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 1 Summers For Russian Children — Basic Story

In the year 1986 there was a terrible explosion. The explosion was at a nuclear power plant in the another
country called Ukraine. The radiation caused a lot of damage. It contaminated the soil and other things. People
lived in the area when the explosion happened. Twenty years later those people are still suffering. Effects from
the explosion will go on for a long time.
Over two million people still live in the contaminated areas. Only 56 people died from the explosion but many
other problems have been caused because of it. Some types of cancer are more than 200 times above world
average. Many children have cancer now and birth defects have doubled since the accident.
Some people in the United States are worried about the children living there. One group has been trying to raise
money. They are called the Chernobyl Children's Project. They want to bring children from the Ukraine to the
U.S. each summer.
A spokesperson for the group says that radiation is the highest in the summertime so it is a good time to get the
children out of the country. They want to help the children get away for a little while. The Project wants them to
be safe from radiation.
It costs $1,500 to bring each child to the United States for six weeks. The group raised enough money to bring
28 children to the United States. They children were able to do lots of fun things. They enjoyed clean air,
healthy food, and plenty of outdoor fun.
One little nine year-old girl who got to come to the United States said that she likes America.
A spokesperson for the Project said that the children that come to America during the summer miss less school
when they return home.

 2 Summers For Russian Children — Full Story

Nine year-old Natasha Meisacheek has spent her entire life living in the shadow of the worst nuclear disaster in
human history. But thanks to a Nevada County humanitarian aid group, Natasha and 26 other children from the
former Soviet republic of Belarus are enjoying six weeks in the United States this summer, six weeks to
recuperate far away from the specter of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
The effects of the April 26, 1986 explosion and meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the
Soviet-controlled Ukraine persist 20 years later. Contaminated soil and the lingering fallout from the explosion's
radioactive cloud continue to spawn serious health concerns across several western former Soviet states like
Belarus, where experts estimate more than 60 percent of Chernobyl's nuclear fallout settled.
Today, 2.2 million people, including 800,000 children, still live in dangerously contaminated areas. And while
only 56 deaths are directly linked to the disaster, cases of childhood thyroid cancer in the Chernobyl zone are
more than 200 times above world average and instances of birth defects have more than doubled since 1986,
according to the World Health Organization.
For 11 years, the non-profit Nevada County Chernobyl Children's Project have been raising money to bring
dozens of Belarusian children to the U.S. each summer.
"The radiation is highest in the summertime, so it's best to get the children out of the country," NCCCP Director
Laura Christofferson said.
This year, the group raised the nearly $1,500 per child needed to bring 28 kids ages 8 to 16 to Nevada County
for six weeks of clean air, uncontaminated food and outdoor fun.
"I thought, I have six children of my own and this sounds weird, but it just struck me as something I should do,"
Traci Beitz of Auburn said. Beitz and her family sponsored Natasha, who arrived last month and spent the past
six weeks boating, bowling and enjoying her foreign adventure.
"I like America," Natasha said. Beyond the fun, Christofferson said the children's health benefits greatly from
their time away from home. She said the kids sponsored by the group have been absent from school three times
less than the previous year.

 3 cancer

a tumor that can be deadly

 4 contaminate

to make impure by adding something

 5 effect

to cause something to happen

 6 enjoy

to have fun doing something

 7 explosion

a giant burst of noise, heat, and gasses

 8 nuclear

a type of energy

 9 power plant

a place where power is generated

 10 radiation

energy that can be harmful

 11 raise

collect - usually money

 12 terrible

very bad

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