Joyful scenes as hosts greet Chernobyl children

CHRISTMAS celebrations began in earnest in dozens of Irish homes yesterday when a group of Chernobyl children arrived to spend the holidays with host families.

Sixty youngsters from Belarus aged seven and upwards will spend the next two-and-a-half weeks in Ireland, reuniting with friends, catching up on vital medical care and being immersed in hugs and love from their “Irish parents”.

The children, whose trip has been organised by Adi Roche’s Chernobyl Children International charity, are all orphaned, abandoned or from impoverished homes in the Gomel and Mogilev regions of Belarus, which bore the brunt of the fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 25 years ago.

Chernobyl Children International has been working to improve conditions in the orphanages and asylums into which many were dumped by authorities or families unable to cope with the physical and learning disabilities they suffered.

For one veteran of the Irish trips, Sasha Levkin, this year’s visit is a special triumph as he has brought his almost finished memoirs with him, believed to be the first first-hand account of the life and struggles of a Chernobyl child.

Sasha, 22, was born with cerebral palsy and suffered years of abuse and neglect before being abandoned in a decrepit mental institute. He now lives independently in his own accommodation on the campus of the institute, which has been transformed by Irish volunteers.

Sasha, who will spend Christmas with the Meaney family in Bray, Co Wicklow, said Ireland had given him a second chance: “I now have a life purpose and want to tell my story.”

Other regular visitors include 11-year-old friends Olga Mititka and Krystina Nikitsionak, who stole the hearts of John and Moya O’Riordan from Leamlara, Co Cork, when they were four and were discovered trying to care for each other in the Vesnova orphanage despite crippling disabilities.

Host families from 12 counties were joined in welcoming the group at Dublin Airport by Ms Roche and fellow Cherno-byl Children International director Ali Hewson.