On Saturday, June 14, 2003 this year's group of orphans arrived in Shannon brought in by the Beara Outreach Group of the Chernobyl Children's Project. It took the Mick Cremin's bus three hours to drive to Shannon and six hours to return to Castletownbere. Some of the children were so sick after their long journey from different parts of Belarus, but many thanks to our driver Judy Cronin who never once complained at having to stop the bus. Many thanks also to O'Donoghue's Garage, Castletownbere, who are sponsoring the diesel for the buses on both trips to Shannon.

We were met by the host families in the Square in Castletownbere and two by two they went to spend between 2 - 4 weeks with their 'new family'. This summer the children will be staying outside Glengarriff, Eyeries, Castletownbere and Ardgroom. As some of the orphans literally only had the clothes they were wearing we brought them to the 'Chemobyl Clothes Room' out by Centra and kindly lent to us by Dermot Murphy. Clothes had been donated by people all over Beara and in no time each child had a bag full of clothes to take back to Belarus. On Monday the children were brought to Wisemans to choose a pair of shoes/runners each sponsored by Shellfish de la Mer. Over the weekend our translator, Anya Malyuk, who is on her fifth visit to Beara, visited all the families to make sure the children were settling in. On Wednesday, June 18 we had our first outing which was to the pool in Dunmanway in a 26 seater bus sponsored by Dermot Murphy, Super Valu, Castletownbere. We were so glad we opted for the swimming pool as it was an overcast, damp day in Beara. On Saturday, June 21 we had our second outing when, once again, our Belarussian visitors and their host families were treated to a fantastic day out aboard the Navy Ship the LE Orla. We arrived on board at 11 am and were welcomed by XO Michael Kennelly who introduced us to the new Captain of the LE ORLA, Captain Ken Minihane from Bantry. After a 'Safety Briefing' we were allowed the run of the ship for the day and boy did the children take Mick at his word. They discovered the ship's intercom system and all over the ship could be heard children chattering in Belarussian at I don't know how many decibels. There were children everywhere but never once was there a cross word from any of the officers or crew who were just marvellous.

We headed out the Piper Sound, down south of Bere Island and up west north of the Roancarrig lighthouse to anchor outside Lawrence's Cove when the ship's 'Sea Riders' were launched and everybody was brought, in turn, for a fast spin. The waters were quite choppy from the east which made it all the more fun with each Sea Rider returning with fairly wet but smiling passengers, begging for another turn. By now everybody was starving, especially as there were lovely smells wafting up from the galley so it was all down below deck to the mess for a party. The children were served plates of chicken nuggets, cocktail sausages and chips while the adults were served a delicious chicken curry with rice. These were washed down with a plentiful supply of 7 Up and Club Orange and lots of bananas - compliments of the catering staff. The children were then all given a goodie bag. As we headed for home our teenagers were brought on a tour of the ship and Able Seaman, Brendan Quinn presented each Belarussian child with a jigsaw, book and Barbie's for the girls and Action Man for the boys. These had been donated by friends of Brendan's during the year. This was not the end of Brendan's efforts as over the past 2 - 3 months he has organised fundraisers on board e.g. a 'Ship's Fun Lotto', table quizzes, an auction of a new Ireland jersey donated by crew member Stephen Deegan and an auction of a Philip Grey painting which was also donated. As we gathered on the 'funnel deck' for the group photo Brendan proudly presented a cheque for an amazing £1,400 to Patricia Daly, Group Leader of the Beara Outreach Group of the Chernobyl Children's Project, which was contributed to, through the fundraisers, by every member of the crew. Captain Ken Minihane then said what a pleasure it had been for all of them to have had us on board for the day. He then gave us truly wonderful news when he told us that he had commenced proceedings for the LE ORLA to officially adopt the Beara Outreach Group of the Chernobyl Children's Project as their nominated charity. He said they hoped to return to Castletownbere towards the end of the year for a reception on board to officially sign the adoption papers. Patricia, in turn, thanked the Captain and crew for, once again, giving us all such a wonderful day out and especially Brendan Quinn for his fantastic fund raising efforts. She said that the adoption news was particularly exciting for the Group. Through the years the people of Beara have been so generous at fund-raising times but the area is not densely populated and raising funds to bring the children to Beara every year is always a worry. The knowledge that now we will be the nominated charity of the LE ORLA is going to be a tremendous help. Patricia also acknowledged that our annual navy outing would not have come about without the initial contact having been made by Margaret Cronin who works in McCarthy's Bar in Castletownbere. Each year Margaret has organised this trip. Along with this McCarthy's Bar has run fund-raisers, over the years, to help with finances. Anya, our translator, also thanked everybody 'from the bottom of her heart' for this wonderful opportunity for the children of Belarus. The Beara Outreach Group wish to thank a thousand times all who organise fund-raisers, all who contribute funds, all who sponsor outings and all the host families who care for these children for either two or four weeks. Without you all this great work of charity would not be possible.