Chernobyl Children's Project International

video: "voices from chernobyl" performance & community fundraising idea

You can click on the video above to watch an emotional theatrical reading from Voices from Chornobyl.  (If you are reading this on a feed or email you might need to go directly to our website.) The video is a short taste of the full performance piece.

My friend Cindy Marie Jenkins adapted this play from Svetlana Alexievich's book, an oral history of the Chernobyl disaster that won the National Book Critics Award.

Cindy was inspired by Eve Ensler's V-Day project.  V-Day uses performances of The Vagina Monologues to raise funds to mitigate violence against women. We're inviting you -- as a supporter of Chernobyl Children's Project International -- do to the same thing in your community.

You can perform this reading (needs only 9 readers/actors) to raise funds for Chernobyl Children's Project International, or even simply to raise awareness.  You can find out how on Cindy's Voices from Chornobyl website. This is a true labor of love for Cindy, who put many unpaid creative hours into developing this fundraising tool and educational opportunity.

I know that many students and teachers read this blog.  This would be a great project for a high school to take on, particularly for Chernobyl anniversary month in April. Email me to let us know if you decide to take this on! 

student campers take "chernobyl heart challenge," & save a life

Last year Delaware mom Julie Klabunde  and her daughter, Riley, saw Chernobyl Heart, the 2004 film that follows Chernobyl Children's Project International through Chernobyl affected regions of Belarus. (If you haven't seen Chernobyl Heart, you can watch it now on CCPI's Channel on YouTube.) 

Riley went online, found our website, and learned about our drive to raise funds for life saving children's heart surgeries in Ukraine.  Mother and daughter sprang into action.  Julie owns the Adventure Kids Summer Day Camp in Wilmington, and Riley is a junior counselor.  They organized a screening of Chernobyl Heart, and quickly convinced the camp staff to dedicate summer 2007 to one child's heart.

All summer long, the camp sold candy and lemonade to raise funds for one heart surgery, and made bracelets for all the young patients.  Pictured above, you can see a photo of a bulletin board the campers put together to rally everyone around the cause.

I hope the kids of Adventure Kids Summer Day Camp fully realize that, through their direct action, they will save the life another child -- one of the 6000 children born yearly in Ukraine with heart defects. More than 50% of the children in Ukraine who need life saving operations will not get them. Between now and the end of the year, the support of donors like the Adventure Kids will allow us to send volunteer surgical teams to 4 different regions of  Ukraine to perform operations and train their fellow professionals. The first team arrives at Kharkiv's Institute of General and Urgent Surgery this May 25th.

The Adventure Kids of Wilmington, Delaware join supporters like the students of Glenbard East High School, Cedar-N-Sage, Karakorum Racing, grandmother Judy Bevilacqua, PanRight Productions, and many more individuals who are finding creative ways to make sure these kids get the operations they need to live.  Thanks Adventure Kids, and all of our sponsors!

ccpi launches chernobyl video channel on youtube

Now you can learn about the Chernobyl disaster through video -- including videos showing Chernobyl Children's Project International at work -- on our new CCPI Channel on YouTube. Go there by clicking on the YouTube button on the right.

On the CCPI Channel on You Tube, you can watch Chernobyl  Heart, the Academy Award winning film that follows Chernobyl Children's Project International through Belarus. We also pulled together into one channel the best Chernobyl-related videos from around the Internet.  You'll find Paul Fusco's moving Chernobyl Legacy video essay, a BBC video feature on Cooking in the Danger Zone,  a Greenpeace video about how Chernobyl impacts people today, and many more.  You can subscribe to the CCPI Channel, and we'll notify you when we add something new.

Lots of people are using social networks -- such as Facebook -- to stay in touch with friends and families and let them know what they find interesting and important.  Now you can join a Chernobyl Children's Project International Page on Facebook. Click on the button to the right to go there, and then click on "Become a Fan" to show your support and spread the word in your network.