Sunflowers Chernobyl Appeal Children's Charity

Our Work

Volunteers: Volunteers travel to Belarus with the Sunflowers to carry out renovations to buildings used by the Chernobyl Children, for example, orphanages, day care facilities and schools. Our work involves the installation of sanitary and kitchen facilities and electrical work making them child friendly. We help provide and equip Orphanages with workshops and craft facilities that promote independent living skills to prepare the children for adult life. Below are some examples of our work where volunteers are making a real difference to the lives of the Chernobyl children.

Areas Of Our Work In Belarus

This Google map of Belarus shows some of the locations where The Sunflowers Chernobyl Appeal carry out various projects and programmes. Click on any of the push pins for a brief description of the area and our work there. Thank you.

The Sunflowers Chernobyl Appeal is a totally voluntary organization. We receive no state funding and rely solely on donations to keep our work and projects alive. We are dedicated to helping the Chernobyl children who live in a contaminated land destroyed by the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986. The effects of radiation on the people, the land and the food chain will be there for hundreds of years to come. The Sunflowers offer practical voluntary help through our work and have many years of experience in this field. Some of the work we undertake is outlined below:

We help to provide medicines the Children's Cancer Hospital in Minsk and other Hospitals to help the many children who need urgent treatment. This is a vital and worthwhile project as there are over 4,500 sick children in this group alone suffering from cancer. The medication we bring to Belarus for these children is very expensive. Many children depend on us as a lifeline, as the medicine is not available in Belarus. We also bring some of these children to Ireland for recuperation. Like Ireland, many families in Belarus are touched by cancer, but at least here in Ireland we have the medicenes to deal with this illness.

Aid: We source as much aid as possible in Belarus as it is very costly to transport aid over such a long distance. This frees up finance to spend on practical aid for our work in Belarus, but we do send out practical aid when necessary for example, we need to buy cancer treatment medicines for children as they are not available in Belarus. This is very urgent. Volunteers personally deliver the aid to it's intended destination. We also provide rehabilitation and medical equipment.

Self Help: The Sunflowers Chernobyl Appeal encourages projects, which involve the people of Belarus. The provision of day care facilities for special needs children gives the families a chance to keep the children out of the institutions and are run with the cooperation of the parents and families of the children with our assistance.

Rest And Recuperation: The Sunflowers bring Belarussian children from the contamination areas to Ireland. They stay with volunteer host families. It gives them a chance to breathe clean air, eat good food and drink clean water. This has a very positive effect on their general health, boosting their immune systems. The children including special needs and cancer sufferers enjoy a month of games, outings and receive medical treatment where necessary.

Family Support: Our Charity provides support for families in difficult circumstances, especially those with sick children. We also help children to find foster homes in Belarus in co-operation with the local services.

Medical, Dental And Optical Treatment: Sick children are taken to Ireland for treatment and have benefited from hospitals in Ireland such as Portiuncula hospital in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, National Children's hospital, Temple Street, Dublin. University College hospital in Galway, and from General Practitioners.

Training Programmes: The Sunflowers provide training programmes to encourage independent living and teach life skills by providing facilities and equipment in Belarus. These programmes have proven very effective and benefit the Chernobyl children greatly.
For a full list of our work & various programmes, please click here

The Sunflowers Chernobyl Appeal Ltd., Aughrim, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway is a Registered Voluntary Charity No. 16217. Company limited by guarantee.
Tel: +353 (090) 9673832 Fax: +353 (090) 9673832 Email