Will Goodbody of RTE presented a series of reports on TV recently about the accident in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine back in 1986. He looked at the fallout from the accident and the effect it had on the people living in the surrounding areas.
It’s the first programme I have seen on that subject for quite a while, but there was a time when it was never too far from my mind. A time, when for a group of us, it occupied our thoughts, morning, noon and night and regularly took us away from our families.
It’s twenty years since myself and John O’Connor were fundraising around Cork city and county for Chernobyl related charities. We probably drove people nuts back then with all the fundraising events, but we collected a lot of money through the generosity of Cork people.
We also collected a huge amount of medical supplies, clothes, toys and food stuffs. School kids loved to get involved in those days and they brought their packets of rice, pasta or whatever into the classroom. We weren’t the only ones at it either, it was going on across the country and for a few years it was almost a national obsession.
Chernobyl was a big story at the time and Irish people responded in a massive way to the plight of the sick children and they answered the call as they always do. These days, it’s not so topical and there are many younger people who have never even heard of Chernobyl. After all, it happened over 30 years ago.
It was on April 26th, 1986 that the nuclear disaster occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the former USSR (now Ukraine). At 1.23am the core in a reactor was blown apart by a massive explosion releasing its deadly radioactive contents high into the air. It remains the world’s worst civil nuclear disaster. An official exclusion zone around the plant remains in place, extending for 30 kilometres and it is one of the most radioactive places on Earth.
John and I took part in several humanitarian aid convoys to areas of Belarus and Western Russia that were affected, and we spent a few years driving trucks and ambulances there to deliver food, medical supplies and clothes that were badly needed.
We often had up to a hundred people travelling on these convoys, in a fleet of trucks, vans and ambulances. We crept across Europe like a long lumbering snake, making slow progress. Getting a group that size from Ireland to Belarus was challenging and these convoys often stretched out for a couple of kilometres along the road.
Just getting everyone into a filling station for fuel and back onto the road again was complicated. Keeping everyone together was also challenging, particularly in traffic, but over time we became very efficient at it.
Sleeping in the vehicles was uncomfortable at the best of times but especially when the weather was cold. Finding a space to lie down in the cramped conditions wasn’t always easy either. We made the best of it though and each vehicle was fitted with a CB radio, so the airwaves were always full of banter and slagging.
Delivering aid to the various villages, orphanages, day care centres and hospitals was hard work. Unloading 40-foot containers by hand was physically demanding, especially in places where the boxes had to be carried up several flights of stairs or down into dusty basements.
It was normally sweaty and dusty work and the lack of shower facilities meant we were frequently a smelly bunch of people. Baby wipes were always in demand but despite the hardship, the atmosphere was generally good, and the work was rewarding.
Many of us would probably struggle now with the physical effort required for this kind of labour. Age, damaged backs, wonky knees and hips have taken their toll and many of us have given up the ghost and we have left the heavy lifting to a younger generation.
One character leading the way in those days, was Simon Walsh. Simon is from Whitegate and is one of the founding members of the Chernobyl Children’s Trust (CCT). This organisation is still carrying on with the effort and Simon is still pulling the strings and making regular visits to that part of the world.
Chernobyl Children’s Trust is a registered charity set up and run by Irish volunteers committed to helping impoverished children living in contaminated and disadvantaged areas. They support the Children’s Oncology Centre in Belarus where children and young adults with various cancers, receive life-saving treatments.
They’re doing great work but unfortunately, for charities like this, time marches on and people forget. For many, the accident at Chernobyl is a distant memory. It’s no longer on the radar of the young people and it is young people who are needed to carry on the work that us geriatrics are no longer capable of.
For me personally, I have great memories of those journeys, the people I met and the friends I made. Sure, we saw a lot of sickness, sorrow and heart break, but we also achieved a lot and improved the quality of life for many kids and families. Everybody who contributed to the fundraising, whether it was donating tinned rice, nappies, toys or money, played a part in improving the lives of many in Belarus and for that we will always be grateful.
It was an immensely rewarding experience for John and myself and if I had my time over, I would do the same again and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in giving some time to a cause.
If you fancy a life changing experience, have a look at the Chernobyl Children’s Trust website. You might catch the bug. www.chernobylchildrenstrust.ie