Giving a Ray of Hope to Chernobyl Victims : Disaster: There is much that can be done to help brighten the lives of children suffering from exposure to radiation.

On April 26, 1986, the town of Chernobyl, Ukraine, was peacefully resting when suddenly a miniature hell erupted. What happened forever changed the destinies of thousands of people.

At 1:23 a.m. Nuclear Reactor No. 4 melted down. The sky lit up with an eerie glow, and for the people who lived in nearby Chernobyl and the 50,000 who lived in the city of Psypjat (pronounced pre-dzjat ) only two kilometers away from the explosion, life would never be the same.

Many of those who became victims of the Chernobyl disaster are children--some of whom were directly exposed to radiation, some who played in the forests on summer outings. Parents feel the younger ones have leukemia because of food grown in contaminated soil.

What happened seven years ago in Chernobyl is not that far removed from Orange County today.

My husband and I are involved in broadcasting, worldwide, and have just returned from Kiev in the Ukraine, where we helped set up a radio studio. While there, we visited the children’s ward at Cancer Research Hospital.

Some of the children were in wheelchairs; others could still walk. Only someone who has been around children who have leukemia and lymphoma can picture the hollow eyes and haunting looks of these beautiful kids, who range in age from 3 to 14. (Children show the effects of radiation exposure much sooner than adults.)

In the United States, children who are seriously ill often can still laugh and play because they have hope. But these children were so sad. The first question we were asked was: “In America, do children like us ever get well?”

Hardest of all for me was to talk to the children’s parents. They realize even more clearly than the children do that unless these young victims of the nuclear accident get more help, they are merely waiting to die.

I am haunted by the way a mother pleaded with me for a dialysis machine to help her only son. There is no such machine anywhere in the entire hospital! The children receive some chemotherapy, but because of the shortage of medicines, they don’t receive enough.

The hospital staff seems to be doing all they can, but because of the economy they are extremely short of medicines, medical equipment, and even vitamins. This makes their job very difficult, if not impossible.

In visiting bedridden children in their rooms, we met a 13-year-old boy who wanted to be an engineer. He showed us a treasured book about engineering that someone had given him. A younger child was coloring with crayons a coloring book that had been given by some Japanese visitors.

Beyond that, we saw few things for the children to do. When we asked them what they would like to have, they mentioned calendars, pen pals, postcards--anything to help make the hours go by faster. I couldn’t help comparing the few things these children have with the many toys my own grandson enjoys.

After seeing those children, we knew we had to get involved. We have started a project that will provide medical supplies and equipment, toys and even letters through a pen-pal program for those young cancer patients in Kiev.

The Iron Curtain has come down. Surely we can now do something to bring joy into the lives of these kids! It is not fair for our children to enjoy so much while they have so little--not when it is in our power to help.