Children of Chernobyl

a local volunteer organisation which raises money to bring over children from Belarus .this is to get the children away from the polluted soil of their own country which was badly contaminated after the Chernobyl Power Station explosion ,

local homes with unpaid volunteers provide a change of air, nourishing food to help build up the kiddies immune system, entertainment, love and care for a few weeks...... and the kiddies are sent home with a years supply of vitamin tablets ...... .many of the children live in orphanages....not just because they are orphans.....some have parents too poor to bring the kiddies up at home..some kiddies arrived in just the clothes they stood in and a plastic carrier bag with their food for the journey over here. My husband and I were volunteer hosts to two children and they stayed with us for three weeks. Their new president is now talking about cancelling further visits saying the children become too `westernised`after their visit here.

one month in England adds two years to the immunity system of these sick children and many have received urgent medical treatment in hospitals here, dental treatment done (they cant afford local anesthetics in their own country so it is painful over there) eye examinations done while over here and much needed glasses prescribed.... many children who came over in previous years have since died of cancer...thyroid cancer is rife in their country as is other types of cancer because of the food chain where crops are grown in contaminated soil

here are some pics of the children hosted in my area during their visit when we had two children Dima .a very tall boy for his age and his younger cousin Oleg 11 staying with us....my friend June had Lena staying with her......my two boys were relatively well off compared to most of the kiddies sent over but theres no escaping the fact that their country is in dire straits .