Irish people are opening their doors once again.
120 children from the Chernobyl affected area of Belarus will arrive in Ireland on Tuesday for a month-long rest and recuperation holiday.
It’s organised by Chernobyl Children International, who have organised groups of children from the area to Ireland since the accident over 30 years ago.
The children are third generation victims of Chernobyl and live with health, societal, economic and environmental fallout every day.
Speaking ahead of the group’s arrival, Voluntary CEO of Chernobyl Children International Adi Roche said, “Our wonderful volunteers have opened their hearts and their homes to these children every summer.
“These are children who so desperately need our help. While the Chernobyl accident happened 33 years ago, the consequences last forever.”
Many of the children arriving in Ireland on Tuesday live in Vesnova Children’s Mental Asylum – an institution for abandoned children which was hidden in a veil of secrecy during the years of the Soviet Union.
It is now the base for the charity’s Restoration of Rights Programme and Life Skills Home which the charity hopes will offer children the hopes of a safe alternative to life in an orphanage over time.
Since 1991, over 25,500 children from Belarus and Western Russia have come to Ireland through Adi Roche’s charity on this Rest and Recuperation programme.
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