CCRF diverts portion of cargo to flood region (12/06/98)

CCRF diverts portion of cargo to flood region

BORYSPIL, Ukraine - Volunteers and staff of the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund (CCRF) worked into the night in a driving snowstorm on November 12 to unload more than 70 tons of medical cargo designated for 20 hospitals in nine cities of Ukraine.

Eleven D-containers holding more than $400,000 worth of medical supplies were especially set aside for clinics and hospitals in the Transcarpathian regions that had been devastated by massive flooding a week earlier. The Ukrainian government reports that floods destroyed over 1,300 homes and left some 40,000 people homeless. Members of the CCRF executive committee traveled to Mukachiv in the Zakarpattia Oblast on November 14 to survey the damage and to assist in local relief efforts.

As part of its 20th major airlift in nine years the CCRF delivered more than $3.4 million of humanitarian aid that included antibiotics, analgesics, surgical supplies, diagnostic equipment, children's multivitamins and neonatal technology. Since 1990 CCRF has delivered more than 1,200 tons of aid valued at more than $40 million, to Ukraine.

The latest airlift arrived at Boryspil Airport outside Kyiv on November 11. The shipment was accompanied by CCRF President Dr. Zenon Matkiwsky, Executive Director Nadia Matkiwsky, and Executive Committee members Tanya Fesenko Vena and Valerie Burachinsky, who supervised cargo distribution along with Ukrainian-based administrators Olya Datsenko, Pavlo Smirnov and Olesia Yavorivsky.

Upon arrival, the U.S. delegation was greeted by a large contingent of Ukrainian news journalists and government officials anxious for more information about the emergency shipment to Transcarpathia.

Dmytro Shust, chairman of the Medvechuk Transcarpathian Charitable Fund, greeted the U.S. delegation on behalf of National Deputy Viktor Medvechuk, a national deputy from the Carpathian region and vice-chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, who thanked the CCRF for the timely shipment of essential supplies.

In addition to the relief shipment for Mukachiv and Uzhhorod, the CCRF also assigned large amounts of aid to hospitals in Vinnytsia, Svitlovodsk (Kirovohrad Oblast), Lutsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and a small amount for Lviv. To bolster the shipment for the Carpathian flood victims, Dr. Oleksander Myndiuk, director of the Lviv Regional Specialized Children's Clinic, relinquished most of the aid assigned to his hospital.

Dr. and Mrs. Matkiwsky and Mrs. Vena traveled extensively throughout flood-ravaged villages in the area of Mukachiv, Irshava and Uzhhorod to meet with flood victims. They also visited three hospitals, meeting with local doctors to assess their most critical needs and to set priorities for subsequent aid shipments to the region.

"Many of the hospitals could not even provide on-site treatment for patients," said Mrs. Vena. "Their heating systems were damaged when water flooded their basements. Doctors were forced to bundle up children and return them to their homes. In other cases, makeshift laundry facilities had to be set up in private homes so that the hospitals could wash bedding, diapers and linens, and food had to be prepared off-site and delivered to the hospitals."

The CCRF team traveled as far into the countryside as roads and bridges would allow. Mrs. Matkiwskv reported that many local doctors participated in rescue efforts, rowing boats to isolated families or evacuating individuals by raft or flotation devices. According to Mr. Shust, emergency preparedness and a rapid response by local government agencies prevented loss of life on the scale that devastated Honduras in the wake of Hurricane Mitch.

For more information on the CCRF airlift, or to support future relief efforts, contact the CCRF at (973) 376-5140. Tax-deductible donations may be sent to: CCRF, 272 Old Short Hills Road, Short Hills, NJ 07078. To support the Carpathian flood victims, donations may be earmarked for "Transcarpathian Flood Relief."

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