This museum, though small, comprises more than 70,000 exhibits, chronicling the region's rich history. Ranging from centuries-old peasant wardrobes, to Soviet-era propaganda, to an enormous, stuffed wild boar, these exhibits proved that the people of Vytegra deeply understand the importance of history.
And a stuffed bear, too.
Among their artifacts were reels of audio recordings of interviews with war veterans and revolutionaries from the 1950s or before. Without the proper funding and man-power to update them, the tapes were rotting away in a damp storage closet.
As volunteers, we did what we could to provide the museum with extra help preserving their collection, including updating the recordings. Of course, a couple days' work could was hardly enough, so the museum staff invited us volunteers to return in the summer as unpaid interns.
So that is what I chose to do. My intern duties will range from preserving exhibits to painting the walls and whatever odd-jobs I can find. In return for my help, the museum director is coordinating my stay in Vytegra for a month—something I am certain I wouldn't be able to do by myself. Truth be told, I'm quite excited to see what kind of work the museum will require of me and what kind of secrets of history I will find there.
