Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “In recent years, almost 1.5 thousand non-commercial organizations have been liquidated in Belarus. The Chornobyl Children NGO became one of these organizations.
For over 30 years, children from the areas most affected by radiation have been receiving help abroad, recuperating from the consequences of the Chornobyl disaster, learning new languages and cultures, and making new friends.
I know what I'm talking about because I used to be a child of Chornobyl myself. In the early 2000s, I participated in this program. When I was in Ireland, I was treated like a family member – with warmth and care. It was there that I saw that the government can care for its people. And those people, in turn, will care for each other.
I am confident that in the new Belarus, we will treat each other in this way too, and programs like Chornobyl Children will thrive. Because caring for young citizens is one of the things a government is for”.
Pictured: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and the family that hosted her under the Chornobyl Children program
