NEWS AND VIEWS: Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund continues its multifaceted assistance (07/21/02)

NEWS AND VIEWS

Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund continues its multifaceted assistance

by Agnes Kripps

Sixteen years have passed since the world's worst nuclear accident, the Chornobyl explosion of April 26, 1986. The tragic human cost of this disaster is still being felt and the problems created remain some of the most painful for Ukraine. This catastrophe continues to have detrimental effects on the health of millions of men, women and especially children in Ukraine.

Not until the year 2016 will the world be able to assess and evaluate the long-term impact of this tragedy on the nation's health, for those who were young during the accident will have given birth to a new generation of children. The year 2016 is significant because it will mark 30 years since the disaster, which is also the half-life of radioactive cesium 137, an especially dangerous isotope that is widely dispersed throughout Ukraine, Belarus and parts of Russia.

Furthermore, beneath the surface of the land, in the fields and forests, and even in the food supply itself, lie hot particles of plutonium and other radioactive poisons that could threaten many generations yet unborn.

A recent Israeli-Ukrainian health study published in the Journal of Medicine, reported growing evidence that genetic damage could reach deep into future generations. Although we may never know the full extent of this horrendous tragedy, we know that today among the victims of the disaster there is pain, suffering, hopelessness and loneliness. We also know that Ukraine's antiquated health care system, so shamefully neglected by the former Soviet authorities, is unable to cope with this extra burden.

Even though the last operating unit of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant was closed on December 15, 2000, Chornobyl's problems have not been eliminated. The grinding poverty, poor quality of nutrition, residual effects of Chornobyl and degradation of the environment have resulted in the heightened need for most basic medication, medical supplies and equipment.

And so, in 1989, the Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund (CCCF), a registered charitable organization, was established to respond to these needs and to provide humanitarian aid to the victims of this tragedy.

Specifically, the fund provides humanitarian aid such as medication, medical and technical equipment, supplies and food to clinics, treatment centers, hospitals and orphanages in Ukraine.

Today the CCCF sponsors a variety of projects to improve health care and general well-being of disadvantaged and ill children and adults in Ukraine. The CCCF also assists long-term projects that demonstrate a commitment to education, health care, rehabilitation and community participation.

One of projects, "Help Us Help the Children," (HUHTC) addresses many needs across Ukraine. Currently, an estimated 100,000 children ranging in age from infancy to 17 years are living in orphanages in Ukraine. This project is committed to improving the conditions in these institutions. Before the 1986 Chornobyl accident, only a small percentage of children in these orphanages had birth defects; today the comparable number is 60 percent.

The CCCF does not bring children to Canada because it is not cost effective, each dollar goes much farther by targeting aid on site. All funds donated are used to purchase Canadian goods, medication and equipment, which is accompanied by Canadian medical consultants and technicians to ensure proper delivery and distribution in Ukraine. Inventory and donated goods are well monitored to ensure that they do not end up on the black market.

The CCCF is proud of its accomplishments to date, but acknowledges that none of this would be possible without the generosity of concerned people who care enough to give, to help those who are unable to help themselves.

The CCF extends a generous thank you to all those who have helped to support its various projects.

Tax-deductible donations may be sent to: Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund 772 West 52 Ave., Vancouver, British Columbia, V6P lG4. For more information, please call Agnes Kripps at (604) 321-6460.

Agnes Kripps is a director on the national board of the Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund, and president of the CCCF's Vancouver Chapter. She was the first person of Ukrainian ancestry to be elected (August 27, 1969) as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (representing the Vancouver South constituency) and also the first woman in Canada to be elected president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Vancouver Branch, in 1962-1963.

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