THIS month marks 25 years since the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl power station in northern Ukraine. Most of the fallout landed in Belarus, where children continue to suffer from its effects. In the most severely affected parts of the country, the incidence of children's thyroid cancer rose by over 100 times.
A quarter of the best farmlands and forests were poisoned with caesium 137, which will remain in the soil for hundreds of years. many people were evacuated, but two million are still living on seriously contaminated land.
One organisation which has given an amazing amount of help to those who are living with this terrible legacy is the Chernobyl Children's Project (UK), launched in 1995. The charity arranges recuperative holidays for teenagers in remission from cancer and for very young children with their mothers. It supports palliative care in Belarus and runs training programmes for professionals there.
The project also does much to help disabled children set up a respite care centre in Gomel. Humanitarian aid convoys are sent regularly to help schools, family associations and social centres.
CCP(UK) has over 20 groups throughout Britain, including one in Totnes. To find out more about this extremely worthwhile charity, go to http://www.chernobyl-children.org.uk">www.chernobyl-children.org.uk
Ginny Davies
Churchill Road
Tavistock