Belfast Telegraph; Belfast, Ireland, UK, Jan 07, 2004

Every summer, an exodus of 1500 children damaged by the Chernobyl disaster leave behind the poisoned world they live in and touchdown in Ireland. And for many, the chance to come here means the difference between life and death.

"Tests have been carried out by doctors which show that the lives of children with terminal illness as a result of Chernobyl can be prolonged, sometimes for years, by taking them out of their environment and bringing them here" said Kathleen O'Donnell, chairperson of the Foyle and Inishowen branch of the charity.

Both Kathleen and vice-chairperson Martin Roberts became involved in the charity after hearing Adi Roache speak out about the plight of the Chernobyl children during a conference which was held in Derry.

Both acted as host families for the first batch of children to arrive in the North West back in 1995. Martin said: "When you let them into your family they become part of your family."

Kathleen said Belarusan parents were so desperate to give their children a chance of a better life that the charity was inundated.

"They were bringing their children up in a world that was poisoned. It just shows how desperate these people must have been. The children were the most precious thing they had and yet they were prepared to send them 100s of miles away to a country they didn't know and to total strangers. "

While visiting the Ukraine and Belaruse, Kathleen was left in no doubt as to just how dire the situation was. "When you see it you realise the tragedy it really is. Conditions in the orphanages are ghastly. Nothing could prepare you for it; some of the people with us were physically sick.

"The children were wrapping themselves around our legs, climbing on us, just looking for some attention. Some of the children had never even been outside the institution" she said, adding:

"While in other parts of Eastern Europe you have the same thing, orphans living in terrible condition, there is the added damage here of the health aspect. Many of these children are terminally ill because of the nuclear fallout. It is not something that can be fixed easily. It is something which is going to go on generation after generation."

At first, Kathleen, a local senior social worker, said she was dubious about taking children who have nothing out of that environment and bringing them to Ireland only to return them.

"I struggled a lot with that. What changed my mind was when I saw a spark of life and a smile emerging among the children here. There was a spark in them that was missing in the other children in the orphanages. "They had that sense that somebody remembered and somebody cared." One child in particular stood out, she said.

"There was one wee disabled boy who followed me and pulled and pulled at my trouser leg. What he said to me was when you go home tell the Irish people we love them so much and we thank them very much.

"He was only a child, no-one had told him to say it. It came from himself and that had a profound impact on me. It showed how vital the work we were doing was."

Kathleen said that no matter where they went in the Ukraine the charity was always recognised for the good work that was being done.

"In our experience Irish people have been generous to a fault. We have just received international charity status from the UN and when we walk around people salute us, and thank us for what we have done." She said that the rural and agricultural economy of the country "seemed like Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s."

Martin stressed that 100 per cent of the money raised locally will go directly to those in need. "Everyone involved gives up their time voluntarily and that was very important for me as a fundraiser to know that all the money being raised is going where it is most needed."

Kathleen said it was vital local people impressed upon their children a social conscience that penetrated beyond their immediate surroundings. "It would be good if we could develop an understanding of other people and other cultures. A child is a child no matter what part of the worlds it comes from and we have a collective responsibility."