Le Bec en l’air : Jane Evelyn Atwood : Darya

Darya comforts Ottilia, 86, just after her release from the hospital where she's been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air

Each of the four sisters wears several adult diapers per day. Like baby's diapers, they are disposable ones. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air

Darya dresses one of the sisters after her bath. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air

Darya dresses one of the sisters after her bath. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air

Darya hugs Elena. Darya says she has a special place in her heart for Elena because she has been disabled since the age of 17 when she was hit by a car. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air

Dary and Igor, her husband, hug when they see each other for the first time in months. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air

Darya with a neighbor. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air

Darya and her daughter, Nataliya, 22, who has finished her studies and is looking for a job. Here they take a bus and a horse-drawn wagon to go to the town next door for shopping. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air

Darya visits the cemetary where her mother and her sister are buried. She cleans the snow away from her mother's picture on the tomb, and cries at her sister's grave when she looks at the inscription and sees again her sister's face engraved on the dark stone. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air

Darya and her daughter, Nataliya, look at old snapshots of the family. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air

Darya with her daughter, Mariya, 20. Mariya is a student at the university. Darya, a remarkable, 54 year-old woman from the Ukraine, has been working as a "badante" (caretaker for the elderly) for the last five years in Bolzano, Italy. Darya takes care not of one, but four sisters - Augusta, 94, Gisella, 84, Elena, 77, and Ottila, 86. She lives in the small apartment with the women, sleeping on a fold-out sofa in the living room. The sisters are severely handicapped, with Parkinson's disease, Alztheimer's, blindness, and cancer. They all wear diapers and two are unable to walk. They have no teeth and two must be hand-fed. Darya takes care of everything - washing, dressing, feeding each woman, everyday, 7 days a week, as well as all the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping that these women require. She has only 3 hours off in the afternoon, at which time she cleans the apartments of two other people, for cash and off the books. On Sundays she uses her hours off to go to mass. Darya is deeply religious and prays every morning and every night. She sends all the money she earns to her husband and two daughters who wait for her in a tiny village in Ukraine. She goes home only once a year, usually in August. Darya is one of thousands of Ukrainian women who work in Italy like this, far from home, taking care of other peoples' dying parents. Bolzano, Italy, 2007. © Jane Evelyn Atwood – Courtesy Le Bec en l'air