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Media People 12/03
IRELAND'S PRESENTS OF LOVE.
By JIM GALLAGHER.
996 words
21 December 2003
People
10,
English
(c) 2003 Mirror Group Ltd.
Irish professionals to bring Christmas joy to kids of Chernobyl
EIGHT big-hearted Irish professionals are bringing Christmas joy to scores of tragic orphans near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The four men and four women fly out to Belarus tomorrow with gifts for the youngsters who have never seen Santa.
During their week-long stay they will also completely re-equip the shockingly run-down orphanage and open a farm to help make the institution self-sufficient.
The gesture has been organized by the Chernobyl Orphanage Development Programme (CODP) which was set up by journalist Tom McEnaney last year.
Tom originally went to Belarus five years ago to cover a story, but was so moved by the plight of the youngsters he vowed to help them.
Since then he has organized numerous mercy missions to the devastated area, bringing cash to build farms and playgrounds and improve conditions in dozens of orphanages.
This time - his 12th trip to the poverty-stricken region - he will be bringing EUR100,000 collected from fund raising events and donations.
His group will buy toys and presents for 160 special needs kids aged three to 18, many of whom have never received a gift before.
But they will also be buying land to open a farm and purchasing machinery such as a tractor, a fertiliser spreader and a plough.
"For me, opening the farm will be the real achievement, but playing Santa to these kids will be an unforgettable experience," said Tom.
"These youngsters will have heard of Santa but will never have seen him.
"We got them to write letters to Santa so we know what they want and when we get there we will go out and buy the presents.
"There is nothing like standing at the back of a room and seeing the excitement that Santa can bring. "
The group is re-visiting the run-down orphanage of Besangovichi in the north of the country.
When the charity visited the spot in May last year the toilets were barely working, there were no showers of any sort and the children owned nothing but the clothes they were standing up in.
There were no lockers or wardrobes to store anything and the beds were in appalling condition.
There were no medicines and no play facilities of any kind.
Over the summer an Italian charity installed showers and toilets while Tom's group installed a EUR3,000 industrial washing machine and a EUR5,000 playground.
CODP also gave a new set of clothes and a new pair of shoes to each child, stocked the medicine cabinet for a year and supplied multi-vitamins as a stop-gap until proper food facilities could be provided.
Tom said: "During this Christmas trip we will install a 60-acre farm, including a new tractor with a full suite of farm machinery.
"We will provide new beds and bedroom furniture. We will provide spectacles to those who need them, new cloths to all the children and warm winter duvets for each child."
Each member of the group traveling to Belarus had to raise a minimum of EUR5,000 each and has to pay their own travel and accommodation costs.
Tom said leaving families behind at Christmas could be hard but the trip would be hugely rewarding.
"I got engaged this year and I asked my fiancee Roisin if she wanted to come and she is part of the group.
"My sister and brother have been out before and this time I have a cousin coming.
"You realize that a small amount of effort can make a huge difference. It is great to see, particularly when you go back and see the advances that have been made."
The charity uses only Belarussian workers, materials and machinery, where possible.
In one orphanage last year - Dyatlovo in Western Belarus - CODP spent EUR150,000 on 20 different projects.
They replaced all 200 beds, built a new roof, put in showers, installed three industrial kitchen freezers, set up a 60-acre farm with a new tractor and suite of farm machinery, and installed a new playground.
They also commissioned a new library and gym and restocked the medical centre and dentistry.
The orphanage has since enjoyed a bumper harvest of grains, potatoes and vegetables on its new farm.
But building playgrounds is one of the most important parts of the charity's work.
"These have the most dramatic effect on the children," said Tom.
"Within a matter of days, relatively listless children became much more animated.
"We spoke at length to child psychologists who have explained that play is fundamental to a child's emotional and physical development.
"Play not only allows a safe way for a child to experiment with the world but also to interact with other children.
"Children who are deprived of the opportunity for play can lack self-esteem and confidence, can find it difficult to establish social relations and are more vulnerable to manipulative forces in later life."
CODP has set out to install a playground in ALL 56 orphanages in Belarus.
The state-owned Minsk Automobile Assembling Plant, which until 10 years ago made military tanks, has agreed to manufacture, deliver and install these playgrounds at a cost of EUR5,000 per playground.
The charity has already installed 29 playgrounds - providing play facilities for the first time to 7,500 orphans - and has another 28 still to do.
Each playground will consist of five see-saws, two large swings, a carousel, a sandpit, a large climbing frame, and a 12-ft plane capable of carrying two small children.
"This project will directly improve the lives of 13,000 orphans, as well as those who pass through the orphanages for years to come.
"If we were to achieve nothing else but to bring a little laughter and fun into their difficult lives, then this project will have been an extraordinary success," said Tom.
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Examiner 04/03
By Evelyn Ring
ONE Irishman is even better than Santa Claus for 13,000 Chernobyl orphans — because he brings them the gift of play.
Tom McEnaney, business editor of a Sunday newspaper, helped install a playground in a Belarussian orphanage last year. He found it had a far greater impact on the children than any other environment improvement projects."For them the playground is far better than Santa Claus, and I have done Santa Claus for the children so I know what I am talking about," he said. A qualified civil engineer, Tom is one of about 15 people, mostly single professionals, involved with the Chernobyl Orphanage Development Programme (CODP) that renovates orphanages in Belarus. Last year CODP moved on to work on Dyatlovo Orphanage in Western Belarus. In two trips last May and December, using €150,000 raised mainly from corporate donations, the group completed over 20 renovation and refurbishment projects. They also established a 60-acre farm so that the orphanage can become self-sufficient.But of all CODP's projects, last May's installation of a playground had the greatest effect on the children. "Within a matter of days, relatively listless children became more animated. We made sure Santa Claus visited Dyatlovo last December he had not stopped there in previous years for his own reasons but the thrill of Santa was eclipsed by the playground."Seeking to understand the transformation, CODP spoke to psychologists, who explained that play was fundamental to children's development.Tom said the plan is to install playgrounds in 57 other orphanages. The state-owned Minsk Automobile Assembling Plant, which until 10 years ago made military tanks, has agreed to manufacture, deliver and install the playgrounds for about €5,000 each. "This project will directly improve the lives of 13,000 orphans, as well as those who pass through the orphanages for years to come. If we were to achieve nothing else but to bring a little laughter and fun into their difficult lives, then this project will have been an extraordinary success," said Tom. All the money raised by CODP a registered charity is spent on improving the living environment of Belarussian orphans. Members of the group cover their own travel and living expenses while working on the various projects. All materials and equipment are sourced in Belarus.
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Irish Examiner 11/03
FeelGood Supplement –
24-11-2003
Helen O’Callaghan talks to an Irish man who is on a mission to improve the lives of orphans in Chernobyl ” not only for
Christmas but all year”
The children in Besangovichi Orphanage in northern Belarus all
know about Santa Claus. But, for some reason, he has never
stopped off at their home. This year, though, things are going to
be different because Santa will visit, courtesy of the Chernobyl
Orphanage Development Programme (CODP), a group that
involves 12 Irish people working to improve the environment of
orphans in Belarus.
Who will Santa be? We tend to play that one by ear. Usually it’s
an Irish person, says Cavan-born business news editor of Sunday
Times, Ireland, Tom McEnaney, who has been working in Belarus
for the past five years and last year founded CODP.
The Santa Claus project is one of the most rewarding. We’ll buy
all the toys locally. Girls of all ages go for cuddly toys. The
younger boys like trucks. They like watches too, but fishing rods
are the most popular with the boys. They all fish in the little lakes
there, but with poles and homemade fishing rods. If we bring in a
proper fishing rod, they all jump for it.
URGENT NEED:
Out of 57 orphanages in Belarus outside of the
immediate fallout zone north of Chernobyl, CODP found
Besangovichi was the worst. Located in the Vitibsk region of
northern Belarus, it is home to 200 children with special needs,
aged between three and 18. Tom’s worst first impression of the
orphanage was the smell. I’ve been to a lot of orphanages. In
some it’s not too bad, in others it’s terrible. It’s a smell like
overcooked food and blocked toilets. After that, it was the
darkness. All the bulbs had gone. One of the first things we do
when we go into a new orphanage is buy new bulbs to light the
place up.
The toilets were barely in working order and the children had to
walk three miles to the nearest showers. And this in a country
which goes below minus 30 in winter. The children had nothing
more than the clothes they stood up in, often rags. One in five
children had shoes that were falling off them. When we went to
the dorms, there was nothing, no lockers or wardrobes. Many of
the beds were in an appalling condition. There were no play
facilities of any kind and in the clinic they had no medicines, just
a little gauze.
Over the summer, CODP installed an industrial washing machine
at a cost of 3,000 and a playground that cost 5,000. They gave a
new set of clothes and a new pair of shoes to each child, stocked
the medicine cabinet for a year and supplied multivitamins as a
stop-gap until proper food facilities can be provided. We prefer
to help them work out ways to improve their own budget so they
can buy their own medicine.
Setting up a 60-acre farm, including a new tractor with a full suite
of farm machinery, is the principal way in which COPD aims to
help set up a sustainable livelihood at Besangovichi. The farm
will be the second the organisation will have built up from scratch
and the third in Belarus they’ll have worked with: they helped
renovate an existing farm in Grosova in the south and in 2002
they established a 60-acre farm at Dyatlovo Orphanage. We had
a bumper harvest of grains, potatoes and vegetables. The regional
authorities were so impressed, they’ve designated Dyatlovo as an
agricultural institute, which means they’ll provide facilities to
ensure the orphans get formal agricultural training.
SELF-SUFFICIENT:
The whole focus, says Tom, is to create sustainable projects so when COPD leaves, the project is still contributing to the child’s life. We dont bring over food. We buy them tractors and ploughs, and draw on the expertise of the existing collective farms to help develop skills. The farm benefits the orphans in three ways: it improves their diet very directly; when the farm machinery isn’t being used it can be
rented out so it becomes a source of income; and we can use the
farm to teach the orphans skills in a country where most people
rely on subsistence and grow their own food.
COPD doesn’t spend any money on administration. We pay for
our own flights and accommodation out of our own pockets.
We’ve got no employees and no overheads, though we do pay
interpreters. We try to work entirely with sustainable projects and,
where possible, we source only Belarusian materials and
machinery.
Tom, who studied engineering in Trinity College because he
wanted to be a development engineer, instead diverted into
journalism. But the idea of development work never left. I went
to Belarus for the first time five years ago. I went as a journalist
and, having seen conditions there, I felt moved to do something. I
realised a relatively modest effort on my part could lead to huge
improvements for them.
Since then I’ve gone over and back twice a year, says Tom, who
started making a contribution to Belarusian orphanages by
working with the Waterford-based Chernobyl Aid Ireland.
The eldest of eight, the 35-year-old now lives in Dublin and is
engaged to Roisin Ariff. He always loved children and has headed
up other child-focused charities ” while a student in Trinity
College, he was head of Community Action, a project which
helped get children from disadvantaged areas into third-level
education.
PLAY TIME:
Having seen the dramatic effect the creation of a
new playground had at Dyatlovo Orphanage, CODP set about
installing playgrounds in the other 56 orphanages. Already, 29
have been built. We’ll have the other 28 installed by this time
next year. The effect of play is amazing for orphans who are
under-stimulated, who don’t have parents, who have harrowing
backgrounds.
What you see is laughing children, who previously didn’t laugh.
Even when they’re not playing ” when they’re walking down the
hallway ” it’s like some burden has been lifted from them.
Orphans can have difficulty forming bonds so our aim is to create
an environment where they can develop relationships in a fun
way. The playground encourages group play ” the swings are like
porch swings and can take four or five together. Fifteen kids can
get on the carousel.
Once the playground was set up, the children knew instinctively
how to play. It took them seconds. Our biggest design problem
was keeping them out of the playground when the concrete was
setting, explains Tom, adding that CODP doesn’t have any
political agenda.
So what’s the rationale for not working in orphanages inside the
immediate fall-out zone of Chernobyl? First of all, I’m still of
child-bearing age and I’m not convinced its safe to go there. And
I won’t bring anyone else in there ” either Irish or Belarusian ”
because I’m not convinced it’s safe. Our hope is that the
government might relocate the orphanages inside the hot zone, so
it makes sense to develop the ones outside this area, explains
Tom.
When COPD visit Besangovichi Orphanage from December 21 to
28, they hope to provide new beds and bedroom furniture. They
want to arrange for the wall in worst condition to be re-plastered
and painted with murals of life-size Disney characters. They want
to give new clothes and warm winter duvets to each child, as well
as spectacles to those who need them. How much of this gets done
depends on the funds they receive.
CODP is asking for help in fundraising for the upcoming
Christmas trip. If people wish simply to make a donation, the
bank account details are: Bank of Ireland, O’Connell Street, sort
code 90 00 33, account number, 53807879. For further
information about CODP, phone Nicky Crichton on 086 6085454.
OVER 30 Irish organisations work with children who are
suffering as a result of the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster.
Below are some of the main ones:
” The Chernobyl Children’s Project was founded by Adi Roche
in 1991. Contact 021 4506 411 or email adiroche@adiccp.org.
See also www.adiccp.org
” Chernobyl Aid Ireland (CAI) under the leadership of Waterford
ambulance driver Liam Grant was founded in 1997. Contact 051
858 944. See www.chernobyl.ie
” To Russia With Love (TRWL) was set up by Clontarf
housewife Debbie Deegan. Contact 01 853 2920 or email
torussiawithlove@iolfree.ie. See also www.torussiawithlove.ie
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Independant 03/02
Belarus victim of nuclear age
Belarus is caught in economic turmoil, suffering from the effects of the Chernobyl explosion. David Murphy, who recently visited the country, reports on the work by the Irish charity Chernobyl Aid Ireland to alleviate problems in an orphanage. He also reports on the country's social and financial problems
THIRTEEN years after the Chernobyl explosion which was 90 times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb the effects are still coming to the surface of the society and economy of Belarus.
Nine tonnes of radioactive material were blasted into the sky by the explosion at the fourth reactor in the power plant.
Although the accident happened in the Ukraine, which is now a separate country, the prevailing winds on the fateful day in April 1986 meant that Belarus took the brunt of the fall-out.
On top of the drastic effects of the explosion, Belarus is caught up in economic turmoil caused by a plethora of problems since the break-up of the Soviet Union.
When the disaster happened some 23pc of land in Belarus was affected. Although the exclusion zone, where people are not permitted to live, extends 30km around the plant the true effects of radiation extend well beyond.
There has been massive social upheaval as families have been forced from their towns and villages near where the accident happened.
While there has been much debate in the scientific community on the impact on health the consensus is that the accident has lead to an upsurge in thyroid cancer throughout the country.
Even in areas of low radiation, well over 100 kilometres from Chernobyl people, are suffering from the effects of contaminated food and drink because they cannot afford imported foodstuffs.
Although official figures put the number of deaths caused by the explosion at around 300, organisations involved in the clean-up during the aftermath put a figure of between 5,000 and 10,000 on the number of deaths.
But the full health effects are not likely to be known for many years. Scientists from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development say incidents of cancer will continue to rise.
They also found extensive psychological effects, which resulted in severe forms of apathy and despair often leading to withdrawal.
Although Belarus, with a population of 10 million, was relatively prosperous during Soviet times its progress has been dogged by falling output and rocketing inflation as well as the fall-out from Chernobyl.
When the old Soviet regime ended Belarus was hit due to the specialised nature of many of its industries, which were dependent on raw materials and customers in the USSR.
Last May the dollar was worth 70,000 Belarus roubles. But by the end of October it had collapsed and a dollar was worth 180,000 roubles a jump of 154pc in just six months.
Elana Yuzhick, a teacher and carer in an orphanage in the village of Grozovo, which is receiving aid from Irish organisation Chernobyl Aid Ireland, says workers are being hit by falling salaries.
``The teachers here are like slaves because the salaries are getting lower and lower due to inflation. The teachers grow vegetables in the summer and sell them in the capital Minsk.''
While wages are paid in Belarus roubles the prices are rising to keep pace with the all important dollar.
The Minsk News newspaper this month painted a gloomy picture of the economic situation. It said: ``Whatever is being done by financial institutions to attract investments, there seems to be very little reason for individuals to keep their foreign currency in banks in today's unstable political and economic situation.
``The current interest rates hardly provide any motivation for investors to give away their money. The Belarus economy is on the verge of collapse, so no one can tell whether banks will eventually be able to give the borrowed money back to people.
``At least currency deposits might seem attractive to some people. With ruble deposits, there is not even that, with the average annual interest payments at 50pc, far below the inflation rate.''
Belarus is an independent state run by its democratically-elected president Alexander Lukashenko.
He is now proposing building more links with Russia and possibly reunifying with it. This month the Minsk News reported him as saying that Belarus may soon switch over to a more centralised co-operation pattern with Russian.
He also said that Russian President Boris Yeltsin had become very positive about the proposal.
Lukashenko, has also curtailed press freedom and non-state funded newspapers are now printed in nearby Lithuania as no plant in Minsk will produce them. The president has also had the constitution redrafted by his allies.
In Belarus agriculture employs 21pc of the workforce and occupies half of the land with livestock, mainly cattle and pigs, responsible for 60pc of agricultural produce. Potatoes, grain, sugar beet and flax are the main crops.
Industry employs about 30pc of the workforce. Heavy industry is concentrated mainly in Minsk, which produces heavy duty trucks and tractors.
But the country has few mineral resources and is almost totally dependent on Russia for oil and gas.
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Irish Times 08/03
Irish volunteers discover playground with a difference.
857 words
13 August 2003
Irish Times
12
English
(c) 2003, The Irish Times.
Playgrounds are springing up in Belarussian orphanages courtesy of Irish people embarking on working holidays to help improve the lives of the children there, writes Alison Healy
Some people spend their holidays lying on a beach or hill-walking. Others spend that time buying shoes for Belarussian orphans or taking them to the opticians. A growing number of people are using their holidays to travel to the east European country to work with orphanages.
The Chernobyl Orphanage Development Programme (CODP) has already refurbished two orphanages and has provided playgrounds for 6,500 children. It aims to have installed playgrounds in the country's 57 orphanages by next year. Journalists rarely get involved in the stories they cover, but this project began six years ago after Sunday Times business writer Tom McEnaney travelled to Belarus on an assignment for his then employer, the Sunday Tribune. He accompanied a group of carpenters and plumbers who were refurbishing the Grosovo orphanage for 200 children, through the Waterford-based Chernobyl Aid Ireland.
"When I was over there, I couldn't just wander around with a notebook, so I took on my own project," he recalls. The former civil engineering student set up the Model Room - a space where children could learn how to make model aeroplanes. The Model Room was next door to a classroom so he got lots of curious young visitors. "When I took a break, I had one on my shoulders, one on either hand, one holding on to the seam of my trousers. It's kind of hard to walk away from that. The only appropriate reaction, for me, was to go back and do something about what I'd seen."
He returned six months later with some friends and decided to tackle the orphanage's run-down farm. On hearing that the children had never received a visit from Santa Claus, the Irish visitors decided to return for Christmas. They raised money from friends and contacts and went shopping in Belarus with a wish-list of fishing rods, watches and soft toys. The charity has a strict policy of buying aid in Belarus where possible. This makes the funds go further, and also helps businesses in Belarus. Also, if an appliance breaks down, it's easier to source the parts or to bring it back to the shop. The volunteers also hire workers out there, reasoning that their own talents lie in organisation, not in plastering and plumbing. The CODP operates on zero costs, with no office or administration bills. Not only do volunteers pay for their own flights and accommodation in Belarus but they must also raise at least E5,000 if they want to make the trip. More than 20 people have now travelled to Belarus to work on the project, most of them on return visits. Volunteers include friends, relatives and people from the business community. "Friends of mine used to warn each other to be very careful about going for drinks with me because the next drink you would end up having would be vodka in some really dodgy bar in a remote part of Belarus," says McEnaney. "And it's kind of true."
A typical day of the "holiday" starts at 7 a.m. and could involve buying a plough, measuring children for shoes or haggling over the price of 200 beds. But his favourite project involved putting in a playground in Dyatlovo - the second orphanage they adopted. "To see the children of Dyatlovo about three days after the playground went in was just something else. Children who were listless and relatively lifeless were now jumping around screaming, having a great time. They had been terribly under-stimulated. They had no toys, art materials, very few pens, no paper.
"They had these old Russian books, but Dostoyevsky is no more attractive to a 10-year-old Belarussian child than it is to an Irish child." After seeing the success of the playground, the volunteers vowed to replicate it in all 57 orphanages. They have now built 28 of these, at a cost of under E4,000 each. "We were hoping to get the other 28 in this year but the fact is we have run out of money," he says. The grass playgrounds include swings, slides, sandpits, see-saws and a big carousel. They are built to last, he says, as they are made by a factory in Minsk, which used to make tanks for the Russian army. Volunteers tell him that their Belarussian experience has been the most fulfilling thing they have ever done.
"One can go to the sun, or take a week off to do DIY around the house, but spending your holidays doing charity work in somewhere like a remote part of Belarus is a different experience," McEnaney says. "The benefit of that week stays with you the whole year round. You may be tired when you return, but you will be smiling." Donations can be made to the project's Bank of Ireland account, number 538 07879, sort code 90 00 33. For more details phone: 086 608 5454.
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The Racing Post 04/03
Irish News
April 09, 2003
SECTION: Pg. 48
LENGTH: 580 words
HEADLINE: RACINGbriefs;
AN Irish charity is going to the dogs, with a fun fundraiser night at Harolds Cross Greyhound Track on Tuesday, April 22, to raise much needed money for the Chernobyl Orphanage Development Programme (CODP).
CODP is a group of Irish people who renovate orphanages affected by Chernobyl. A playground that the charity built for Dyatlovo Orphanage last May, brought so much joy to the orphans that the charity has now committed to install a playground in each of the 57 other orphanages in Belarus.
To achieve this aim CODP now needs to raise e250,000, which would create the opportunity to play for 13,000 orphans. Greyhounds for Playgrounds is the first in a number of fundraisers that CODP will organise during 2003. Tickets cost just e35, all of which goes directly to the Playground fund.
Ticket price includes admission to the races, a race card, a light supper and a free bet. A raffle will be held on the night also.
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Sunday Tribune 06/98
The Sunday Tribune, June 7, 1998
Playing Santa in Belarus
Sunday Tribune journalist Tom McEnaney was part of a Chernobyl Aid Ireland group that spent annual leave in an orphanage, helping to improve living conditions for 200 children. He tells the story of an inspirational trip.
The boys were the first to investigate. The came in groups of four or five to the door of the gym where, the night before, a forward party of 30 Irish people had bedded themselves down. The boys looked in as tradesmen, teachers and other from assorted professions who had come from various parts of Ireland, rose to get their first impression of this orphanage in Belarus, a remote area north of Chernobyl.
Although the organisers of this mission had been out many times before, for most of us it was our first excursion and we weren’t sure what to expect. First impressions were surprisingly good.
Belarus, which 12 years earlier had been afflicted by about 70% of the fallout form the Chernobyl disaster, is very green. It looks like South Meath repeated over and over again but with more birch groves and fewer Fine Gael politicians.
Grosova State Orphanage, which we had come to renovate, is a converted military barracks west next to one such birch grove. Here the boys cut saplings which are used to fish carp and pike from the adjacent lake.
The setting is so beautiful that to is easy to forget about the explosion which released 200 times more radioactivity that the combined Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. This is a contaminated land, and although the orphanage is set in an area of relatively low contamination, we brought out all our own food and water.
The 200 children for whom this is home do not have the same advantage. And although we had been preceded by two lorry-loads of food aid, for the most part these children, like many of the inhabitants of Belarus, live on a poisoned diet.
The trucks also brought out buildings materials for the teams of people who, who, for the next two weeks, were intent on doing what they could do to improve conditions there. There was the ESB team, which had come to install a new laundry. The existing machines resembled models which were last seen in Ireland 50 years ago. They were replaced by new industrial washers and dryers which the children of the Genesis Youth Club had provided after tireless fundraising.
Indeed, while the work done in the orphanage was considerable, it belied the great effort which allowed it to happen. Dozens of groups had held raffles, dances and quizzes, to raise the money that would enable a team of 60 people to spend their annual leave improving the conditions of 200 Belarus children.
Another group set about renovating three of the classrooms to Irish standards. They rose at 7.00am, had breakfast and worked until dinner was served at 8.00 that evening. There was a break for lunch which was served up with a sauce of bad language and good humour by two army sergeants. Tom Leigh and Martin Kelly were not chefs but artillery sergeants from the Curragh, who received few, if any, complaints about the 2,700-odd meals they served up over the two weeks.
Summer in Belarus is much like summer in Ireland, but in the winter temperatures can drop top minus 30 and the flat terrain is an open invitation to freezing winds. Until we arrived the orphanage had no hot water and, in summer and winter, the children had to traipse outside to use the three cold showers. Apart from the discomfort, it meant hygiene was frequently neglected. But within our ranks there was a gang of crazy men from Newry, the Friends of Children of Chernobyl, who were there to install new toilets, hot water showers and a state-of-the-art changing room.
There was more that one morning when we woke at 7.00am to the sound of their power tools. It was noise that continued often until 11.00 at night. On one occasion they worked until 5.00 in the morning before retiring for two hours sleep, only to put in another hard day.
Perhaps they were inspired by the 73-year-old plumber within their number who, for reasons of his own, prefers not to be named. He worked as hard as everyone else and at meal times regaled us with ridiculous yarns.
At one stage during the trip I began to feel sorry for myself. I had a bad dose of the flu and my bed, like everyone else’s, was a sleeping bag on the floor of the gym which also served as the kitchen, workroom, dining room and store. I was missing home and family and privacy and bemoaning the fact that the mat I had brought was far too thin. Then I saw the septuagenarian plumber sleeping on a mattress of corrugated cardboard and any self-indulgence disappeared.
Indeed it was difficult to feel other than privileged when in the midst of children who have nothing. While not physically or mentally handicapped, the children aged between 8 and sixteen are in the orphanage because they have no parents or because their parents are alcoholics or criminals or just can’t afford to bring them up themselves.
Having expected the visit to be harrowing, I felt only relief when I met them. And such wonderful children they were, full of life and, with some exceptions, easily moved to laughter.
However, it was summertime and these children had just seen 60 Irish Santa Clauses arrive over the horizon. In winter the story is different, which is why one of the groups there spent two weeks renovating the auditorium for them to run around when the weather would be too cold to go outside.
But when they do go outside they will do so with new shoes as two Dublin women, Sylvia Kearns and Jennifer Murphy, took out two pairs of fitted shoes for each child. They also brought out 100 pairs of socks, 500 t-shirts and 200 tracksuits.
For my own part, as the journalist of the group I was expected to walk around with a camera and a notebook. But, being a civil engineer in a previous life and having worked on many building sites I was determined to take on my own project.
So I hassled director of Chernobyl Aid Ireland, Liam Grant, a former director of Adi Roche’s Chernobyl Children’s Project, who more than anyone could be credited with putting this mission together. Liam allowed me to take on the hobby room, a relatively modest project which involved two weeks plastering, scraping, sanding and painting.
Happily the hobby room was next door to a classroom of some of the younger children. They became my regular visitors as they attempted to distract me and I for my part tried to teach them “She’ll be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain” in Russian.
For one of them I carry special memories. After a long day during which everything went wrong, I was making my way, dreary and disheartened to the gym when I heard an eight-year-old boy calling my name. When I turned around he ran up to me and presented me with a bunch of lilac before running off.
To him and to Sasha and Dima and Oxana and all the other children, we will be back. And, if we can raise the money, perhaps next time we will put in a new kitchen and decorate those dreary dormitories.
But one way or another the group that left Grosovo was convinced above all else that it would be back.
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Email: tmcenaney@independent.ie
