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| Chabad brings Chernobyl children to Israel
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On the recent 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown disaster, Jewish movement Chabad brought 23 children from areas at risk of contamination to Israel.
The group of youngsters are all suffering from cancer as a result of the nuclear contimanation effecting their parents. They were airlifted into the holyland from the danger zones in Belarus and Ukraine on April 26 to receive medical treatment as part of Chabad's Children of Chernobyl (CCOC) programme.
This airlift was the 72nd of its kind conducted by the CCOC which has brought over 2,000 Jewish children between the ages of 6-12 to Israel over the last 20 years.
According to the CCOC, 90 percent of these children are in need of immediate medical care and receive daily treatment and counseling at their specially designed campus at Kfar Chabad.
Quick reaction
Chabad acted soon after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in 1986. In 1990, parents living in the danger zones became worried for their children and appealed to the late Lubavitcher Rebbe for help and assistance. COCC was born and has continued to assist the children in need, regardless of the media spotlight.
"Today, the world is focused on the Chernobyl catastrophe with anniversary speeches and ceremonies," said CCOC Director Yossie Raichik. "Then it's back to business as usual. Our response to Chernobyl is to act to continue and expand our programs, which alleviate the pain on a daily basis, in Israel and in the irradiated regions.
“This outstanding initiative is undertaken in partnership with Jews from every corner of the globe, who believe that life and health are the birthright of every child. We remember the children the world has forgotten."
CCOC also assists the parents and other children left behind in Ukraine and Belarus. The organization has set up a mammography centre in Zhitomer in the Ukraine, and has regularly brought food and medicine to those in need.
Continuing connections
Last year, doctors from the Minsk Thyroid Cancer Center came to Israel for two months training under the auspices of Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl. And a year before that, a doctor was sent to the United States.
These acts are especially important as children not even born at the time of the meltdown continue to be affected by thyroid and other cancers.
According to a statement by Greenpeace on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, "The number of people who will get sick and die because of the radiation from Chernobyl is still rising - and will do for many decades to come. And that horrific legacy is still being discovered as the extent of the medical impact of the disaster continues to manifest itself in the range of illnesses being seen in those affected."
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