Athlone volunteers gear up for Belarus trip next month

A 66-strong team of Athlone Chernobyl Aid Project volunteers from all over the Midlands region will travel to Belarus next month to renovate a remote orphanage, which is currently home to 120 children. The group will head off on May 14 to 23 next to Opsa village orphanage in the Braslav area of Belarus, some six hours north of the capital Minsk close to the Latvian border, to carry out repairs to the remote facility with no hot water, showering facilities, laundry, kitchen and toilet facilities and help bring it up to modern standards. 'We"ll be putting in showers, a laundry, drylining walls and rewiring the whole building and putting in new windows. There is a serious amount of work to do in just over a week,' according to Martin Reilly, Chairman of Athlone Chernobyl Aid. After five trips to the Karolina orphanage over the last few years where they brought the building up to modern standards, the team decided to tackle the Opsa facility this time around because of its primitive condition and remote location, a fact that means it receives minimum state aid and help from other agencies. 'They love to see us coming. They"ve got no help from anyone. There are over 100 children living in the orphanage, many of who are mentally handicapped. We thought we might struggle with the way things are going here but we actually have more volunteers for this trip than before. There is great interest in it, each person pays their own fare and gives their time willingly,' Mr Reilly enthused. However, prior to their departure he appealed to the public to support the group"s main fundraiser, a grand prize draw in Shines Bar, Baylough on Saturday, April 11, next. Mr Reilly said they are very grateful for all the local support to date especially in these difficult times and the public can rest assured all money raised is put to great use to improve the current appalling conditions orphans put up with on a daily basis in Belarus. The draw boasts a first prize of €10,000 and total prize fund of €20,000. 'Conditions in the Karolina orphanage were dire when we first went over. The kids had to wash in a shed with a hose. Now, it"s a very modern building. We"re hoping to do the same with the Opsa orphanage on this trip,' he explained. 'Nobody else can help them. They get an absolute pittance from the Government,' Mr Reilly commented, adding that you could say they were in 'permanent recession', depending almost solely on outside help to improve their lot. A truck will leave Athlone at the end of the month with all the materials needed for the trip ahead of the group"s arrival and in this regard, Athlone Chernobyl thanked Nexans for the donation of a kitchen for the project.