The first Wicklow Walk for Chernobyl Children’s Trust took place on Saturday 5^th March 2011. It was a 7km Maulin Mountain Loop Walk. There was a fantastic turn out by kind volunteers who all gathered at Crone Woods Car Park in Glencree. There was a great sense of excitement and enthusiasm as everyone eagerly anticipated the start of it.

Joseph Quinn from Walkabout Wicklow, (www.walkaboutwicklow.com )who kindly donated his time on the day to lead and guide the walk, gave a quick rundown of what to expect throughout the walk then we set off.

The first half of the walk was a bit of a challenge for some people (but what’s life without a challenge !) especially as we approached the summit and the steepest part. The views as we climbed and throughout the entire walk were amazing. Wonderful scenes of the surrounding Wicklow mountains – postcard pictures ! With a few pit stops along the way, it gave us a chance to fully appreciate it all and most importantly catch our breath!

There were cheers and and thumbs up as we, one by one, approached the top! With lots of smiling faces there was a great sense of achievement from the walkers as everyone was very proud of themselves for making it. Well done to you all !

After the descent all the walkers were invited to Nancy Murphy’s Pub in Enniskerry for some well deserved food, which gave us the chance to rest, nibble and laugh !

I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the walk for Chernobyl Children’s Trust (some of you came from far afield!) I hope everyone enjoyed the day.

A special thanks to Joseph Quinn from Walkabout Wicklow and also Lynda, Kevin and John, who Joseph got to, help out and assist on the day.

A special thanks to Keith, Nickola and Mash from Nancy Murphy’s of Enniskerry who kindly donated the delicious food for the hungry walkers !

A special thanks to Michelle, my sister who helped with all the organising and running around involved in setting up an event like this.

Due to the fantastic and very encouraging feedback I got from many of the walkers about the day, I will be doing something similar next March for ‘The Trust’! Will keep you all posted !

Fiona Milligan.

Chernobyl Children’s Trust.

I had no idea what lay ahead of me when I signed myself up for the August 2010 Familiarisation Trip. I really had no idea of the scale and diversity of the work done by the charity, but I quickly learned.

The trip was a complete whirlwind in every sense. Firstly, I was very honoured and blessed to be with such an amazing group who became my family for those 6 days. Simon, (Natasha and Sasha) Graham, Daihi, Alice, Deirdre and me! We blended so well as a group and shared so many highs and lows together for which there was a hug every time!

I was totally blown away by the enthusiasm, passion and drive of so many of the people I encountered. Simon, Natasha and Sasha are truly inspirational. To watch them ‘in action’ in Belarus was astounding. They are so dedicated and approach everything with a ‘can do’ attitude, no matter how bad a situation could be. Their love for what they do is clearly evident.

We were fortunate enough to visit the two ‘White Dove’ Camps and yet again I was blown away. I have never seen so many smiling and happy faces from people who struggle in life so much. It was a true pleasure to watch the volunteers and the families together at these camps. The love and devotion I saw was amazing – The parents to their children, the volunteers to the families and the parents to the volunteers. I was left speechless (so many times on the trip!).

One of my fondest memories (there are so many!) was on day one when we visited the ‘White Dove’ Camp in Gomel. The families who were there with their extremely ill and disabled children put on a Belarusian type spread for us to say thank you for the love, help and support the charity has shown them. One of them spoke so beautifully about how the charity has helped them and changed their lives. She was so emotional and appreciative. They had made a heart-warming letter and gave each one of us a copy. Simon began to thank them in return for letting the charity into their lives and saying how privileged they were that they could help, then they thanked us back and it kind of went on like that for a while! Backwards and forwards until the interpreter had to shout “stop or we will go on forever”. It was truly touching. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room!

The trip without any doubt is emotionally very, very hard. It pulls at all your heart strings! The intensity of your emotions could be over whelming at times. We visited a hospital in Pukovinchy, the charity help support it by bringing aid to them. We visited a word for abandoned babies. I, as a mother found this very difficult. It was extremely understaffed and the babies were emotionally and medically neglected. They were all so beautiful. Their little angelic faces staring at you through the cot bars. I fell in love with one little baby – Alla. So small and so delicate. The hospital had very little supplies so we all chipped together to buy basic supplies to keep them going till the ‘Chernobyl Children’s Trust’ aid truck arrived in September.  I was a bit of an emotional mess when I left the babies, But as always the hugs got me through! Thank you!

We as a group shared so many laughs together. The evenings gave us a chance to unwind.  We would chat about the day, share stories, laughs and memories!

 One of the evenings while the banter was flowing, we re-named the trip the Guilt Trip! (There are not many times when you can put the word ‘guilt’ in a sentence and use it in a positive way. This is one of these rare times!)  Because that’s exactly what it is. ! The guilt while you are there and when you come home stays with you and you in turn stay and work harder with the charity! So to our little group we renamed ourselves the Guilt Trippers who went on the August Guilt Trip 2010! You are left emotionally drained after the trip, but that only empowers and motivates you to help and get involved with the charity more!

From Camps to orphanages and from family homes to day care centres we saw so much and I continued to meet wonderful, selfless people who strive so much to help the people of Belarus. I learned so much about the charity, the country, the people and myself.

I am so glad I went and would go back in a heartbeat!

Thanks to everyone in the Chernobyl Children’s Trust for what I can only describe as a life changing experience. You are all incredibly wonderful people who give so much to the country.

“A person’s true wealth is the good he or she does in the world…….”

“Nothing is impossible to a willing heart”

Fiona Milligan 

Committee North Dublin Group,

Chernobyl Children’s Trust.

The “White Dove over Chernobyl” programme got a wonderful boost in September when the Trust organized two holiday camps for the seriously ill and profoundly disabled children and their families from the Gomel area.  The families being supported in this amazing programme have chosen to care for their unfortunate children at home in the family unit rather than give them up to state care which is the norm with such children in Belarus. One of the camps is near Gomel and Children who were too seriously ill to travel went to this tranquil place accompanied by their mothers and a nurse employed by the Trust. The other children went to a camp near Minsk accompanied by family members, a nurse employed by the Trust and a team of volunteers from Ireland!. It was an innovative idea and worked  extremely  well both from the families’ point of view and also from the volunteer’s perspective. Three families attended the Gomel camp and the feed back from both camps was very positive. One of the parents called Ludmilla, mother of seriously ill six year old Nastia, spoke of her loneliness and isolation before the camp and the subsequent feeling of community she has experienced since she became involved with the other families and supporters of White Dove. It was very moving to hear how much her life has changed as a direct result of her involvement in this very worthy programme.

Two teams of six Irish volunteers worked in the Minsk camp over a two week period. Ten families attended the camp which boasts a very high standard of accommodation and facilities. The families made the most of every moment, availing of massage, water therapies, facials, cycling and shopping in the local market. Strong bonds were formed between the families and the Irish volunteers making the whole experience very worthwhile. It was great to see the families piling onto the busses on their return home looking refreshed and happy, thanks to the hard work of our 12 volunteers all of whom raised money for their expenses and gifts etc for the children. A special thanks to Tom and Oliver for sponsoring the Minsk camp.  Appar- ently it was such a success with the families that many more have already put their names in for next year, the Gomel grapevine is working overtime!

We are happy to report that more than thirty children & young adults are now benefiting from this most important programme!  Sadly, three of the children being cared for passed away during the year, may they rest in peace.  Of course, this serves as a harsh reminder of just how fragile and how very seriously ill some of the children really are, but also reminds us of how vital this prograamme is and how very important that we continue it

To date, the ‘Trust’ has employed three local nurses to provide respite care, delivered a specially adapted wheelchair minivan to ensure that staff have access to the children and also to transport children for hospital appointments etc. Humanitarian aid is delivered twice yearly in the form of food, clothing, medical supplies, nappies and special wheelchairs. The ‘Trust’ has organized holiday camps last year and again this year and sends out Irish volunteer medical professionals on a regular basis to support and monitor this program to ensure the needs of all involved are being met to a high standard.  All of this costs money and it all comes from voluntary fundraisers.  We wish to sincerly thank everyone who continues to support this vital project. And we ask you to please continue to do so in the new year!  Without your help, we simply canot continue !

Chernobyl Children’s’ Trust is committed to this vital life-line of sup- port to disadvantaged communities in Belarus.   The provision of ‘clean’ imported food and other essential items can only be effec- tively achieved on a large scale by delivering it on convoy. Commu- nity organisations are desperately in need of assistance more than ever before as the world economic crisis bites hard in rural Belarus!

A variety of products were delivered by the Trust in October includ- ing new clothes, new shoes, new beds, incontinent nappies, 50 new wheelchairs, toiletries, baby products, toys and nineteen tons of food! The total value of the aid delivered amounted to €311,494!

It’s a difficult balancing act for our board of directors to decide where best to allocate available funds with so many worthwhile pro- grammes in operation and each one as deserving as the next!  How- ever, while children are hungry we will continue to direct as much of our budget to humanitarian aid as we can, while simultaneously striving to promote self help programmes across the region.

The idea was to bring members of the various committees to Belarus to see first  hand, the Belarus of today and the work being done on the ground  by  Chernobyl Children’s Trust. Ten members of groups visited Belarus in addition to Louise Doyle, the Dental Nursing co-ordinator/tutor at two colleges.  Louise hopes to encourage her students to raise awareness and funds for the ‘Trust’. Another important aspect was for Group committees to be able to see for themselves where the children come from that arrive here for R&R as part of our Children’s programme.  This was particularly enlightening as those present were astonished at the difficult living conditions and levels of poverty that is reality for these children every day!  It certainly reinforced the commitment to this important programme and the trip also enabled individual families to be helped in very practical ways.  Highlights of the trip included visits to the two holiday camps organised by the Trust for the children of the ‘White  Dove  over  Chernobyl’ programme.

The Kitchen at the Children’s Centre at Gorki was the main focus of our building team.  Before July, staff there, had to cook with ancient cooking equip- ment in a smelly building that was electrically unsafe in a really unhygienic, unsafe environment and which also had a leaking roof! The team completely renovated, re-wired and re-equipped the kitchen and laundry areas to best European standards!

In addition to a wonderful new kitchen & laundry, the team also installed a fantastic new state-of-the-art playground in the grounds of the centre.  This magical play- ground was loving hand crafted by the people at Wheatfield prison and has already made a huge difference in the lives of the Children at the centre who all come from traumatised family situations. 

This was phase 3 of the works undertaken over the past 3 years. I  2007 and 2008 the rest of the 26 room building had been renovated to a high standard, making it into  acomfortable place for both children and their carers.

A special thanks to the 3rd year students from Our Lady’s Grove Girls Secondary School, Goatstown, Co.Dublin very kindly ran two fundraisers, a “non-uniform day” and a “bag packing evening in Supervalu Churchtown” for the ‘Trust’ and presented Paddy Kenny with a cheque for €1,285.11, of which we’ve already spent €570 on a hoist for a disabled child.

Patsy Corcoran presenting a cheque in the amount of €2500 to Pat Mohally. This amount was the proceeds of a coffee morning fundraiser held at S.M.A. Wilton Parish Centre on the 22nd of March. Also in the photograph is Rev Fr Cormac Breathnach P.P. Wilton. Patsy and friends have raised in excess of €20,000 in recent years for the children of Chernobyl.

The Chernobyl Children’s Trust was approached by “White Dove over Chernobyl” to assist in making recommendations and by providing resources to make it possible to assist and enable the organization to carry out a programme to help such children and their families.

On the 19th of March 2008, a small team of medical professionals travelled to the city of Gomel in Belarus to carry out an assessment and make recommendations in order to decide how best to progress this programme. Over the following days over twenty children were visited in their family homes and an individual assessment was carried out on each child’s and their family’s needs. It soon became apparent that many of the needs of these families were achievable. Perhaps one of the most uplifting aspects of the trip was that each and every child we visited was surrounded by affection and love from their families no matter how desperate their situation appeared. The dignity and poise of these families was rock solid!!

Many of the families will benefit from assistance in providing basic supplies such as food, clothing, bed clothes and some medical supplies. A huge request was made by all of the families we visited for assistance to help cover the cost of nappies, this appears to be a huge drain on the families meagre incomes. A number of specialized items of medical/Physio aids are also required and we have promised to provide these items to the best of our ability as soon as possible. For one family we have committed to provide funds to enable their little girl to have vital surgery. We hope this will transform the worry of the financial burden on the parents to a future of hope for an improved quality of life for their little girl.

Perhaps one of the most unfortunate aspects of the programme is the extreme lack of support that the families of these beautiful children receive. Many are living in huge concrete apartment blocks with little or no wheelchair access – In fact, if there is a family with a disabled child in the block, they are almost guaranteed to be living on or near the top floor……much to the joy of the team, who are now well fit for the European games!! However, no matter how dismal and gloomy the shabby stairwells and corridors of these blocks were, once the doors to the family apartments were opened we were welcomed into the warmth of the family home, which was sometimes just one room serving as living, kitchen and bedroom.

It soon became apparent that these families needed home support. Many of the mothers hardly left their children for a number of reasons. For some their partners worked long hours for small incomes just to survive. Many of the children were cared for by single mothers who had been left to rear the child on their own. Some had extended family to help out. However, the majority of the mothers were isolated and relied heavily on the good will of their neighbours to watch their sleeping child – just so they could get their messages in. Naturally some of the families appeared a little reluctant to accept the offer of home nursing support, this is after all “an alien concept” to them and they fear, especially in the presence of their child having severe seizures, that a stranger might not be able to cope with their child’s condition. However, having explained the concept of home respite to the families we are confident that in time it will become a lifeline and the benefit will contribute greatly to their quality of life.

At the end of our trip we held a meeting with the director of “White Dove” who had accompanied us on our journey over the few days and agreed that it was a very worthwhile programme indeed. We have agreed to employ a small team of nurses to provide home nursing care to support and provide respite to the families we met. The programme will have a co-coordinator to ensure each family’s needs are being met to the best of our ability. Transport will be provided as soon as possible, in the form of a wheelchair accessible minivan to ensure that staff have access to the children and also to transport children i.e. for hospital appointments etc. Humanitarian aid will be provided in the form of food, clothing, medical supplies and nappies. “The Trust” has made recommendations on how best to monitor the programme to protect and ensure the needs of all involved are being met to a high standard. Representatives of this team will travel to Belarus on an ongoing basis to ensure these needs are being met and the standard of care maintained.

In conclusion “The Chernobyl Children’s Trust” is privileged to accept both the honour and the challenge to become part of this extremely worthwhile project. Already, we hope we have contributed to improving the quality of life of the children and the families involved in this programme. We wish to sincerely thank everyone who continues to support us on this project.

Falcon Holidays in association with Iberworld organised a special fundraising event which took place throughout the past summer. Passengers travelling on inbound Iberworld flights from Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry donated their loose change, at the end of their flights, to the Chernobyl Children’s Trust.

Paddy and Mike Kenny, volunteers with CCT announced that Falcon Holidays raised a total of €15,000 and a cheque for that amount was presented by Iberworld Cabin Crew member Catherine Johansson to The Chernobyl Children’s Trust. Simon Walsh speaking on behalf of the charity expressed his gratitude to all concerned for their fantastic efforts and much needed support.

The funds raised, will enable the Chernobyl Children’s Trust to deliver vital humanitarian aid to the victims of the world’s worst nuclear accident in 1986. The €15,000 collected is the equivalent in value of what it would cost to buy an ambulance supplied with essential medicines or what it would cost to renovate a number of village houses. Funds collected will be used to support the provision of clothing, the building and refurbishment of orphanages, mental asylums and local day care centres and for providing support and care to the thousands of victims in Belarus and Western Russia.

Charlotte Brenner, Falcon Holidays Marketing Manager said she was delighted that the money raised will have such a significant impact in improving the quality of life for so many unfortunate people. “It is the generosity of Falcon and JWT customers as well as the goodwill of Iberworld’s cabin crew that has made this possible. I would like to sincerely thank all our customers who flew on Iberworld’s flights operating from Cork, Shannon, Kerry, Knock and Dublin, for their support in helping to raise much needed funds for the organisation.

It is the firm intention of Chernobyl Children’s’ Trust, to increase its level of support for community-based organisations and families particularly in rural disadvantaged areas, through increased humanitarian aid coupled with a more long-term strategy for local development.

We wish to take this opportunity, on behalf of the ‘Trust’ and all of the recipients of aid and ambulances, to most sincerely thank all those individuals, organisations and companies that made our very first convoy happen and a special thank you to those of you who gave your time to drive across Europe to deliver the aid and ambulances!

A phenomenal amount of work was done by a determined group of people to achieve what was a very successful convoy and another milestone in the short history of the Chernobyl Children’s’ Trust.

It has to be noted from the outset that without the extraordinary help and generosity of Fran Noone, the convoy would not and could not have happened! From collecting aid from various locations by truck and for storing it, to making a superb warehouse facility available, not to mention all of the other facilities that were put at our disposal and all free of charge – trucks, fork-lifts, personnel, equipment, supplies, funds, and even accommodation – we cannot thank Fran enough! Of course it has to be said that there were a number of other key people involved in the collection and transport of aid and for this we are very grateful indeed! The ‘Trust’ is very fortunate to have such remarkable people available at the ‘drop of a hat’ to collect and transport aid from all around the country and all through the year.
There are huge logistical factors involved in bringing a convoy across Europe including coordination of all vehicles in a safe manner, communication via 2way and CB radios, daily route planning, rest stops, coordination of fuelling and parking of vehicles at rest and overnight stops, repairs as necessary to vehicles and/or radios at each stop, daily communication with Belarus to ensure arrangements for border & local clearances, accommodation, interpreters, recipients and many other items are in place in advance of the arrival of convoy. Of course there is much phone work also re ferry bookings and a myriad other items to ensure all arrangements are in place, phone contact must be maintained also with other convoy personnel in the absence of radio contact and generally most of this is the ‘invisible’ work that is constantly going on in the background to ensure a smooth operation.

This is all the more remarkable when you consider that it’s all done on a voluntary basis and without the luxury of a back up team or professional office staff. When things go wrong, as they will from time to time, they have to be fixed on the hoof. One volunteer’s sad circumstances provided one such incident. Having received a phone call between Wales and Reading re his mother’s impending death and after discussing it with him, arrangements had to made to get him home ASAP. He was home that night and his mother passed away a couple of days later RIP.

The convoy continued for the rest of the week through England, the Hook of Holland, Germany and on to the Polish Border where the usual delays were experienced. After entering Poland it was on to the basket shed and an early exit next morning to hit Warsaw and eventually arrived at the Lotus truck stop 28 clicks from the Belarusian Border. We arrived to the Belarusian side in the early afternoon of what turned out to be a very long day!

An entire news section could be assigned to the comings and goings at the Belarusian customs alone. Suffice it to say that it is always extremely complicated, frustrating and tiring but with the incomparable Natasha on our side, we got through it and did what we set out to do. Delivering the aid and meeting those who need it most is what makes it all worthwhile and sets us on the path to do what we believe we should be doing, changing lives. . . . one by one!

Our sincere thanks go to Maria Collins, her daughter Edel and her friend Caroline Custy from Ballinteer.

These children are living in extremely poor situations, for example: Three siblings, two girls, Katarina aged 9, Alina 8, and their little brother Yury aged nearly 7, had to be placed in an orphanage as their lone parent could not afford to feed or cloth them. Two other children, also siblings, Marina aged 9 and Maxim aged 10, from a little village in Southern Belarus, are from a family of six but the parents do not work as there are no jobs available in the village and to survive they gather berries and mushrooms in summer and sell them. Other children are from large families in contaminated villages and living in dire conditions and barely surviving!

These are typical situations that children are living in, particularly in rural villages in Belarus and Chernobyl Children’s Trust is focusing much of its efforts in these rural areas to ensure that children have a future and that families can live in dignity and comfort.

The next group of children to arrive with the ‘Trust’ will land in Shannon on Thursday June 21st and this group will spend one month with families all over East Cork and Cork city.

This summer holiday is a huge boost to these unfortunate children and their future is now bright because Chernobyl Children’s Trust intends to continue to support their families into the future with long-term commitments from Irish families and in the development of community initiatives in rural areas. However, in order to make this happen we need funds and your help – please!

Stephen Murphy, Simon Walsh, Mike Guerin and Trevor Laffan represented The Chernobyl Children’s Trust at the Remember Chernobyl Conference in Birmingham recently.

There was a large attendance representing various Chernobyl related groups from all over the UK and Ireland and the Belarussian Ambassador to the UK was also present. He wished CCT well in our endeavours.

The conference was well structured with a full agenda and some interesting speakers. Simon made a presentation on behalf of CCT and was well received.

Other speakers gave accounts of various projects in place in Belarus like hospice care and small business development programmes. One of the most popular was the idea of providing kids with holidays in Belarus as an alternative to bringing them out of the country. Linda Walker, Victor Mizzi and the Ambassador endorsed this idea. They were promoting the use of sanatoriums and one sanatorium in particular which is about twenty miniutes from Minsk.

This sanatorium is also known as a rehabilitation camp and as well as providing kids with a holiday it also provides medical checks, dental treatment and education. There are a number of these holiday camps which are operated to a high standard and look after kids from orphanages, boarding schools and kids from disadvantaged areas. Groups can support these by providing equipment, helpers and teachers etc. One speaker was a student teacher and she gave a moving account of her experience of working in one of the camps.