BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/08/2007

Kids from Belarus bid tearful goodbyes to host families here

By KIM LUNMAN

Staff Writer

Natasha Belavusava is leaving Canada after learning how to swim and ride roller-coasters and with more than fond memories of a summer in a foreign country.

Thanks to the generosity of the Brockville-based charity, Canadian Aid for Chernobyl (CAC), the bubbly nine-year-old is going back to Belarus with her health.

Belavusava was among several children from Belarus visiting here this summer to benefit from medical attention paid for by local supporters. Had she not been treated at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa, she would have lost a badly scarred kidney to surgery.

"It means she doesn't have to get operated on in Belarus," said Jim Burns, who sponsored Natasha's visit along with his wife, Patricia Burns.

The couple were among dozens of local residents at the Bethel Christian Reformed Church saying their tearful goodbyes to 24 children leaving Brockville on Thursday after spending nearly six weeks with host families. Some like Natasha will return home to parents and siblings, while others are being sent back to orphanages.

"I enjoyed everything," said Natasha through a translator. "It's difficult to choose." But she said her best memory "is (Canada's) Wonderland and all the roller-coasters."

Natasha is among 500 children to have visited Brockville as part of the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl since 1991. All of their stories have touched the community and inspired CAC to give humanitarian and medical aid to thousands of children and families affected by the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

The May Court Club of Brockville and McNeil Foundation of Brockville donated money to help children like Natasha and nine-year-old Yaraslav Hubanav travel here and get the medical attention they need.

Sitting on a row of suitcases in a Canada shirt and ball cap waiting for the bus to arrive, Yaraslav held a bag containing his favourite souvenir: "McDonald's," he said, with a shy grin. The nine-year-old boy, who was treated at CHEO for serious allergies, was preparing to return home to his parents and baby sister.

"Thank you for helping," he said in English.

"It's grassroots," said CAC humanitarian aid director Dave Shaw, who was one of the host families to sponsor Yaraslav this summer. "If we see a need, we address it."

"It's hard to let go, but in some ways they're ready to go home," said Cathy Boone, of Brockville, who has been to Belarus 15 times with her husband, Byron. They have sponsored six children, including 12-year-old Alecia Zavodskya. They hosted the girl this summer after meeting her at her orphanage in March.

"Every year, it's hard," said Rhona Dixon, CAC's children's program co-ordinator who has also sponsored children herself over the past two years. "You just get to love them like your own."

But translator Maryna Ladyjenko, 31, who first came came to Canada a few years ago seeking medical help for her son, Miron, was anxious to be reunited with her family.

"I'm ready to go home," said Ladyjenko, whose son, now four, suffered from fluid on the brain. "He's doing perfect now. Super," she said, expressing gratitude to the community here for his treatment.

CAC also oversees programs for 121 disabled children in Chernobyl supported by the Rotary Clubs of Brockville and helps local families sponsor 69 orphans in post-secondary schools. It also supports programs in three orphanages, including the Chausy Orphanage, the Mogilev Orphanage for Girls and the Kostikovichi Orphanage.

Source:

http://newsfeed.recorder.ca/cgi-bin/LiveIQue.acgi$rec=23390