Families needed for Chernobyl children

When Jill and Vic Powell welcomed two youngsters into their Staffordshire home they thought that, like a lot of children, the girls would want to eat junk food and watch hours of TV.

However, the retired teachers from Little Haywood were surprised to find the two girls from Belarus ate several pieces of fruit a day, and preferred to be outside or play board games.

Click on the image on the right to see more pictures.

Elena Papok, aged 10, and Angelina Halushka, 12, have both been affected by the Chernobyl disaster, and when they visited England they were in remission from cancer.

Studies show that when youngsters from Chernobyl take a four week break away from home it improves their immune system for at least two years.

Now the Stafford Chernobyl Children's Group is looking for more volunteers who will house youngsters for two weeks when they visit next summer.

Jill, 67, who used to work at Cheslyn Hay School, says: "Our children are grown-up and so we have an empty house, and when I heard about these youngsters my heart went out to them – I thought they needed the break."

The group raised the money to fly the youngsters over to England along with an interpreter and a doctor. "Elena and Angelina loved our back garden and they came in August when it was sunny so were able to spend a lot of time outside," says Jill.

"They are used to living in high-rise apartments and so having grass to play on was a real novelty for them."

The group stayed in Staffordshire for two weeks and then went up to Wilmslow.

Next year the Stafford group is hoping to host the youngsters for the full four weeks, with volunteers housing the children for two weeks at a time. While in Staffordshire the children took part in a variety of activities such as a visit to Shugborough Hall, riding lessons at Ingestre stables.

Vic, 69, says: "A lot of people were very generous and helped to keep the girls entertained during their visit. Our friends Julia and Roger Hughes took them on a narrowboat trip and we had a pony and trap take them up onto Cannock Chase. "Because they had suffered from cancer they were used to being away from their parents as they had stayed in institutions."

The group's co-ordinator Margie Haslop, from Stone, said the children appreciate the things most people take for granted. "I had an eight and nine-year-old stay with me and they thought our house was a palace."

* To help contact Margie Haslop at margie.haslop@btconnect.com or call 01785 811322.