Every Saturday Galina climbs up the bell tower in her village. While it may seem a simple enough task, the job is not without its hazards.

”Once I fell down from a three meter height onto the concrete floor. I broke my leg and was bedridden for almost a year and a half,” she recalls.

Her leg still hurts, but it doesn’t stop her from taking the ascent again and again. Once at the top, she gets to do the task she likes more than anything else.

Galina Nikolashina grew up in the Soviet Union, the hardest time for both the Orthodox Church and orthodox believers. The Communists closed or destroyed 98% of all churches across the country and killed 200,000 bishops and priests, while another 500,000 believers were sent to die in labor camps.

For many of Galina’s age, the events only strengthened their faith. She says religion alone can do what any politician is unable to – unite people and make them stronger.

At the beginning of WWII the Nazis destroyed the village of Ovstyug. In the mid 1990s it was restored by Germans, who rebuilt the church with a bell tower, but it was so tall that, for years, no-one even dared to climb up it.

That was, however, until one day, when the inhabitants unexpectedly heard a beautiful chime glide across the village.

”I heard the sounds of the bells and I couldn’t believe my ears! But I was more surprised when I learnt who was doing it!” a local remembers.

Galina says she’ll keep ringing the bells until the heavens decide the time for them to fall silent.