BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

21/06/2007

Church members open hearts, homes to girls from Belarus

By Irene Miller

Yulya Baranova, 10, smiles during an interview. In the background is Katya Leonchyk, 11. The girls, from Belarus, are visiting Columbus this summer hosted by local families for a month free from the radioactive contamination that affects their country, a result of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion. (Photo:Tippett)

While most children look forward to the break from school summer provides, several girls, half a world away, look forward to summer and escaping the 21-year-old reminders of a tragic nuclear accident that still haunt their home country today.

This summer, the members of Columbus' First United Methodist Church opened their houses and hearts to host four girls from Belarus for a month free from the radioactive contamination that affects 60 percent of their country, a result of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion.

"(Experts) say that every month they're here adds two years to their lives," said Sidney McCrory, mother of four plus "American mama" to two Belarusian girls, Katya Leonchyk, 11, and Yulya Baranova, 10.

This summer, there are 24 Belarusian children seeking repreive in Mississippi, living with host families in Clinton, Columbus and Starkville.

The "Children of Chernobyl" flew into the Jackson airport last week and will leave July 12.

"The week before they got here we were so nervous," McCrory admitted.

Her family's anticipation is reminicent of Walt Disney World commercials, where the whole family is "too excited to sleep" the night before they leave for the magical journey.

An equivalent sense of amazement overwhelms the Belarusian girls.

"Everything amazes them," McCroy said, even the coupon dispensing machines dotting the aisles of Kroger.

The girls particually enjoy swimming, since they are unable to enter the contaminated water in their home country. They devour fresh fruit, also in short supply in Belarus.

"They love fresh fruit, bananas, watermelon," recounted McCroy. "Potatoes are their main crop, but because of the radiation, they can't have a lot (of crops) out of the ground."

The mention of fruit brings gaping grins to the girls' faces and they name their favorites: cherries and two votes for strawberries.

"Apples," stated Chrystina Potapenko, 15. She is a little older than the target age for the program, but her brother used to come to Columbus so her host family made an exception for her.

McCrory explained that 8- to 11-year-olds are the perfect age for the program, which sends children exposed to the radioactive contamination to the U.S. for a month, two summers in a row.

"It's the age that's most beneficial," she nodded. "All their teeth are developing."

While fresh air and fruit are important, the program also includes vital dental and medical care. Cavities, often located on the outside of the teeth, are abundant in the children, who also undergo tests for scoliosis and thyroid cancer - a common cancer found among residents of nuclear contaminated zones.

"If their thyroid levels are high, they keep them back a third (summer)," noted McCroy.

The thyroid screen is free, but in Jackson. Locally, a dentist and pediatrician, who are members of FUMC, donated their services to address the girls' respective needs.

"They've all had to get cavities filled, bless their hearts," doted McCrory. "A dentist from our church volunteered."

Volunteerism and generosity run rampant at FUMC. Members amassed money and gift cards to buy new clothes for the girls, who arrived with suitcases containing only one outfit apiece and gifts for their host families.

"We went and shopped all day long," McCrory recalled doing the day after the girls arrived. "We had to get swimsuits, underclothes, a whole wardrobe."

McCrory smiled as she described the shopping spree, calling the girls"very humble" and attracted to anything "glittery, sparkly or with butterflies."

True to form, the girls wear shorts with butterflies outlined in rhinestones and shirts printed with numerous, flowing butterflies, each catching the light with its glitter detailing.

"The butterflies are beautiful and the girls are beautiful, too," explained their translator, Tatyana Onikiyenko, who is a schoolteacher in Belarus.

Onikiyenko teaches the girls English but in a relaxed manner, acting more like their fun older sister than a strict teacher. As the girls smiled for the photographer, Onikiyenko joked that they should pose with attitude, demonstrating by putting her hand on her hip, turning to the side and lifting her chin a bit.

The act instantly sent the girls into giggles and grins. McCrory and the girls' American siblings, standing nearby, smiled and laughed right along too. The children of the host families have noticably bonded with the Belarusians, evidenced by their reluctance to leave their new friends' sides throughout the interview.

The bonds of friendship and sisterhood form during a litany of activities. In addition to teaching each other words in English and Russian, they go to vacation Bible school, swim, shop, sing and enjoy "America's Got Talent" or "American TV" as the Belarusian girls call it.

"Their favorite show is 'America's Got Talent,'" laughed McCrory. "They sing on the karoke machine all the vacation Bible school songs."

McCrory is enjoying the girls from Belarus just as much as her children.

"This is my second year; it's the most amazing thing I've ever done," McCrory stated. "I can't even tell you how much it's blessed our lives," she continued, adding that the Belurusian girls benefit too. "It's a precious, precious thing to them."

Source:

http://www.cdispatch.com/articles/2007/06/21/local_news/area_news/area01.txt

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