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Care For Chernobyl's Children
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Twenty years ago, the world suffered its worst man-made environmental disaster – a meltdown of a nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, Russia. Seventy-five percent of the radiation fallout occurred in Belarus (BELL-A-ROOS), and the people living there still suffer its effects. But as Kim Riemland (REEM-LAND) reports, each summer a group of Belarus children travel to the U.S. to get a breath of fresh air and friendship. |
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SCRIPT:
(Locator: Kerr Lake, North Carolina)
(Nat sound: Susha shouting excitedly)
Eight-year-old Susha shouts encouragement to friends ‘tubing’ on a North
Carolina lake.
(Nat sound: Susha speaks Russian)
These kids don’t speak English, but their happy faces communicate the
joy they feel in being here. Their homeland of Belarus has suffered for
two decades from the effects of the nearby Chernobyl nuclear meltdown.
Patti Crane/White Plains United Methodist Church, Cary, NC: “We want
them to know that we love them and care about them.”
Patti Crane is a member of White Plains United Methodist Church. Every
year, members of the church bring over the same group of children from a
Belarus orphanage. They’ve watched these children grow-up each summer.
Patti Crane/White Plains United Methodist Church, Cary, NC: “It’s like
seeing a relative that you haven’t seen for a long time.”
While here, the children get thorough check-ups and treatment. Radiation
takes its toll on their young bodies.
Judy Brettschneider/White Plains United Methodist Church, Cary, NC: “The
first year the children came, we had a child who had thyroid problems;
the doctors here put her on medication. At the end of six weeks, her
thyroid was clear.”
But the hazards of their homeland linger, and when the children aren’t
here, these host families fear for their health.
Patti Crane/ White Plains United Methodist Church, Cary, NC: “I do worry
and am concerned about what happens to her while she’s back in the
orphanage.”
While many American families would like to adopt the children, the
Belarus government makes it clear – that isn’t an option.
Patti Crane/White Plains United Methodist Church, Cary, NC: “Every year
it is difficult and it takes me out of my comfort zone totally, but it
is one of the most rewarding things.”
Judy Brettschneider/White Plains United Methodist Church, Cary, NC: “I
think it opens people’s hearts.”
TAG:
The children are brought to the U.S. through the American Belarus Relief
Organization.
For more information, contact White Plains United Methodist Church at 919-467-9394 or log onto http://www.wpumc.org.