Belarus - After Chernobyl

This blog has now been incorporated into the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl website at:

www.canadianaidforchernobyl.com

All posts and comments (right back to and including the 2006 videos) have been moved to the new location. I would like to thank everyone who has followed my blog and invite you to join me at the new site where you will find “all things Canadian Aid for Chernobyl” at one convenient location.

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Thanks,

Eric

Jann Smith, our Auction Coordinator, announced last night at our Board of Directors meeting that after the final numbers were crunched we actually made $50,075! This is a phenomenal show of support for our organization from our community. The majority of this money will be put into the Children’s Program to ensure as many children as possible have the opportunity for a healthy respite in Canada, not only going to current host families that helped with this event, but a portion of this money has been put aside to subsidize first time host families. If you, or someone you know has been considering hosting a child, the summer of 2009 will be the perfect time to start. For more information please contact Rhona Dixon by e-mail by clicking here or at 613-342-2709.

I will leave you with a picture of Nastya from the Chausy Orphanage entertaining at the auction with a beautiful Russian song:

Eric McKenzie

It is unbelievable how quickly 6 weeks can pass. I had full intentions of posting pictures of activities during their stay but we were so busy that time just slipped by. Instead I have gathered a some pictures of a few of the children and will post them here. I wish I had pictures of all of the children .. but this is what I do have. I’ll start with some of the less than fun events, but it should be noted that our community is fantastic at stepping up to help these children. We have Dentists, Doctors, Optometrists, Specialists in and out of town as well as any number of retail stores and businesses too numerous to mention here, that all pitch in to help! And they do it out of the goodness of their hearts! Here’s to all of them!

And here are the kids having fun:

Well the six weeks sped by and this morning the bags were packed and prepared. We held the weigh-in at the Bethel Christian Reformed Church. The weight restrictions were much lower this year and I am sure everyone struggled as much as we did with what to send and what to leave out.

I think even Red Green would have been proud of the amount of duct tape used this morning:

I think we got almost all of the children and interpreters in this shot:

Of course there were plenty of hugs to go around too!

Maybe the next 46 weeks will go by just as fast!

Eric

Well our first Gala Auction/Dinner was a tremendous success, congratulations to Jann Smith and her dedicated committee who pulled off a wonderful evening and raised a lot of money … over $40,000 in fact! At one point in the evening $18,000 was raised in about 5 minutes with straight donations to the children’s program! I don’t think there was a CAC member in the house with a dry eye! Joe Jordan made an excellent MC and Carrie Hands, as usual, was a master at the auction. Both should be thanked if you run into them as they volunteered their time so enthusiastically. Dr. Natasha Ledan spoke very emotionally on her experience at the Chernobyl plant only 10 days after the accident. Our two interpreters, Marina and Olya were dressed in traditional costume and led the children in song. Nastya Hrashchanka sang two songs solo and was absolutely amazing … this girl can sing! Two of the children also spoke and did a fabulous job, Ina Seliukova and Iryna Barsukova.

“Brocknews” has posted a short video news item on the event which can be found here:

http://www.brocknews.ca/aug1dinnerauction.htm

The video is on the right side of the page beside the article, if you don’t see it you may need to download Adobe Flashplayer. You can find it here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

Thanks to everyone who helped and of course to all who attended.

Eric McKenzie
Director of Communications
Canadian Aid for Chernobyl

Even though it was a long trip with many delays and lost luggage the children were positively beaming when they arrived at the Ottawa airport.

Unfortunately they had a 4 hour delay in Frankfurt (spent on the plane) but our amazing travel agent , Jackie Moir at Merit Travel, managed to get Air Canada to hold the last flight leaving Toronto until the group made it through Customs. Due to the late departure the luggage did not make it on the plane so we had to spend a little time reporting with the lost luggage group. Here are our intrepid interpreters (Marina & Olya) working out the details.

Not everyone lost luggage as the children from the orphanages arrive only with the clothes on their backs and a small knapsack. However, I can assure you that they will all go home with a suitcase!

In this picture are Ola and Boris. Ola has been coming to Canada for years and her host family decided this year to bring a second child. This is Boris’ first trip to Canada and he was very excited! He almost bowled me over with a running, flying hug when he saw me at the airport.

Here are a group of the girls exploring the airport while waiting for us to sort things out.

I have just received word that most of the luggage (all but 4) has arrived. We are all looking forward to a fun summer. I will keep you posted.

Eric