meet chernobyl heart child edik k.

2009-09-08T11:58:35-04:00

With your donations, Chernobyl Children's Project International sent volunteer kids' heart surgery teams on 5 missions to Belarus and Ukraine this year. With two more trips to go (Kyiv and Minsk), the number of saved young lives is adding up. In the past three weeks alone, your donations saved 17 children in Odessa and Kharkiv -- children who had been deemed "inoperable" and beyond hope. Behind the numbers are so many personal stories, and this is one: Meet Edik K.

When we first met 7 month old Edik in Kharkiv, Ukraine this past June, he suffered from three separate heart defects. Emaciated, and and losing muscle, he was starving to death in spite of the loving attentions of his mother and grandmother. For little Edik, feeding was like running a marathon: All the calories he took in went to feed his respiratory and heart muscles, which were working double time to compensate for holes in his heart that sent too much blood to his lungs and not enough to his small body.

Examining Edik prior to surgery, Dr. William Novick and his volunteer team were shocked to see a total lack of muscle or fat tissue, and wondered about his prospects for survival. But Edik defined our expectations: Four hours after surgery he was in his grandmother's lap eagerly feeding from a bottle.

Last month, a 9 month old Edik returned to the hospital in Kharkiv to reunite with the volunteers who saved his life. His elated mother called him a "changed child," but the third photo says it all.

We need your support to take our volunteer surgery teams to Kyiv and Minsk in the coming months -- please click on the DONATE NOW button to help us save more children like Edik. Consider setting up a "recurring" donation to support our work over time. And visit the CCPI Channel on YouTube to see short videos of some of our Chernobyl Heart children.

ali hewson's big jump for chernobyl children

2009-06-03T09:34:15-04:00

This past Saturday CCPI board member Ali Hewson rappelled down Ireland's tallest building -- the Elysian in Cork City -- to raise funds for Chernobyl Children's Project International's Homes of Hope program.

Ali, who founded ethical clothing line EDUN and is married to U2's Bono, admitted to be terrified at the prospect of the jump -- but found her inspiration in Olga and Kristina, two young girls visiting Ireland for surgery who have lived their entire lives in the Vesnova mental asylum in Belarus. Funds raised will allow the girls, and others like them, to move out of institutions and into loving homes of their own. CCPI has already established 23 Homes of Hope in Belarus, where children rescued from orphanages can grow up in families.

Ali's sons John (9) and Elijah (7) were on hand as Ali noted that Olga and Kristina came into Ireland unable to walk, but will now be able to walk into a real home. The event was sponsored by students of Garda College Templemore and Ernst & Young. You can show your support by making a donation now. Ali: "If a lot of people give a little, it can mean so much."

The photo shows Olga, CCPI found Adi Roche, Ali, and Kristina. Olga and Kristina are recovering from surgery last week and undergoing therapy that will allow them to walk again and live independent lives.