay, so that again, it's
a pity for both situations, but I know as well that people are, Belarusians are just staying
in Ukraine because they have like you know the roof and the bad to stay to sleep.
That is really really really hard, I understand that, and the world nowadays seems to be
a real mess, I know that one of the important things for you is helping the next generation
all the little girls who want to get into gymnastics, how does that give you like passion
or happiness in your life, why is it meaningful to you, and what things do you want to create
to in the next generations, what values, what attitudes, what perspectives do you want to
create through gymnastics?
Well, I always thought that if you're become recognisable, if you are becoming famous like
an idol in sports, cinema, whatever, your mission is not just in a gaining metal, is to
be an example, and as recognition as it sports is very young sports, we are starting doing
professionally gymnastics at the age of three, four, five, and we are already finishing
at 20, 21, 22 years old, so I see that the majority of, for whom I am idol are
adolescents and children, and that's our future, and I would love to be like real the
one, an example for them, not only in rhythmic gymnastics but in the real life, upon my thoughts,
my values, through social media as well, and of course when I'm doing those trainings
all over the world, we say it like master classes or training camps, when they communicate
to the girls, I'm trying to give them not only the skills in rhythmic gymnastics,
but some values as you can be super talented but without work, nothing going to happen,
or to listen and to respect older people or teachers, or to understand that sports is
concurrence, but you should never wish your, for example, your teammate or someone from
the arrows in the country, you are competing with something bad because it's going to
be like a boomerang, and yeah, there are lots of those tiny things to, like I'm doing
this, it's like sports education, which really will help not just in the sports life and
it's helped me a lot during those crazy year when I left several times countries to see
my goal and understand that without moving without searching for the ways to solve the
problem, seem, you know, in sports just without, you know, searching for the ways to clean
the catch or the throw or to, you know, to make better some body difficulty, nothing
will happen.
So we can, you know, we can switch all the skills we get in sports the normal life.
Thank you and I notice you're speaking about some of the values that are absolutely magnificent
that you're installing into the younger generation, yet it seems to be missing nowadays
maybe because of social media or the pandemic or the wars, etc., a lot of little girls
and teenagers don't feel confident, they don't feel beautiful, they don't feel their voices
should be heard or that they can be successful and therefore maybe they become depressed
or they just do not follow their goals.
What about you when, for example, that year that was hard or even before allowed you to
speak loudly in Belarus, so during the time of dictatorship when the election was rigged
or anything like that, how did you gain that confidence and what is your advice to women
and girls all over the world who feel they're not living their courage because they feel
oh, I'm not good enough, I'm not beautiful enough, I'm not valuable and worthy.
First of all, I would love to say that during, like even before the elections, I've been
I told already, I've been working on television and actually I became the first woman from
TV hosting Belarusian part who spoke loudly and so fearless, but probably I haven't
actually, and after I got from the streets, from the men, they've been oh my god, you
are Belarusian girls are so fearless, you're so strong and it made me like more and more
confident.
What I want to say is that that's great when you have such people around you who makes
you feel better, who inspires you, it can be your mother, father, friends, people in the
streets, so I'm sure that everyone faced some bad conversations, some humiliating
even current conversations or texts, but they're always good and bad, we cannot be focused
on the not positive parts, so I would love to say that we all are much stronger than
we think, and just try not to focus on the dark and try to find this little light, it
can be nice text, it can be like inspirational movie or a book, or just someone nearby
you who's believing in you, that's very important to believe in yourself and to hear the
small support which we do all have.
Thank you Melitina very, very much and I'm curious about you because maybe a lot of people
they see your image, they see you maybe like you said on TV or see your performances
or they look at you on Instagram and social media, so they have an impression about you.
What are some things that you wish people will know about you as a person that maybe they
don't really see when they first have that first impression of you from far away from social
media?
Ah, good question, probably if you say about social media and trying right now not to share
this troubling part of my life because I know it's hard for lots of us, like literally
we are living in a very difficult time and behind the nice picture there are lots of thoughts
and lots of ways to solve the problem because there are still I have like still a lot of
problem with my immigration and I'm still trying to find myself to leave to earn money
but I don't want to translate it in a mess in Instagram so I'm trying to keep a nice picture
and to someone look at the picture in my social media or read some thoughts they can
be a bit inspired but just know that yeah behind the really nice picture there are lots
of you know lots of complicated hours, nights, days and thoughts but I'm trying not to give
up.
Thank you and it makes me even more curious and this is not really related to you but I believe
it can be very good advice.
There are some people who when they reach their goals they just stop, they have no more
desire, they say I'm retired, they get fat, they finish working, what keeps you moving, keeps
you going and what is your advice to such people who maybe feel they lose their motivation
after they have that medal or have that goal in order to not feel like life ended and
that they're old already at the young age or anything like that.
I will not tell the fairy tale, we are human and humans and I am as well as a woman so I remember
myself from a young age, I was tired, I was a bit upset if something haven't been going
good, if I haven't been winning or I haven't been like catching the thing, the hoop or
the ball I have caged like lots of time, of course we have all those ups and downs and
I remember myself saying that let's finish the sport, I don't want it anymore, I'm so
tired, but that's good that I had this emotions, I allowed to have those, let's say not
positive days and not being too confident in the result, that's good.
So we all need you now to explode and then just it can't be in a date, it could be in
the night, it can be in a few hours, I just remembered what's my goal, what I am here
for and what will make me happy and that's the last part in making me happy is the most
important one, so also you have just one life and the worst feeling we can have, it's a regret
that we haven't done to 100% to please ourselves, to reach the goal that we for example
give up too fast, too easy and this regretting feeling sometimes it's just the way like
eating you from the bottom of your heart or soul, so if before giving up please ask yourself
if you will not regret if you stop doing something right now, yeah I'm sure that regret
is the worst, the worst in our lives, the worst feeling.
I agree 100% and my goal is to have a life of no regrets and often we regret not doing
things rather than doing them and failing, often failing becomes a lesson or a good story
or at least a memory to remember when you're 60 or older and I think yes I lived my life
with a lot of bravery, courage and I did not limit myself, so it's absolutely a horrible
feeling to regret and honestly I don't know, I know and I do not think or feel at all
you deserve the situation, you are Ellen, I hope you get good news soon, I hope there will
be victory for Ukraine and democracy in Belarus and that everybody can be peaceful and
happy and live in harmony and thank you Melitina for sharing your voice for this episode,
it's my honor and my privilege.
Thank you so much and thank you for your wishes for Ukraine and Belarus.
