BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

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Belorussian kids get checkups

EVERETT - Forty Belorussian kids are spending the summer in Snohomish County, being tested for diseases associated with the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion in 1986, before any of them were even born.

Dan Bates / The Herald

Ivan Kychlar may not understand the words, but the 11-year-old's eyes don't miss the facial expressions as Everett Clinic medical assistant Cesilly Strong (center), talks with his host mother, Brenda Peterson, during a test for tuberculosis.

The youngsters have received physical examinations from volunteer physicians, medical assistants, nurses and other staff at the Everett Clinic this month.

The kids, totaling 93 statewide, were brought here for a health check and reprieve from less healthy conditions at home by Global Family Alliance. Expenses were paid by local host families and donors.

Belarus absorbed about 70 percent of the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl, creating health problems for multiple generations, including those not yet born.

Chernobyl was the world's worst nuclear accident, killing 31 people. Radiation was 100 times worse than the atom bombs dropped in Japan on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which ended World War II.

About 7 million people lived within the contaminated area, including 3 million children.

Source:

http://heraldnet.com/stories/05/07/22/100loc_belorus001.cfm

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