Chernobyl's children.

Twelve years after the world's worst nuclear disaster struck Chernobyl, in the former Soviet Union, the people of nearby Belarus still suffer from the consequences. The country received over 70 per cent of the fall-out from the accident. `There are one-and-a-half million sick children in Belarus,' says Victor Mizzi, founder of Chernobyl Children's Lifeline, which brings youngsters to Britain for a month's respite from their polluted homeland. Hospitals in Belarus are full of children whose resistance has been undermined by the radioactivity still present in soil and water and in the food they eat.

Over 100 groups of volunteers look after the children brought over by Lifeline--raising money, finding host families and organizing their programme.

I went to see retired town planner Peter Hinton and his wife, Cynthia, and their neighbour, Bernie Gallivan, a businessman, who lead one such group based on St Mary's Church, Upton, in Wirral (near Liverpool). Their involvement began when their vicar asked Gallivan, a member of the church's social action committee, if something could be done to help the Belarus children. `I knew I couldn't do it,' said Gallivan, `but I knew someone who could.' He approached the Hintons, both experienced youth organizers.

`It was completely new to us,' Mrs Hinton said. `We had been involved with young people all our lives, but never outside the village where all was safe. The thought of fundraising scared us, but after a week of thought and prayer we decided to take it on.'

Two years ago the Hintons' group looked after 13 children from Belarus; last year 17; and this year 31, in partnership with another church-based group in Liverpool. Over 100 people are directly involved: organizers, hosts, `aunties' and `uncles' who help with the children and fundraisers.

`When the children first arrive,' said Mrs Hinton, `they look vulnerable and insecure and you see them blossom before your eyes.' During their stay, they visit a dentist and an optician for needed treatment.

The hosts notice considerable change in the health of the youngsters; improvements in skin colouring, disappearance of bruises, relief from coughing, headaches and sickness. And when the children return to Belarus, their parents write to say their sons and daughters have never been so well; their holiday in England has given them the boost they needed.

`It is also the experience of a lifetime for many host families,' say the Hintons. `Many things we take for granted are wonderful luxuries to these children. We are constantly astonished at their desire for bananas, which are [pounds sterling] 5 each in Belarus. One little girl ate five every day for four weeks!'

So far Lifeline has brought 6,000 children, from 12 to 14 years old--an age at which the opportunity to breathe clean air, drink pure water and eat uncontaminated food can be most effective in building up their immune system.

`By the time the children leave we're broke and exhausted,' says Mrs Hinton. `Without God's help it would not be possible. He supplies, moulds people together and reaches out through us to Belarus.' In March this year, the President of Belarus awarded Victor Mizzi the Frantsysk Skaryna Order, for his `significant contribution to humanitarian aid to the Belarusian people'.