Chernobyl Children visit Share Discovery Village
On Monday the 5th of August, children affected by the Chernobyl disaster paid an annual visit to Share Discovery Village while on their respite holiday in Ireland for 3 weeks.
The Chernobyl Children Appeal offers these young people the chance to visit Ireland to help improve their health and immune systems and while here, they are hosted by local families.
The children, whose ages ranged from 7-14 years old, all came from the Mogilev region of Belarus which is approximately 400km from Chernobyl and stayed with host families for the 3 weeks. The 2 different villages in the region that they call home are Obidovichy and Ludchitsty, which are both very poor areas.
During their holiday the children got the chance to visit various areas of Fermanagh and Tyrone such as Share Discovery Village, Jet Skiing in Lough Erne at the Killyhevlin, Muckross Lake in Kesh, Jenkins Forest in Fivemiletown and the Fire Station in Omagh.
Benefits of Respite Holiday
The value of such holidays to these children can be priceless because in just 3 weeks the level of toxins in their bodies can be reduced by 40%.
Not only does the respite holiday have significant health benefits but it also gives the young people a chance to experience a variety of different activities and a whole new culture which they most likely would never get to experience due to their backgrounds.
Activities at SHARE
Share Discovery Village sponsored the activities day for the visitors along with the help of generous help from Enniskillen solicitors, Cooper Wilkinson.
Peter McEvoy, CEO at Share Discovery Village explained how they have been accommodating young people from this disaster hit area through the Chernobyl Children Appeal for many years now and how getting them out on a variety of activities is great not only for the kids but also for those at SHARE: “Getting to see the kids experience a number things that they wouldn’t get to do in their own country is just fantastic to see. They were all delighted to get out on the Water Park and Banana Boats and they showed no fear in the water!”
The children were accompanied by translators during their visit as they were only able to speak Russian but they also communicated with their host families using phones and tablets to translate.
How to get Involved:
After the hit TV Drama on Sky Atlantic hit our screens earlier in the year, awareness about the disaster has significantly increased and the Chernobyl Children Appeal are hoping that more families come forward to help host the young people in the future after seeing how successful it has been this year.
There is a huge number of Belarus parents willing to send their kids along with the Chernobyl Children Appeal however there are a shortage of host families in the area.
To get involved, please contact ccafamilies36@gmail.com or 028 6862 2005. Find out more info here: Chernobyl Children Appeal
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