Meeting Korosten
Published: 21.06.12
More than 25 years after the catastrophy, the ghost towns are still silent witnesses to the enormous destruction caused by the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Twelve of our colleagues recently met a group of youngsters who weren’t even born when the tragedy took place, but who still suffer its consequences every day. Eight of the young victims have received a new chance and a new home, thanks to Omega.
Six years after Omega’s children’s home opened its doors in Korosten, a group of our colleagues headed for Ukraine 25 May 2012. Both the isolated empty cities at Chernobyl and the meeting with those who live with the social and economic consequences today left a strong impression with the participants.
Once in a lifetime opportunity
Like the rest of the city, this kindergarden is still standig like it was when Prypiat was evacuated in 1986.
This is the first time Omega team members have been invited to visit our first community project, the children’s home we built in the city of Korosten in northern Ukraine. Kjell Rune Birkaas had never participated in an Omega teambuilding before, but could not let this opportunity pass.
The teambuilding offered a trip to the capital, Kiev, the city of Prypiat and Korosten; a city that was struck by the after effects of the Chernobyl explosion. It is in Korosten that Omega's Christmas contributions funded a home for homeless children.
“I have traveled a lot, both for leisure and business, but this was such a special event that I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve been to Russia several times and I expected Ukraine to be pretty much the same. There were many similarities, but the visit to Prypiat, the Chernobyl Power Plant, and the children’s home in Korosten cannot be compared to anything I have ever experienced before. It was an emotionally tough experience,” Birkaas says.
The ghost town of Prypiat
The navbar-brand new carnival was never used.
On 26 April 1986 a systems test failed and resulted in the explosion of reactor number four at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, a small town of approximately 15 000 inhabitants, approximately 100 kilometers north of Kiev. During the weeks that followed, more than 110 000 inhabitants within a 30 kilometer radius were evacuated, and in the years that followed, another 220 000 were evacuted from the surrounding areas for fear of radiation. One of the cities that was hit the hardest was Prypiat, located only a few kilometers from the power plant. With housing blocks and infrastructure still intact, but without people, the ghost town is what was left behind when 70 000 inhabitants evacuated in April 1986.
“We could not see what had actually happened, but the empty houses, apartment blocks, the clothes and children’s toys left behind everywhere made it all a macabre sight,” says Erich Monteiro, who visited Ukraine for the first time with colleagues from Omega.
A navbar-brand new carneval ground was never used, and the rusty ferris wheel looms over the grey apartment blocks and streets in the abandoned city. At the same time, vegetation is growing, trees and plants wrap the city in green and with bright summer sun the visit seemed almost surreal, says teambuilder Kjetil Espeland.
“It really is a ghost town, but still completely different from what we had imagined. We thought it would be more deserted than it was; despite the empty buildings, old children’s toys in the streets and personal objects left behind by the people who didn’t have time to take their belongings with them. The strange thing is that nature has 'taken over' the city. It was fertile and green, and both plants and animals were obviously living and growing where people no longer could live. With a radiation measuring device our guides showed us the danger of being in Prypiat; from 0 – 3 microsievert radiation is harmless for short periods of time, anything above that increases the danger of radiation significantly. In several places around the city radiation measured 20 microsievert.”
This hidden danger contributed to an eery atmosphere in the city, Birkaas recalls.
“The most sinister thing about the city was knowing that the danger was there, but still not being able to see, hear, touch or smell it.”
After having seen the material remains of Chernobyl, the teambuilders had the chance to meet the human victims, as they visited the childrens homes in Korosten.
The home Omega built
Ice cream from the Norwegian visitors was greatly appreciated at the Mother-Child Center.
“The combination of all we saw made the biggest impression on me: first seeing the ghost town at Chernobyl, before meeting those who have innocently grown up with the tragedy. These children were not born until several years after the nuclear disaster, but have still had to feel the consequences of it every day. It was a tough meeting,” Monteiro says.
In Korosten city, the group met children of all ages at the Mother-Child center where neglected children can live for up to nine months. Through our partner in Ukraine, the THK foundation, Omega has had contact with the center for several years, and donated Christmas gifts to the center as part of our community project.. Thirty to 40 children live there and are taken in for a number of different reasons; because they are homeless, or their parents are in jail or suffering from substance abuse.
Today, eight children live in our Omega children's home , a short drive from Korosten city center.
“They did not have many toys but were obviously proud of their teddy bears. These children are living in a safe and caring environment, but they had a distant and worried look in their eyes when we met them, compared to the children at home,” Espeland recalls.
He has visited the next stop on the program before; The Omega-built childrens home outside the Korosten city center. Eight children, aged between two and 18 live in the Omega home today, and they welcomed their Norwegian guests with excitement. The home has room for 15 children, and is clearly a place where they have active and meaningful days, receiving education as well as care in a safe environment, Monteiro says.
“They were very happy, smiling to us during the entire stay, and they were very concerned about making us feel at home with them. It was clear that these children were satisfied with very little. Small things that are a given for us, have made all the difference in the world for them.”
Jennifer Amoakoh had no expectations before the trip, but had a special meeting with the residents of Korosten. "There were many mixed feeling, and it was an emotional trip, I hope I get to go back again. It was also quite an experience meeting the inhabitants and children of Korosten, where many had never seen dark skin like mine before. I am from Ghana and everyone wanted to take photos with me and did not seem to be able to take their eyes off me. I will never forget that. "
Olena is the children’s foster mother, responsible for running the home with the THK foundation. Together they see to it that the children receive schooling and a safe upbringing. The teambuilding group had a small awakening seeing what their contributions, through Omega, had resulted in.
“It is unique knowing that you are part of something that has given these children just a taste of opportunity in life. We met people who actually did not own anything, but who still showed a joy for life and were very happy with their everyday life. A rare experience, and an unforgettable visit,” Birkaas points out, hoping he will return.
Six years ago the doors opened, giving homeless children and orphans aged between 2 and 18 a new and safe home.
More about our community project
In stead of receiving Christmas gifts from Omega, we have donated these funds to community projects since 2003. The Korosten Children's home was our first project.
Read more about those who have received our Omega Christmas gifts:
- The Children's Home in Korosten
- Homeless children in Ukraine and Murmansk
- Save the Children Russland
- Blue Cross youth project "Kompasset" .