Although most of the world has forgotten, we at Canadian Aid for Chernobyl are proud to be one of the few organizations still working to help the victims of this devastating accident.  Since 1998 we have delivered more than $29 million in aid, much of it in sustainable initiatives benefiting; orphans, hospital and orphanage reconstruction, disabled children and adults and delivering food at a critical time to impoverished families and seniors.  Most importantly we have provided respite from the radiation for over 600 children, hosted in loving homes in the Brockville region.  The Children’s Relief & Recuperation Program is the basis of our organization and we are proud to have rejuvenated this program this year, more than doubling our hosted children from last summer with plans to grow again for the summer of 2013.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you, our supporters, without you none of this would be possible.  We are a grass roots organization that is 100% volunteer driven and we rely on the donations of individuals and businesses to continue “Providing Hope to … a Nation … a Village … a Child!”.  Together, we really are making a difference.

Eric McKenzie – On behalf of the Board of Directors of Canadian Aid for Chernobyl

Here is a picture of last years children at the end of their summer visit:

Next we met with Elena, a woman who is involved in many areas of development in the Chausy region, we met with her to discuss a new initiative that will involve us partnering with her as well as the Mayor but we will publish more on this future initiative when the details are flushed out.  In this picture you see our interpreter, Natasha, Elena and Dave in Elena’s office.

Afterwards, we rushed over to the site of the “Dream Mountains Crisis Center for Women and Children” to meet with the contractors.  We finalized colour for paint as well as flooring.  We are hoping to have the official ribbon cutting in September when Dave returns with Shawn Dawson and the climbers who have raised the funds.

Then we went to the Malcomson House at the Chausy Orphanage to meet with Irina Denisyenko who heads up the organization for Families with Invalid Children.  We met with Irina to discuss the annual budget for her organization as well as any special requests or requirements.  This organization along with the Day of the Angel party are funded in a large part by the Rotary Clubs of Brockville.  Here you see Dave with our interpreter, Alla, Irina Denisyenko as well as Lisa Axworthy and Neil Matheson who head up the Guardian Angel Program.

Next we zipped over to the offices of the Organization for Invalid Adults that we were helping to clean and paint.  We met up with Sasha, a member of the board of directors of this organization to find out how they had made out.  The offices looked a lot better but we decided that another coat of paint was needed and provided the funds for this.  They will also purchase a desk to go with the new chairs that you can see in this photo.

Then it was back to the Malcomson House at the Orphanage for a final meeting with Vitalli the Director.  David and Margaret Campbell were also there to discuss the agriculture program.

From there I was picked up by Neil Matheson and Lisa Axworthy to go and visit one of our families in the Guardian Angel Program, the Moyesyenko family.  Valentina and Leonid have a daughter, Lena who is now 38 years old.  Lena was damaged during the birthing process by a technique called a “forced birth”.  As a result she is non-communicative, needs help walking and requires constant care.  Her parents are amazing people who have dedicated their lives to her care.  Since we began supporting them they have been able to add running water to their house, a hot water heater, a new bed for Lena, afford fresh fruit and vegetables year round for her diet and many other items they would not be able to afford.  They are both in their early 60′s and on a small fixed pension.  Of course they worry about what will happen to Lena when they are not able to care for her.  Recently, Valentina underwent surgery and she is finding it difficult during her healing process, but her spirit is wonderful.  We reminded her that she must take care of herself in order to be able to continue to care for Lena!  In the past this family was sponsored by a group where I used to work, however they are now sponsored by a group at my new employer, newterra (formerly Maple Leaf Environmental Equipment).  Here is a picture of me with Valentina, Lena and Leonid.

This family is so inspiring that I cannot think of a better place to visit prior to heading home!

Eric McKenzie

I don’t have a lot of delivery photos but I took a few that will give you a look into some of the sights we saw today.  This first one is a strange looking tractor that was spraying a field.  It was going really fast and looked very maneuverable for its size.

This is one of the streets that I mentioned above.  Many times today we found ourselves on flooded streets and several times detoured around whole blocks to avoid them.  In this case we drove through as our driver, Sasha, was able to watch the vehicle ahead of us make it and knew that we wouldn’t disappear into what appeared to be a small lake!

We found these little guys playing hard in a park behind an apartment that we delivered to.  The boy on the left was stripping bark from a stick and his friend was very busy carefully applying a fresh coat of “paint” to their little play house.

Although this is Easter in Canada, Orthodox Easter is celebrated next weekend here, so today was palm Sunday.  Every market as well as street vendors were selling these brightly coloured plastic flowers.  The celebration of Radonitsa (day of rejoicing) is coming up very soon, this is when families go to the cemeteries to visit the graves of their ancestors.  They will clean the grave-site, maybe have a picnic and leave the plastic flowers to decorate the site for the coming year.  Although rainy and overcast, the flowers everywhere really brightened up the city.

A very common sight here is a horse and wagon.  I always love to see them as it really gives an old world feel and reminds me that there are still some people who are living life at a calmer pace and being propelled by “one” horse power!

Last, but not least, a picture of us delivering a family parcel to a girl who was working today at one of the markets.  Here is Jon with the box while our interpreter, Tanya gets the paperwork filled out.

Tomorrow is my last day in Belarus and it is pretty jam packed with wrap up items, hopefully we can finalize everything before we leave.

Eric McKenzie