Mikhail Chetvertakov: There is no point demanding things, one just needs to establish proper cooperation instead

9 february 2022

In February, SIBUR's social investment program, the Formula for Good Deeds, celebrated its sixth anniversary! On this occasion, we arranged for an interview with Mikhail Chetvertakov, one of the program's long-standing partners, the chairman of ParaPlan, a Dzerzhinsk-based non-profit organization of the disabled in wheelchairs.

In this new interview, published under the heading of "About People and Good Deeds", he discusses some of the aspects of the Formula for Good Deeds program and shares his views on the reasons for the growing popularity of the topic of inclusivity.

Please tell us about your organization, Mikhail. What does it do?

Our organization is concerned with the welfare of people with disabilities. It's primarily made up of wheelchair users and people with locomotor system disorders. But that doesn't mean that we only work with members of this social group. The doors of our organization are open to everyone. And it doesn't even have to be a person with a disability. We have many partners, including volunteers without any disabilities, who are also members of our organization.

One of our main focus areas is athletics. We are working to promote the game of boccia (a Paralymic sport, a game of accuracy, Ed.) in Dzerzhinsk, where we have built a very strong team in this sport, and if we enter in a competition it’s only to win medals.

We are also pursuing creative interests. There is a musical band where I perform together with Alena Bekesheva.
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And, of course, we are involved in the development of an accessible environment in the city, and we've been quite successful in that endeavor. People from other cities, for example from St. Petersburg, who come to attend our Oksky ParaFest can’t help noticing this. There are four parks in our city, and each of them has sportsgrounds adapted for use by people with disabilities. Dzerzhinsk is doing very well in terms of mobility.

In addition, we offer primary assistance to people with disabilities. When people sustain a life-changing injury, they have absolutely no idea how to go on living after that. What to do? Where to go? What kind of paperwork do I need to put together? How do I properly compile an individual rehabilitation program? We help people deal with all these question.

ParaPlan is involved in all areas that concern the life of a person with a disability. Of course, we also work with members of their families needing psychological counseling.

Why are you personally involved in all this?

—  My answer to this question is straightforward: I enjoy what I do. Despite the fact that I get around in a wheelchair myself, I just don't feel it. To me, it's just a way of getting around. I like to contribute, to share my positivity with other people. Being involved in community work, I understand that behind my back there are guys who believe and hope. And I have no right to let them down. There is no turning back. That is my ultimate motivation. So, it's simple enough: I want to live, not just survive.

In February, SIBUR's Formula for Good Deeds social investment program celebrated its sixth anniversary. Can you tell us how your cooperation with SIBUR started?

In 2016, our very first International Festival of Culture and Sports "Oksky ParaFest" was funded through a grant provided by SIBUR. It was the first grant we had ever won. I'll be honest with you: when we applied, we didn't really expect to win. It seemed to be something out of reach for us. So, when the results of the contest came in and we saw our organization on the list of winners, we were extremely overjoyed.

The first "Oksky ParaFest" turned out to be a smashing success which was also partly due to the support and encouragement that we got from our colleagues at SIBUR. We constantly bombarded our point of contact there with questions, but he answered all of our questions and helped us in every way he could. SIBUR’s representatives then came to the festival and saw everything with their own eyes. I guess it is thanks to this kind of interactions that we have been regular winners of the Formula for Good Deeds grants. So, that's how it all started. It was a double pleasure for me, too, because just a couple of years prior to my injury, I had worked at SIBUR.

In other words, SIBUR's first grant was your first experience with implementing a grant project and building a relationship with a serious partner, something that later turned out to be very valuable in your collaborations with your other grant makers?

Without a doubt . The experience was extremely useful. We learned a lot not only about how to implement projects, but also how to write an application and how to present it. Later on we started winning other grants as well. SIBUR and its Formula for Good Deeds taught us our first social design skills, which came in very handy.

Thanks to this relationship, the lives of people with disabilities in Dzerzhinsk have improved dramatically, and their community involvement has increased significantly. This is a good model to follow for other cities and regions.

What other projects, apart from the annual Oksky ParaFest, have you been able to implement thanks to the Formula for Good Deeds? Could you tell us about them, please?

One of the most important initiatives we have implemented over the recent years is the New Opportunities Center. Thanks to this project, we have made the building of the sports school "Sports City" as handicapped-accessible as possible. The company acted as the project's partner and helped with the opening of the center by providing furniture for the social rehabilitation facilities. It should be noted that the company provides more than just financial support. Two years ago, SIBUR invited me to attend its first corporate People Changing the World forum in Moscow that helped us establish contacts with grant recipients from other regions.

We also know that you have a history of being supported by other grant makers. What makes the Formula for Good Deeds stand out? What are this program's unique qualities?

The short of it is that it has put in place a well-organized interaction process. We get constructive feedback from the Formula for Good Deeds team. And I would like to thank all their staff involved in the program’s implementation! They lay everything out very patiently for us, and this is a huge benefit of the program.

Another important aspect is the level of commitment and willingness to make the project as successful as possible, and their caring attitude towards any undertaking. Our organization has had negative experience working with other grant makers who only needed to have a project to mention it in their reports. It is all different at SIBUR. The Formula for Good Deeds’ team, just as ourselves, wants to make things happen and make them top-notch and pretty.

SIBUR's caring attitude doesn’t go unnoticed, as it is seen, for example, by the people who implement the Oksky ParaFest together with us; their level of discipline and responsibility are growing palpably, and they get an additional boost of motivation to take part in organizing the festival.

You personally and ParaPlan have already come a long way in terms of your experience with implementing social projects. Have there been any mistakes that you might have made at the outset that you can now share with us?

The biggest mistake that we usually make is being naive. We assume that there will be no shortage of people willing to take part in our projects. But in reality we need to do a huge amount of work to promote the project from the ground up. We may think that we have reached an agreement with one of our partners or sponsors, and that everything is going well, but the situation may drastically change at the last moment. All your agreements may be broken, which is something you don't expect at all. This is particularly true now, at this time of pandemic-induced uncertainty. You have to be prepared for any eventuality and be able to find your way out of any situation. And, of course, you have to stay focused during the most critical moments. And one other aspect: many people are accustomed to quarreling with administrations and to making demands. There is no need to quarrel, instead, we need to learn to get along with each other. We may all expect and demand something, but all of us are residents of our cities and we must ourselves contribute to our cities' development.

The theme of inclusivity is gaining a lot of attention these days. Why do you think this topic is gaining prominence?

It's really wonderful that this topic is becoming increasingly popular. For example, the society's perception of people with disabilities is changing. It seems to me that this evolution of the topic is largely due to the activism of people with disabilities and other physical handicaps. Take Dzerzhinsk as an example. We participate in all of the city's festivities, and this is widely broadcast by the media resulting in a certain atmosphere that is hard ignore.

Could you please give some advice to people who want to make their social projects inclusive?

The most important thing is to get to know your target audience, those who might find your project interesting. If these are people with disabilities, there will bound to be some subtleties that would need to be taken into account. To get a better understanding of these nuances, the easiest thing to do would be to contact a relevant organization and set up an introductory meeting. Explain to them the idea of your project and find out if members of the organization are willing to participate. Then you need to weigh all the pros and cons and understand whether it is possible to provide a comfortable environment for the target audience to participate in the project. And once you have decided to go ahead and create such a comfortable environment, you cannot stop halfway, you have to handle this responsibly. This is the only way to succeed. You have to understand the challenges faced by and the sensibilities of your participants, and you can't afford to fail meeting their expectations.

And finally, a question about your immediate plans for the nearest future. What are some of the projects you are thinking about implementing this year and next year?

We have got plenty of plans. This year, in collaboration with SIBUR, we are planning to launch an interregional project titled "You can do anything!" comprised of a series of motivational meetings with people with disabilities who have achieved great success. This is going to be a new and exciting experience for me. And, most importantly, it is valuable for the project's target audience.

In our organization we pay a lot of attention to developing wilderness tourism, so, again, we have are a lot of plans there. This year, for example, we will for the first time try our hand at surfing on SUP boards on Vorsma’s Lakes. We have gone whitewater rafting on inflatable rafts every year previously, so this year we want to try the SUP boards.

Our members do a lot of sports, play the Paralympic boccia and various table games, something we are also very keen to cultivate. Most likely, we will send our best ones to participate in the popular international festival in Chisinau (Moldova).

Another objective is to help our members find proper jobs. I would not want to limit myself to organizing recreational activities for people with disabilities. I want people with disabilities to be gainfully employed, and be able to find their soulmate and start families.

Find out more about the activities of the ParaPlan non-profit organization at their official website at https://ooikparaplan.ru/.

In case you missed our past issues:

• Evgeniya Medvedeva: "Volunteering is a way to improve oneself"
• Galina Tkachenko: “It is essential to be united to do as much good as possible in this world”
• Yana Prikhodko: "It’s an inner calling when values start to resonate within you and compel you to act”.
• Svetlana Kulakova: "The key thing in conservation projects is to love one’s homeland”.
• Alla Umetskaya: "The grant contest is an opportunity to try oneself as a miracle worker”
• Svetlana Grigoriyeva: “The only secret of success is trust”.
• Marina Yefimova: “There are no trouble children, but there are hard life circumstances”.

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