MONASTEREVIN, 1 August: by Grace Halford. An unusual coming together of Kildare County Council, Mountjoy Prison and Keadeen Hotel helped raise funds recently for the victims of the world's worst nuclear accident. The event was a charity evening in aid of the Kildare Branch of the Chernobyl Children’s Project, the result of an idea by Declan Garrett (left) who runs a DJ service. He suggested that they hold a Battle of the Bands.
Kildare County Council provided funding for the event, Mountjoy Prison donated the three stages needed to facilitate the bands and Keadeen Hotel donated the use of their facilities on the night. "It would not have been achievable without the generous support of the sponsors who helped make it all possible," says organiser Geraldine Hayden (pictured on right below with fellow organisers).
The Chernobyl Children’s Project offers hope to children who have been affected by the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. More than 2,000 villages and towns were affected in the areas of Belarus and Western Russia and now lie abandoned completely uninhabitable. Over nine million people while living in these areas were subjected to the highest known levels of radiation in the history of atomic energy which has led to a severe increase in the levels of malignant tumours, disorders of the nervous system as well as disorders of the bone, muscle and connective tissue among the people who were living in these areas.
In addition to the horrifying effects that the disaster has had on the health of the children of Chernobyl it has also had a huge effect on the economy leaving them with a health service which is unable to cope with the scale of the problem. As Jim Cannon of the Chernobyl Children’s Project told KNN 'many children go without treatment due to the basic lack of money and medical supplies'.
The Kildare branch is mainly concerned with offering children from these areas an opportunity to rest and recuperate. The branch has 10 volunteer families in the Kildare area who act as hosts to the children who come over from Russia each year. Lynda Nugent from the Kildare Branch of the Chernobyl Children’s Project told KNN that one month abroad in a clean environment with fresh uncontaminated food could extend a child’s life by five years. While the children are in Kildare, medical treatment is made available to them. They receive vitamins and nutrients, which are not available to them in their daily diets.
The organisation also arranges events for the children while they are here, including tours of Dublin Zoo, the Irish National Stud, Straffan Butterfly Farm and other local areas of interest. Brenda and Kevin English from Newbridge hosted two little girls for the first time and said "that the improvements they saw in the little girls while they were here was phenomenal" and "they were greatly saddened when they left"
The event was, according to Jim Cannon 'a huge success' with bands including What’s Up (below), The Raggle Taggle Gypsies and the Thin Lizzie Tribute Band providing just some of the entertainment. It's hoped to make it an annual event.
©2001gracehalford/knn