The ten children who visited from Chernobyl last summer are now at home with their families in Kamarin in the Gomel Region of Belarus, reminding us of those less fortunate than ourselves at Christmas.

Sue Wyeth from the Totnes and South Hams Link for the Chernobyl Childrens Lifeline has described what Christmas will be be like for these children.

Christmas is a hard time in Belarus with temperatures expected to reach minus 12 in December with no Christmas trees, presents or turkey to celebrate the festivities.

Vegetables are grown during the year and pickled to preserve them for winter, but sometimes there are not enough. They are grown in soil contaminated by fallout from the Chernobyl disaster.

Home for the children is either old Soviet style apartment blocks or wooden houses, many of which would be classed as unfit for human habitation in the UK.

The heating is centrally controlled in these blocks which gets switched on and off, on dates designated by the government regardless of the temperature. There is no double glazing and the heating systems provide background heating only.

The wooden houses are not well insulated, heated with wood fires meaning that child mortality is high across the area. Everyone of all ages lives in these conditions, regardless of health or age.

Schools in the rural areas are often closed during the winter because it is not possible to adequately heat them, while other children are forced to miss school because they are unwell.

The hospital in Kamarin is spotlessly clean but it lacks basic equipment meaning that the children are unlikely to receive dental treatment or eye tests. This is something that the Lifeline provides when the children come to the South Hams.

Although it seems to the children like they are having the holiday of a lifetime, the visits have a more serious purpose of improving the children’s health which enables them to get more benefit from their education.

The charity have invited ten more children to visit the area next summer. Some children will arrive without a change of clothes, they often don’t know where they are and may not be familiar with the range of food.

Two more host families are greatly needed to host two children for two weeks, either from June 24, to July 8, or from July 8, to July 22.

To host the children you will need to live within 15 miles of Kingsbridge and happy to be recruited within the next two weeks to allow enough time to process the DBS checks and the children’s visa applications.

The children who will visit are selected on a needs basis-they must live in the contaminated area and have parents who cannot afford to send them for respite.

Other criteria often includes if parental rights have been removed, extreme poverty, ill health/disability in the family, alcohol abuse in the family or families with a single parent. The parents of these children often have neither the resources nor the freedom to help them.

The visit is very beneficial, sending the children home with a boosted immune system, feeling stronger, happier and with a hope for the future.

The team receive messages from their parents talking about the many benefits of a visit here.

Once again, Sue would like to thank all the people who contributed to the 2017 visit and look forward to hearing from more volunteers. There are many ways to help including hosting children, donating, fundraising or collecting and donating clothes for the children.

There are many ways to contact the Lifeline: through the website at www.ccll.org.uk/totnes, calling Sue Wyeth on 01548 561783, through email on [email protected], or on the Chernobyl Childrens Lifeline-Totnes & South Hams Facebook page.

The charity are very willing to give a presentation to local groups and schools or to just chat to individuals about their work. They wish everyone a Happy Christmas hope that people will give some thought to the children celebrating Christmas in Belarus this winter.