Chernobyl Children's Project International

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.

video: cbs news reports on chernobyl "nightmare" and containment efforts

This CBS video report is on the status of the 10 year and running project to safely contain the destroyed nuclear reactor at Chernobyl.  We picked up the clip from Mark Resnicoff's excellent Chernobyl and Eastern Europe blog.

In the two minute video, (if you reading this on email or a feed you may need to click here to view it), reporter Katie Couric describes the Chernobyl accident as "a nightmare from the Soviet era" that will continue to haunt the region "for generations."  The cost to contain the Chernobyl reactor is over $1.5 billion so far, with the USA being the largest single country donor.

The clip starts with a brief advertisement that was embedded by CBS -- we are grateful to be able to share the clip at no charge, but it is not a product endorsement by Chernobyl Children's Project International.

 

thievery corporation & chernobyl 20 spark support for children

Last week I was honored to receive a check from lounge/electronica band Thievery Corporation and Mondano ("World Citizen')  Mondano is a Washington DC based alliance that ignites transnational cultural and artistic collaborations.

Pictured above:  Andre Kravchenko (Mondano), Eric Hilton (Thievery Corporation), me, Rob Garza (TC) and Bill Crandall (Mondano) at ESL Music.

The team embarked last year on a project called Chernobyl 20 -- an effort to focus attention on Chernobyl's continuing consequences.  The collaboration brought together photographers, musicians, and the final haunting recording of a beloved vocalist.

The Chernobyl 20 photo exhibition examined the contrasting perspectives of photographers Antonin Kratochvil, Paul Fusco, Bill Crandall, Donald Weber, Gabriella Bulisova, Robert Knoth, and other artists. Some of the photographers traveled with CCPI through Chernobyl regions.  The exhibition was shown at the United Nations and at the US Congress hearings on the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl.

Robert Knoth's powerful affection for Annya Pesenko, who has a brain tumor, is captured in the photo shown here.  We feel privileged to count Annya's family among those served by CCPI's hospice program in Gomel, Belarus.  I was saddened to tell Robert about this brave girl's poor condition on my last visit to her.  It was heartbreaking to see her struggle to remain conscious, and the pressure on her mother was enormous.

Thievery Corporation's The Passing Stars was the last song recorded by Pam Bricker.  Pam was the voice behind Thievery Corporation's iconic song, Lebanese Blond.  After her death, Eric and Rob kept the song from commercial release, and placed it on iTunes with all proceeds to help children affected by Chernobyl.  Eric told us, "Pam would have been proud that her final track helped people in this way." Included with the download is a digital booklet of the Chernobyl 20 photo exhibition.  You can find both on iTunes by searching for "Thievery Corporation" and selecting "The Passing Stars."

This effort brought together diverse talents in common cause.  It not only raised funds that will be put to good use.  It reached new audiences to broaden the understanding of the ongoing nature of the Chernobyl disaster.

chernobyl children's project international appoints youth un representative

A young woman of Ukrainian heritage, Christina Stegura has grown up hearing stories about Chernobyl, and hoped that there might come a time when she could help.

Now she will, and in a very substantial way.  Christina will serve as one of Chernobyl Children's Project International's representatives at United Nations Headquarters in New York. This unique opportunity is the result of a partnership between CCPI (a UN accredited non governmental organization) and Lehigh University of Bethlehem PA.

Christina, a dean's list student who is vice president of her school's global citizenship program and pursuing degrees in sociology and anthropology, will be the first of a series of Lehigh University students to represent CCPI at the United Nations. She will visit the UN every month to represent CCPI's work in Chernobyl affected communities, attend briefings, and report back to us on how we can support the UN Millennium Development Goals.  The Millennium Development Goals are a set of quantifiable targets in spheres of development and poverty eradication that are to be achieved by 2015.

Thanks to Lehigh University for this wonderful donation of time and talent, and to Christina to advocating CCPI to be the beneficiary.

chernobyl shut down plans continue as belarus plans new nuclear plant

Several months ago I noted that Ukraine signed a $505 million contract with Novarka to build a new shelter for the ruined Chernobyl nuclear reactor.  This new shelter is to replace the hastily constructed sarcophagus that started to crumble and leak radiation 10 years after it was constructed.  It is hoped that the new shelter, due to be completed in 2015, will hold up for 100 years.  The plan, price tag, and completion date have been moving targets for many years.

(This post is illustrated with images of a "walk-through" virtual reality model of the actual Chernobyl disaster site that is located on Second Life.  The "Chernobyl Memorial" was created by virtual world building company Magrathean Technologies.)

On Tuesday, Itar-Tass News Agency expanded on Ukraine's plan for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel from the plant.  The plan calls for the power plant's premises to be completely cleared sometime between 2046 - 2064.  (That's what I call a flexible deadline.)

Also on Tuesday, the Security Council of Belarus announced their final decision to build the first nuclear power plant on their own territory.  Belarus shares a border with Ukraine and was seriously damaged by radioactive winds that contaminated their territory in the days after the accident.  Belarus' moratorium on building domestic nuclear power plants expired as of 2008.  The planned nuclear plant will cost an estimated $4 billion, and will be built by Russian company Atomstroiexport.

The Jamestown Foundation's Eurasia Daily Monitor posted an article last week by David Marples, professor of history and classics at the University of Alberta Edmonton.  Marples reported that a site for the new plant has been selected near a village called Kukshynava, located in the Mogilev region. Here's a video of the survey work in progress.

Apparently the first choice -- near the village of Krasnaya Palyana -- had to be scrapped after a survey revealed that the land was too contaminated by the Chernobyl disaster to be safe for building. 

Belarus urgently seeks energy independence after Russia's move last year to double the price Minsk pays for gas imports. At the same time, the people of Belarus suffered greatly in the aftermath of Chernobyl, and continue to pay a heavy medical  and economic price. A number of my Belarusian friends and colleagues believe that the decision to move so quickly toward nuclear power -- especially without some sort of national public referendum -- is bound to stir fears and controversy in communities across Belarus. 

photo essay: chernobyl seen by children

In March 2006 Unicef organized a photography workshop for children who live in Chernobyl affected communities in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.  Each of the kids, aged 12 to 17, was born after the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.  Each was asked to go back to their home country and take photographs to capture their personal experience of Chernobyl.  I first saw the photos in Minsk in 2006. 

Here is Unicef's online photo essay, Chernobyl Seen by Children.

Last month the photos were exhibited again at the United Nations in New York city.  The UN General Assembly convened a meeting called "A World Fit for Children +5."  At this meeting, world leaders reviewed progress against international initiatives to improve the health and well being of children.  It was a fitting venue to revisit how the Chernobyl disaster has affected a new generation.

In November, I posted my observation that many of the most popular "genre" of Chernobyl photographs are taken by outsiders, and thus have a voyeuristic quality.  I find these photos refreshing in contrast because they reflect each child's personal and ordinary experience. As the exhibition materials point out, "for these children Chernobyl is not statistics, it is daily life."  For more on how children artistically address Chernobyl, click here to see the Chernobyl Child Artists photo gallery on this blog.

It would be an affront to minimize how Chernobyl affects children and families today.  At the same time, these photographs underscore how important it is for organizations such as CCPI to help families focus on the future.  Realistically, but with hope.  As do these young photographers.

The photo of the baby (who has cancer) admiring the camera was taken by Anton Gordeichik of Belarus.  Vitaliy Sigaev, age 13, of the Russian Federation took picture of the boy his age in the hospital.  Both pictures are from the Unicef exhibit "Chernobyl Seen by Children."

chernobyl and getting on with it

This photo is from a series by Don Weber.  It's called Bastard Eden: Chernobyl at Twenty.  His book of photos is due out this spring.

I love these photos, and as I look at them I wonder -- why?  I think because they lack any kind of voyeurism. Instead of being invited to stare, we are invited to understand.  Each subject is their own hero.  They've experienced Chernobyl, and they're getting on with it anyway.

Bill Crandall's photo  of a young Belarusian girl in dance class is another of this uplifting, humanistic type.  Look at her face -- is she thinking about Chernobyl?

It's easy to find a lot of "Chernobyl genre" photos on the Internet.  The blogosphere loves the spooky "ghost town" sort epitomized by Elena Filatova and her motorcycle tour of Pripyat. Another type of photos accentuates  terrible human suffering. Paul Fusco's sensitive work is, in my opinion, the best of this type.  His photo essay brings a tear to my eye no matter how often I watch it.

I've been to these places and met the people featured in these photos, and I can attest with my hand on my heart that it is all true and not exaggerated -- and yet it is only a part of the truth. The most amazing and under reported truth of Chernobyl is that the people who live here really love life.  They enjoy life. They can be fun to be around. They want to move on with their lives. And they do.  If we wish to help them, the best thing we can do is give them that extra bit of support that will keep them moving forward and working towards a better time for themselves and their kids.  (And isn't this the same thing we want in the USA, when disaster punches us?)

We need a new mental image of people living with Chernobyl. I can't approach the artistry of Don and Bill, but I can snap off a family photo, and I have images of my own of Chernobyl people enjoying their lives. Sasha, shown here in his wheelchair, loves to party and flirt with girls.  I've heard he likes the odd beer and is looking forward to the flat we want to build him this spring so that he won't have to move to an adult asylum. Pavel, who lives in an orphanage in Kletsk, is an artist who would not accept my money for his painting.  And you should check out this story about Sasha Levkin -- a boy with cerebral palsy who loves to travel and will not be held back.

I'm in this photo with Misha. He started his life in an asylum for mentally ill kids -- probably misunderstood because of his cleft palate and what I like to call his "accent."  Most kids never make it out of a place like that.  A few years ago, Misha got an operation from American doctors in Minsk. Unfortunately, Misha didn't understand that he wasn't allowed to eat any solids for a week after the operation.  After a few days of being hungry, he ate an apple and split his lip back open. It's a tough break, but it hasn't slowed him down too much. In spite of everything, he is making a modest living as a cobbler, and supporting himself and the woman who adopted him as a teen.  He sees himself as a pretty handsome guy (and as  a result, so do I).  He is big fan of Jean Claude Van Damme movies.  He is not shy and he makes a few bucks re-selling gifts given to him by Chernobyl Children's Project International volunteers.  He never hesitates to ask for more or to pretend that he doesn't remember the previous (re-sold) gifts. He is such a smooth talker, that I question my own memory. 

I have scores of stories like this -- hope and persistence are the untold legacy of Chernobyl and I wish it were more widely recognized.

In April 2006, Chernobyl Children's Project International was invited by the United States Congress and the Helsinki Commission to testify about the ongoing effects of Chernobyl.  At both of these hearings, United Nations representatives cynically portrayed the "real effect" of Chernobyl as "psychological," as if people who live in these regions are simply weak minded and not brave enough. Shame on them for saying this! It's simply not true.  I was heartened, though, to find that the US Congress was not buying any of that talk.  I've been told by the Belarusian Embassy here in Washington DC that he USA is the #1 source of support to Chernobyl regions in Belarus.

Did this essay help you develop a better understanding of life in Chernobyl affected regions? Use the star rating system below to tell me what you think:

the ultimate "dirty job": chernobyl sarcophagus workers video

I'm a fan of the television show Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel .. and this is a dirty job that beats all. 

A couple weeks ago I posted about the crumbling Chernobyl sarcophagus, and new efforts to contain it before it collapses and causes the next disaster.  We send volunteers to work with communities in Chernobyl regions, and I am sure you are not surprised to hear that this issue of the rickety sarcophagus is at top of mind for virtually all comers.  (I personally just try not to think about it.)

All of this work -- building the new sarcophagus, dismantling the old one, disposing of radioactive waste --  requires manpower.  And believe it or not,  in a region with limited opportunities, there is competition for this very dirty job.  This video, reposted from YouTube, shows the screening, selection and testing process for Chernobyl sarcophagus workers, and the lengths that they will go to to nab this job.  It is both surreal and moving.  The video was made by a student who calls himself Chernobyldoc, but since I don't know his name I can only credit him by pointing you to his blog. I really like his honesty, lack of irony, and disengagement to the political issues that surround Chernobyl.

There's a glibness that I enjoy in the Dirty Jobs television show that is absent from this very straightforward video.  These guys are heroes in many ways they would probably not think of, because they are really guys who just  need a job. Containing Chernobyl is going to be a lucrative endeavor for a number of companies, but the men in the field are offering the sacrifice in cleaning up a mess not of their making.

everything we make wears out: paul fusco photo essay

Photographer Paul Fusco has traveled with us and in this incredibly affecting multimedia photo essay captures the human side of the Chernobyl tragedy.

I've only been involved in this work for 5 years but it seems to me that the "Chernobyl" issue (big quotes intentional) always seems to get bogged down in politics -- nuclear politics, environmental politics, UN politics, post Soviet politics ....  And it's sad, because "Chernobyl" has been taken over by interest groups (both pro and anti). These groups are asking really good and important questions, but never really getting close to the human heart of the matter and maybe even avoiding it on purpose.

It takes an artist like Paul Fusco to point out that however you might feel about nuclear politics, this disaster forces us to stare at loss, and at how our best inventions and intentions can fail us --  and there is no point in denying it. Click here to see some of what happened after, in Paul's words,"some guy hit the wrong button at the wrong time. And there was nothing he could do about it."

crumbling chernobyl sarcophagus: repairs please?

Right after the 1986 Chernobyl accident, military conscripts -- and many volunteers -- hastily poured concrete over the exploded nuclear reactor.  This shell, called "the sarcophagus," was meant to be temporary and was designed with a maximum lifetime of 20 years.  (That was almost 22 years ago -- a bit of unpleasant math that is hard to put out of the mind when visiting the region!) Ominously, the sarcophagus to started to crumble and leak radiation 10 years after it was constructed. In 2003, Russian atomic energy minister Alexander Rumyantsev reported that the shell was in "real danger of collapsing at any time." 

A couple of weeks ago, AP reported that Ukrainian officials had signed a $505 million dollar contract with the  French-led consortium Novarka to build a new shelter for the reactor.  An international fund managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is funding the $1.39 billion project, which is now expected to be completed in 5.5 years. The price tag and completion date have been moving targets for many years.

The photograph shows CCPI founder Adi Roche suited up in protective gear when the  Chernobyl Heart crew was  filming a segment near the Chernobyl reactor in 2002.