SUMMER VISIT 2006

John and Julie Gater, Group Co-Ordinators, write:

We had the privilege of welcoming a group of 18 teenagers and 14 children from villages around the Southern most regions of Belarus during the summer.  This has been our tenth year of organising the group and below is an article which one of our new host families wrote for their church newsletter, which just says it all.

Each year the Chernobyl Children's Project arranges for teenagers suffering from cancer and also for young children from the areas worst affected by the Chernobyl disaster to benefit from a month-long recuperative holiday in Britain.  This year we have been hosts to teenagers and if the children have gained as much from this experience as we have then it has certainly been a worthwhile exercise!  

During the summer we welcomed Anastasia (Nastya) and Tatsiana (Tania), both aged 17, into our home.  At first they were very quiet and spoke only a few words of English and since we have only a few words of Russian, communication was difficult to say the least.  Happily the quietness did not last too long and soon the sound of Russian pop music was echoing through the house.  We learned to communicate by mime and with the help of a Russian/English ≥crib sheet≤.  Their English improved as rapidly as did our Russian.

The girls formed part of a group of 18 teenagers, all of whom have, or are in remission from cancer of various forms.  Nastya had thyroid cancer for which she had undergone surgery and Tania has a neurofibroma of the spinal cord which restricts her movement somewhat and obviously causes her some discomfort.   For some of the teenagers the long-term prognosis is not good and we can only hope and pray  that this recuperative holiday will go a little way to improving this.  The group are accompanied by a doctor, an interpreter and a group leader and for the first two weeks they stay, in pairs, with host families around the Endon/Leek/Stoke areas.  For the second two weeks the group is accommodated at Cicely Haughton School.

None of the teenagers knew each other before embarking on their trip to England but they soon seemed to form good relationships with each other.  Nastya and Tania, although they seemed at first to have little in common, soon developed a close friendship.  They quickly fitted well into our family life, growing fond of our dog and enjoying the company of our grandchildren. 

One of the aims of the recuperative holiday is to make sure the children have plenty of healthy food and fresh air and Nastya and Tania certainly consumed plenty of fruit, meat, fish and cheese even though it was difficult to persuade them to eat many vegetables or to drink milk.   Like teenagers everywhere they would frequently come to the kitchen begging for ≥Cheepsy≤ (crisps)  and Coca Cola as a treat. 

Whilst the girls were staying with us we took them out and about, visiting many local attractions, which we enjoyed almost as much as they seemed to.   Many of the host families arranged get-togethers during the first two weeks and so in addition to our visitors having a great time getting to know the other members of their group, we as hosts benefited from a greatly enhanced social life and developed what we certainly hope will be lasting friendships.   We have joined the teenagers in throwing pots, cycling, walking, visiting zoo and aquarium and shopping until we thought we would drop.  In addition we have attended BBQs, 10 pin bowling, pubs with pool tables, discos etc.

At the end of our two weeks as hosts we all felt quite tearful as we drove Nastya and Tania over to Cicely Haughton School for the next phase of their holiday.  They were apprehensive about the new regime and we were certainly going to miss their lively presence at home.  One, by now thoroughly spoilt, dog was also going to miss them desperately!   When we next visited them at the school, they had obviously settled in well.  They were enjoying both being with their compatriots and the many exciting outings which had been arranged for them like a trip to London including a ride on the London Eye.  We joined in some of these experiences ≠ such as the sailing on Rudyard lake  and also took our turn in ≥sleeping over≤ at the school so that there was always a local person for the group leader to call on in case of emergency.  

At the end of their four week holiday there was a distinct improvement in the health of all of the children which was very gratifying to see.  On a personal level we have grown exceedingly fond of our two girls and I know we will all miss each other.  However, we have been invited to visit them in Belarus so perhaps we will see them again before too long.

We expected and trusted that the children would gain a lot from their stay in England but had not expected that we, ourselves would gain so much.   We have been delighted by the generosity shown by people we have met as we accompanied the girls.  We have been offered reduced (or even free) admission to many places; strangers have offered to buy the children ice-creams when they discover their origins, and everyone we have met in the course of the last four weeks has been sympathetic and encouraging and supportive of our efforts.  We are grateful to all those who work in the background to make this venture possible, to our fellow hosts who have eased our path, to our family who have been so understanding of our preoccupation over the last month and most of all to Nastya and Tania who have enriched our lives with their courage and good humour.

Dave & Sue Makepeace, host family with Endon/Stoke Group.