Fewer Chernobyl children visiting Mahoning Valley

CAMPBELL — Twenty-two years after the nuclear power plant disaster that sent radioactive debris into the air over Belarus, the Children of Chernobyl program has lost some of its steam, says its local president, Denise Zetts of Campbell.

Since 1992, children from Belarus, a former Soviet republic north of the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, have been coming to the United States to improve their health.

About 150 children from Belarus stayed in the Mahoning Valley for about seven weeks in the summer of 2002, but the number is down to about 60 this year, Zetts said. Of those, about 40 are staying in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys, with the rest in West Virginia, Missouri and Illinois.

At its peak, the organization brought as many as 15 new children to the U.S. This year, it is bringing five, Zetts said.

One big reason for the decline is that increasing numbers of sponsors can no longer afford the cost to bring the child back to the U.S. because airfares have risen from $1,000 to around $1,600 for a round-trip flight, she said.

With donations falling, the group also doesn’t have as much money to pay the air fare for new children to participate, she said.

For the complete story, see Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.