The Students 10K is a unique humanitarian organisation. It has been in existence since 2000 and it asks every third level college on the island of Ireland to raise funds and offer humanitarian assistance in post-Chernobyl Belarus. Each year,the Students 10K takes about 25 student leaders, representing many colleges, to Belarus. We visit the hospitals, orphanages, hospices and other projects which we fund. However, we see ourselves as more than a funding organisation. We endeavour to engage at a meaningful level with the people of Belarus. We spend a lot of time listening and learning how best to respond to the needs of the people.  Young people from throughout the island of Ireland have been making a difference in Belarus. In doing so, Belarus has made a lasting and I hope positive affect on their lives.

About Belarus

Belarus is south of Lithuania, East of Poland and west of Russia. It is north of Ukraine. The capital Minsk is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. It was completely destroyed in World War 2 (known as The Great Patriotic War in Belarus). Its unfortunate location meant that the country was devastated by the German armies on their way to attack Moscow and Stalingrad. When the Germans started to retreat the country was devastated yet again. One in three Belarussians were killed. Belarus’s geographic location led to another catastrophe more recently. In 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor exploded just across the border from Belarus in Ukraine. Due to wind direction the cloud of nuclear contamination moved over the land, cities and people of Belarus. About 70% of the radioactive material landed on Belarussian soil, making it the worst environmental disaster in mankind’s history.

Chernobyl is largely forgotten by the world. However the results of the nuclear accident are very much in evidence. An area about the size of Ireland and the United Kingdom is too radioactive to live in. The Contaminated (or Purple Zone) as it is called has deserted towns, villages, farms and houses. All the people have been relocated. Students have visited the contaminated Zone briefly. They have seen mounds of earth where bulldozers covered over the houses. Ironically, in some deserted towns and villages, the only evidence that there was once human life there, are the graveyards.