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THE RECESSION: OUR CRISIS CAN ALSO BE OUR OPPORTUNITY
by Jillian O'Keeffe
The founder of the Chernobyl Children’s Project, Adi Roche, said last Thursday that the recession has hit their funding hard. The charity has seen a drop of half a million in funding at the end of 2008 compared to previous years.
In a time of economic crisis, “charities are particularly vulnerable, because we have no commodities” she said at a seminar at NUI Galway. The Chernobyl Children’s Project International (CCPI) “have no major benefactors out there” she explained, emphasising that their support comes from the ordinary householder, through monetary donations and volunteering time.
Ms Roche said that even though “charity begins at home, we still have the capacity to reach out to others beyond our shores”. In her speech, she mentioned the Choctaw Indians donation of grain in Famine times to the people of Ireland, thousands of miles and light-years in culture away, some of which was unloaded at Galway Port. “We know now, even more so, what is it like to struggle” she added, urging empathy for those less fortunate.
In contrast to the recent Rag Week negative publicity, Adi also praised the Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI) based in the university and their programme of active citizenship. “I hope it will become the template for many other universities” she said. NUI Galway recently withdrew official support for the annual tradition of the college due to concerns about public disorder.
Lorraine McIlrath, head of the CKI, said “If you’re looking for some positive stories about what the students are doing for the community” then the CKI had plenty, with 1500 students this year involved in charitable activities. She added, “The purpose of the Community Knowledge Initiative is to create miniature Adi Roches” in fostering a civic-minded generation.
In the past, Ms Roche has been conferred with an honorary doctorate from NUI Galway, at the same time as Sr Helen Prejean, whose story was immortalised in the film ‘Dead Man Walking’.
Ms Roche emphasised in her speech the importance of fostering active citizenship in the community especially from a young age through means such as “finding a niche in every school subject” to incorporate civic-mindedness, and she praised the efforts of the Galway organisations which help children in areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster.
Thirty children from Belarus, which received seventy percent of the radiation fallout from the Chernobyl explosion, will travel to Galway this July. The children will be hosted by Galway families organised by ‘Camp Claddagh’, an affiliation of the CCPI.
The year-old ban on children travelling from Belarus to Ireland for respite holidays was lifted last week after negotiations between the Belarussian and Irish governments. The ban was put in place after a Belarussian child failed to return from a trip to the US in August last year.
At the seminar, Ms Roche praised the determination of Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin and of the Irish people in standing up for the rights of children affected by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster to travel here.
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