Fallout: The Children of Belarus and the People of Ireland After Chernobyl

by Liam O'Meara

The extraordinary and inspiring story of the involvement of a group of people from Co. Clare in Ireland in the affairs of handicapped children in faraway Belarus. The after effects of the Chernobyl disaster include an unusually high occurrence of physical handicap in infants there, and in the culture of Belarus parents are legally entitled to disown handicapped children and pass them over to the care of the state. They are then housed in large orphanages with virtually no care, no love and no prospects for the future. Faced with this horrific scene, groups of Irish people set about trying to help. They go about it in numerous ways including fund-raising for two orphanages in Belarus, sending convoys of supplies to them, sending volunteer groups to work in the restoration and improvement of the buildings and also bringing some of the most seriously effected children to Ireland for periods of treatment and care.

144 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2003