The Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986 may seem like a page out of the history
books for today's average UK resident, but for the children who have been born
and grown up in the area surrounding the Chernobyl plant, it remains a current
catastrophe.
The world's worst nuclear accident released 190 tons of highly radioactive waste material into the atmosphere exposing the people of Chernobyl to radioactivity 90 times greater than that from the explosion of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
Of the radiation that was released by Chernobyl, over 70% fell onto the
population of Belarus resulting in 800,000 children in Belarus and 380,000 in
the Ukraine being at a high risk of contracting cancer or leukaemia.
It will be another 24,000 years before the land is safe and the children no longer suffer.
Since the disaster there has also been an increase of 800% in the incidence of cancers in children living near to the reactor plus there has been a dramatic increase in the rate of babies born with substantial physical disabilities. Babies born limbless, deformed and with severe brain damage.
Friends of Chernobyl's Children was founded with the aim of making a real
difference to the children of the fall-out zone. We provide family placements
for children/orphans from the Mogilev region for at least one month each year
and to meet the full costs of these visits, which will include optical, dental
and health checks as well as lots of tender loving care. The Friends of
Chernobyl's Children is effective in working with the people of Belarus,
regularly visiting to negotiate with politicians and officials and visiting
doctors, childcare officers and teachers. The message is loud and clear - we
must provide children with an escape from this sad and depressing environment
and enable them to benefit from a stay with us in the United Kingdom.
Play Cashcascade® to help the The Friends of Chernobyl's Children
