President and representatives of the Bikarte Association; Maite, mayor of Abanto and Zierbana, where this story began 25 years ago, members of the San Sebastián Corporation… good afternoon to all
More than 299,900 years remain for the radiation emitted during the Chernobyl disaster to be completely extinguished in the area of the former USSR, especially in Belarus, where 80% of the pollution cloud settled. Belarus has thus become the country with the highest childhood cancer rate in Europe.
Chernobyl was one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. Thyroid cancer, leukemia, cataracts, mutations, depression... are some of the effects of radiation documented by the World Health Organization. Some of these ailments will remain in time. In the short term, exposure to high levels of radiation caused acute illnesses and the deaths of dozens of people. In addition, hundreds of thousands were evacuated from the affected area and measures had to be taken to prevent the spread of radiation. In the long term, the disaster had serious consequences for the health of the local population: for example, in 30 years more than 11,000 cases of thyroid cancer have been diagnosed among children and adolescents. And the figure continues to grow.
There was also a significant impact on the region’s economy and environment, with air, water and soil pollution. The psychological, social and mental effect will take time to be eradicated. After Chernobyl, nuclear energy has never been perceived in the same way among citizens.
37 years later, associations like Bikarte allow Chernobyl not to be forgotten. The passage of time always has something therapeutic, because memory has that selective facet that allows us to go forward eliminating the driest and most bitter passages of the past. But this dynamic entails its risks.
For this reason, I deeply appreciate Bikarte’s work to provide a temporary home for children in this environment (Russia and Belarus) affected by radiation and those in situations of extreme vulnerability. If anyone still has any doubts about what this catastrophe entailed, they can watch the series ‘Chernobyl’. The cinema, once again, offers us the possibility of revisiting events that are already gloomy, which without any dramatic additions clearly show the implications of all kinds for the population.
In all this time you have facilitated a safe and loving environment where they can receive specialized medical attention, education and emotional support, moving them away from very hard situations even if only temporarily… In short, Bikarte allows these children to know two worlds and, to some extent, change their lives although the danger is still present. Because as one of the maxims of the association says: ‘We cannot change the world, but we can change the world of a minor’.
The work of the association does not remain only in the welcoming families. In addition, it contributes to the rehabilitation of a plant of the children's cancer hospital in Belarus, builds bathrooms in a school, helps in orphanages, sends food to families and is building a women's house.
We know that there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that these children receive the support they need to aspire to a better future and that effective policies and programs are implemented for their well-being. Because that fateful April 26, 1986, everything was paralyzed. But not only for those who died in the accident, not only for the region and the ecosystems that were devastated… also for the children who would come later, for the generations that would be born with an already conditioned life project and an uncertain future.
The welcoming families that form the Bikarte Association recompose, to a large extent, that lack of prospects because you put life and, above all, love, at that moment paralyzed. I want to thank you all for your dedication and commitment because they make a difference in the lives of these children and their communities. With your efforts we all improve, because you become an example to the rest. May it be for many years.