BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

10/07/2007

Break from Belarus

Children of Chernobyl visit with local families

By Arelis Hernandez
Star-News Intern

For 16-year-old Marta Kastsetskaya, growing up in a region contaminated by radiation has never been easy.

Five days a week, she lives in an orphanage with 80 other girls in her home country of Belarus eating watered-down porridge and never finding a moment for her own thoughts. Marta said she waits all year for June when she knows she will see her American family and relish tangy pineapple again.

Marta is one of eight Belarussian children, ranging from age 7 to 16, staying in the Wilmington area with their host families as part of the American Belarussian Relief Organization. The organization, founded in 1991, brings children of all backgrounds living in regions contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear accident to the United States for six weeks, offering them a break from life in the affected regions.

Yasmin Teter, who is housing Ilya, 8, and Masha, 7, coordinates the program for the Wilmington area and has been inviting Belarussian children into her home for six years. Through word of mouth and her church, Teter has helped expand the program to half a dozen families.

"The idea is to give them clean air and food," said Teter, who is a stay-at-home mother. "When they first got here, they were amazed by things, especially the amount of choices in the grocery store. The kids are used to cabbage, potato and chicken meals."

In Teter's backyard, all eight children are reunited for a pool party of sorts. While their host mothers look on, the children fence with water noodles and cannonball into the pool from an artificial waterfall. Getting used to the cultural changes has been tricky for both parties.

"We had to teach them how to flush the toilet," Kelly Lecci said, explaining that some of the children come from villages where the restrooms are outside. Lecci opened her home to Hanna, an artistic, sapphire-eyed 14-year-old who shares her birthday with America.

Standing around the tiki bar, the mothers talk about their Belarussian kids as if they were their own. They note the group's collective aversion to all things spicy and how the children try to teach their host families words in Russian.

"Sasha loves hot dogs and Coca-Cola," said Melissa Brinkley, who is hosting two teenage boys, Nikita Patarochnka, 14, and Sasha Kastukov, 13.

"I think they all do," answered Edna Byrd, who is hosting Marta, "McDonald's too. Right off the plane, it was cheeseburgers. And Marta loves Johnny Depp."

"They are regular kids that sometimes misbehave," Teter said while discussing discipline methods that include time-outs and a loss of privileges.

While here, the children receive free medical attention from physicians who donate their services with eye, dental and physical exams. New clothes, new experiences and a new family are what 12-year-old Katia Paharelava, who likes to be called Kate, has found.

"The separation is difficult," Brinkley said as her voice faltered with emotion. She said the kids constantly ask their translator and chaperone if they are behaving to maintain their hope of returning next summer. "The idea of coming back takes them through the year."

The American Belarussian Relief Organization makes all the legal arrangements for the child's transportation from Belarus. Families pay about $1,500 per child to bring them over, excluding food, clothing and housing expenses incurred during the children's stay, according to ABRO director Joe Strong. He said nonprofits worldwide invite nearly 35,000 children from Belarus to homes each summer. Countries such as Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom have been active in providing rest and relaxation to children.

When reactor No. four exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant more than 20 years ago, it became the most severe nuclear accident in industrial history. Radioactive materials were released over large areas of the former Soviet republic of Belarus, parts of Russia and the Ukraine. Although the immediate impact was obvious, there was mass uncertainty about long-term affects, clouding the future of millions of children.

A scientific consensus has not been clearly drawn concerning the health and environmental effects of the accident, but a report that involved the United Nations' World Health Organization asserts that the largest consequence has been the residual psychological effect on the 5 million people in affected areas.

The American Belarussian Relief Organization, and others like it, maintain that these six-week tours provide clean food, rest and sanctuary in radiation-free environments, but Fred Mettler, an expert with WHO and one of the more than 100 international scientists who conducted research and wrote for the report, refuted the claim during an interview.

"Some people just don't understand radiation injury," Mettler said. "There is a little radiation in everything we eat." He said that getting a CAT scan gives off more radiation than what many of the people were exposed to.

Oksana Leshchenko, a Chernobyl coordinator for the U.N.'s development program, which assists developing nations, and who is from the Ukraine, said in an interview that these organizations may exaggerate the danger of living in affected areas and don't help existing fatalistic attitudes among regional youth.

"If you take them out, it sends the message that the air in their country is not good, which is not true," Leshchenko said, "It is nice to travel, but it's a matter of linking this to Chernobyl. I don't think it's the best way."

Although Strong admitted that there is no medical documentation to prove the vacations deter the risk of cancers or other illnesses, he said there is an obvious change in the children.

"We have had parents tell us, 'we send you sick kids and you send us happy ones,'?" Strong said, "We expose these kids to a loving home and teach them how to be happy."

The controversy does not discourage Teter, who said she would keep bringing the children because research is still ongoing. Mettler said he understands the goodwill behind these charities but wants to make things clear.

"It probably makes the people who host these children feel good," Mettler said, "But what they want to say is that these kids are underprivileged - not radiation victims."

Source:

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/article/20070710/NEWS/707100365/-1/State