Introduction
These are photos of volunteers in action at our project sites in Chernobyl affected regions of Belarus, during the month of April 2008. Project sites pictured here include: Vesnova Children's Asylum, Soltanovka Asylum for Adults, and two of our hospice families in the Gomel region.
Volunteer-ism is truly part of the "DNA" of Chernobyl Children's Project International. The organization started in 1991, when Irishwoman and peace activist Adi Rochereceived an urgent appeal from Belarusian and Ukrainian doctors, asking her to bring children living in contaminated zones to summer holidays in Ireland. The doctors believed that these visits would restore their health and protect from radioactive forest fires that plague the region in summer. Irish families started bringing children in at their own expense, and today over 12,000 children from Chernobyl regions have summered in Ireland. This program continues today, but Chernobyl Children's Project International has dramatically moved forward. Today, CCPI volunteers work in partnership with peers in communities in Belarus and Ukraine to give them that extra hand up they need to solve their own problems. All programs have been specifically developed to decrease dependency and to help citizens move forward. Volunteers have delivered over $50 million in humanitarian aid, trekking through six countries overland. Volunteers perform complicated pediatric heart surgeries and save lives, while training and exchanging knowledge with their local peers. Volunteer masons, architects, plumbers, carpenters, and electricians build state of the art community centers, and improve decrepit and neglected orphanages. (And while they are hard at work, volunteer chefs cook for them!) Volunteer nurses attend to children in understaffed institutions. Volunteer physical, speech/language, and occupational therapists go into homes to teach parents how to handle their children's special needs, and into institutions and camps to work hands-on with these exceptional children. This spirit of volunteer-ism goes beyond field work. Board members, who have substantive business, financial and management backgrounds, roll their sleeves up and get involved in every aspect of the organization's management, and view projects as long term investments. Organizations such as Pfizer International and Vodafone offer both funding and project management expertise. Here in the United States, internationally recognized firms such as Skadden Arps offer pro bono and discounted legal and accounting services. All over the USA and Ireland (and increasingly, Australia) citizen volunteers raise funds in a variety of way that continue to shock and amaze us. Thank goodness for our volunteers -- here are photos of just a few. If you are a volunteer and have a favorite photo to include in this gallery, please email it.
