Cardigan News
Organisers urge support for Chernobyl children
10:32am Thursday 2nd February 2012
With only eight months to go until the first group of Chernobyl children arrive in Cardigan for a month’s visit, local organisers are urging people to support them in as many ways as they can.
“I can’t stress how important this visit is,” said Bryon Alabaster, the Welsh links co-ordinator. “Similar schemes have already been established in north and south Pembrokeshire so to have such support from the people of Cardigan and to be able to plan a visit later this year is fantastic.”
The children will be travelling from the north eastern corner of the Ukraine, one of the areas worst affected by the nuclear atrocity of 1986 which subjected the inhabitants to levels of radioactivity 90 times greater than that caused by the Hiroshima bomb. Today the effects of the disaster are just as ubiquitous - the population’s blood streams contain large doses of Caesium 137 which destroys the body’s immune system and internal organs.
“By spending a month in a country such as ours where they can eat foods which aren’t contaminated, the children’s lives can be extended by up to two years,” continued Bryon. “This is why we’re determined to do everything we can to make this year’s visit one of many.”
The children will be arriving in September and will spend a month with their host families. If you would like to find out more about the work of Chernobyl Children’s Life Line or if you would like to help with fund raising for September’s visit, you can contact Bryon Alabaster on 01348 811325 (bryon.alabaster@tiscali.co.uk) or Cardigan branch secretary Sarah-Jane Absalom on 01239 682105 (sarahjane2303@btinternet.com)