Ukrainians in Toronto Online Community remembered the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster with a publication in Ukrainian “Chornobyl 1986: a point of view from Toronto.”
During the COVID-19 pandemics, many important events were significantly postponed, rescheduled or canceled. Nevertheless, we all remember what happened in Chernobyl.
Ukrainians in Toronto Online Community overview some organizations and personalities closely connected with the Chernobyl disaster. One of them was a registered charitable organization, Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund. It was established in 1990 to provide humanitarian aid to victims of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster.
Thanks to a $1 million gift from the Children of Chornobyl Canadian Fund, SickKids Foundation created the Ukraine Child Health Fellowship Program. The Fellowship program improved pediatric health care quality in Ukraine through an exchange of people, information, and talent with The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).
The Ukraine Child Health Fellowship Program provided physicians from Ukraine with opportunities to acquire high-demand skills through intensive training in pediatric specializations at SickKids in Toronto and their home medical centers in Ukraine. An exchange of expertise and experience between Ukrainian and Canadian healthcare professionals ensured children with specific and often complex health issues can better access the care they need.
Additionally, readers learned about Canadian Hector Cowan, who was the first Western diplomat at the Canadian Embassy in Moscow allowed into Ukraine after the Chernobyl explosion. For Cowan, just six months into his Moscow posting, Chernobyl was to test his mettle. He found himself in Ukraine to warn the 17 Canadian students the embassy knew were in Kyiv.
The online publication provides insightful information from the Canadian Nuclear Association and their “HBO’s Chernobyl: A fact check.” “It is almost impossible that an accident like the one at Chernobyl could happen in a commercial nuclear plant found in Canada or the U.S.” The most controversial part of this statement is “almost.” Let us hope so.
Ukrainians in Toronto Online Community also mentions the project “From Chernobyl to Fukushima” by Alexander Belyakov. He shares his insights about Chernobyl and Fukushima tragedies.