Sofie Estolloso Hofmann Designs International

Last Monday, December 19, 2005, I updated the start pages of the French, Italian and English version of the site of Green Cross Switzerland. The last time I updated it, I only inserted a pop-up window at the start page of the German version. The pop-up window is all about the “Babushka Painting Competition” of Green Cross Switzerland in relation to the Chernobyl accident 20 years ago.

The solidarity gathering by Swiss children for the children of Chernobyl will be on the 26th of April, 2006 in “Waisenhausplatz” in Bern. If you are a resident of Switzerland and would like to participate in this competition, sample patterns of Babushka can be ordered at Green Cross.

Herewith are few samples of the works of the children from Switzerland, courtesy of Green Cross Switzerland. Read my past blog entry, 20 Years after Chernobyl, to know what does Babushka mean.

Today, I uploaded some documents, press releases, regarding the Social and Medical Care Programme of Green Cross Switzerland. The press releases are only in German and French languages. If you can read either of the two, you can check the media pages of the German and French version. It is about the help that Green Cross Switzerland is extending to one of the contaminated areas in Russia, “Chelyabinsk”, as well as Ukraine, through their Social and Medical Care Programme.

Chelyabinsk, in the former USSR, was the center of the Russian nuclear industry, also known as the “Mother of the Atomic Bomb”. Due to the unprofessional handling of the radioactive waste during that time, and as the area was producing nuclear weapons in high quantity, waste accumulated and contaminated Chelyabinsk and its neighboring areas.

Aside from that, there were also two serious radioactive accidents that occurred in 1994 and 1995 which contaminated the area. The radioactive wastes overflowed to the Techa river and it led to the radiation contamination of about 124,000 people, 28,000 of those were residents of the place “Brodokalmak”. At present, there are 1,100 children living in Brodokalmak, 800 of those are registered to be sick.

There’s still a lot of them out there… and they need our help…

As we are about to celebrate Christmas, if you can extend your help, just help… anyone… help anyway you can. People will appreciate it!