On Wednesday, we met with Igor & Tatiana Kot, Tatiana Provolotskaya, and Marina from about 9:30 to Noon.  They gave us a tour of their offices and we met a few of the 476 volunteers that serve to help bring the children to different countries in the summer.

We discussed the following items:

Medicine & Chernobyl overview

• After the Chernobyl accident, many didn't speak of the consequences - like a "zone of silence"
• Young people wanted to speak of the consequences and raise awareness
• A 3 day international conference was held to speak of the consequences, but the bad consequences were glossed over
• Then the Soviet Union broke up and there was much economic turmoil
• Some tried to leave the country and go to the west or to Siberia
• Dr. Olga Volmyanskaya was the initiator of the program
• They formed the organization in order to increase awareness within the country (and internationally) of the problem
• Today, social problems and the economy top the priority list of the government. The environmental problem caused by Chernobyl receives less attention
• Medicine & Chernobyl has 476 volunteers and many doctors participating
• Funding for this was primarily from the American Government (not Belarussian).  However, since the IRAQ war, the funding has dropped considerably
• Some good contacts in the US:
• Dr. Daniel, head of the Ministry of Health in Connecticut, was a key advocate for getting funding for the program
• Dr. Mahooney of Buffalo NY (head of Institute of Oncology)
  

In-country clinic

• Dr. Atkinson spoke of his idea to start a clinic in Belarus
• Tatiana Kot was very interested in this proposal, and spoke of an initiative that had already been started (beginning with the Maria House).  
• She would like to work jointly with us on this idea
• M&C plans are:
• Sick children are still a big problem, especially those who live in small villages and towns
• Parents cannot afford to bring them to a central clinic in Minsk
• Care is free, but getting from villages to Minsk and staying while the child undergoes treatment is cost prohibitive
• M&C proposes the creation of a rehab center for kids from villages and orphanages (kind of like "Ronald McDonald house" concept):
• Kids can live there during treatment
• Can study in this center as well
• Maybe M&C could also provide transportation if they had a van?
• Biggest problem: Government does not currently permit this.  They are working with the Ministry of Health for approval. They already have support from the Ministry of Education.
• This has taken a very long time but they are nearly approved
• Would like to eventually bring in foreign doctors to cooperate with the Belarussian doctors
• Needs?
• Building, furniture, transportation
  

Medicine & Supplies

• New government regulations make it very difficult to bring in medications
• There are restrictions on what can be brought
• There are restrictions on expiration dates
• All must have prior approval
• Tatiana will provide to us a list of "approved medications"
• We need to assess what the needs are and bring only what is requested (eg, not the shotgun approach).
  

• There are restrictions on what can be brought
• There are restrictions on expiration dates
• All must have prior approval

Summer Program

• Regulations are changing all the time with respect to the summer program
• Now, kids cannot come if they have anemia, hemophilia, asthma, etc (long list of stuff, some serious and some not serious)
• However, it is possible to still bring these children.
• There are two types of programs, one that only brings healthy kids (they have to be REALLY healthy now), and one that brings "special needs" kids (like the Kansas group)
• If we are defined as a special needs program (different contract to sign), then we could still bring mostly healthy kids but also some not-so-healthy ones too!
• Different contract to sign
• A doctor must accompany the group (Luidmila would qualify)
• We would have to promote this to families ahead of time to see who would want to host a child with special needs
• Dr. Foster said that the doctor who comes could have a fellowship at Duke to learn more about the specific disorders (eg, asthma, diabetes, etc)
• So, we have to decide if we want to move to this step for next year
  
• NOTE:  There is no issue this year with puncture, blood tests, dental, because of the permission slips that the families sign. The e-mail from Cec is NOT a new regulation, we have been operating under this for a long time.  However, we should consider moving to this other type of program because each year more and more restrictions are added to the "healthy kids" program type
• NOTE:  I specifically asked if there were ANY concerns or problems with the way we are running our program now. If there is anything we should change?  The answer was NO, that we are doing ok and no changes are needed (except what was discussed above about medical stuff).

Wilmington Group

• We have enough interpreters to cover the group and do not need a 3^rd interpreter for them
• We need to arrange for Luidmila to visit the families in Wilmington, perhaps for a weekend sometime in the middle of the stay.
• Dr. Foster offered to take her (she has a place to stay there)
• Bottom line:  2 interpreters are OK
  

Orphanage Support

• Everything we're proposing for the Rudensk program seemed ok to the Kots
• The question regarding bringing the orphans to the US as part of our sponsorship program came up. The answer is that the orphans sometimes do go to other countries, primarily Italy, so it is not unheard of. 
• A chaperone from the orphanage must accompany the kids
• The Kots suggested that we establish our program and look at doing this in a few years. Perhaps the regulations will relax, etc. 

Medical Conference

• Dr. Atkinson suggested setting up a conference next time where doctors could attend to be educated and to exchange ideas and discuss common problems
• Igor Kot was very supportive of this idea. We ended up meeting many such doctors later in the week at the Kot's dacha...this is an idea that we should pursue.