Chernobyl Children Project USA, Inc.

CONTACT:

75 McNeil Way, Suite 305
Dedham, MA 02026
781-251-0137
www.ccpusa.org

Patricia Doyle, President

DESCRIPTION:

The Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion in 1986 released 30-40 times more radioactive fallout than the atomic bombs of 1945, 60% of it on Belarus, with multi-generational effects. CCP was conceived in 1994 by American teenagers and chaperones who saw some Belarus children in Ireland. In 1995, ten children were welcomed into five Boston homes for four weeks, to enjoy rest from contamination and a chance to meet Americans, in an atmosphere of “faith, hope, and love”. The next year 100 children from orphanages and boarding schools came here, and since then over 1,500 children have visited, and $5 million of medical equipment, supplies and training provided to Belarus institutions. Fifteen Boston-area hospitals have contributed $6 million in surgeries, and over $450,000 annually in diagnostic medical services. CCP is the largest US organization in this field, and it is a complex operation. Children are triaged in Europe by a US medical team; medical and dental work is allocated to the most appropriate providers; local businesses make in-kind donations. Radioactive substances are quickly flushed from the children’s bodies; “clean” water and food, with high potassium, strengthens their bodies. Host families are recruited, educational and recreational events planned, and CCP manages with less than two FTE staff and many volunteers.

(2008: INTERNATIONAL)