Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

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Mr. KuzMA. There's quite a large number of NGOs that are active.
I'm more familiar just with the medical relief groups, and
even those, it's difficult to keep track of, because there are some
wonderful projects that may be operating on a small scale, in particular
cities.
When my wife and I were in Luhansk, on the eastern perimeter
of Ukraine, we met with a Baptist church, for instance, from Texas
that was very active in providing containers out there.
I'm not even sure that a lot of these groups show up in the overall
assessment of the organizations involved. So there, again, I
think it's difficult to gauge how many groups. But I know of about
15 different organizations that have developed sustained, long-term
efforts, at a fairly high level of activity, ranging from $5 million
and above in the value of their medical relief.
Mr. Smith. Has the intensity of their
waned over the last 10 years?
activities increased or
Mr. KuzMA. In some cases, it has waned. There are some smaller
groups that have. I mean, it just takes an awful lot of effort to sustain
this kind of an effort over time. Others seem to have gotten
over that survival threshold, and are doing quite well, and progressing.
I know that we've kept in touch with a number of groups,
such as Brother's Brother Foundation. The American Hospital Alliance,
that's been very active in Kyiv, and a number of other cities,
that have had very successful hospital partnerships with American
hospitals. The Ukrainian Fraternal Association, the Ukrainian Orthodox
League, has been quite active. They sort of went through
an ebb, and now have intensified some of their activities more recently.
So, it seems to me that a lot of groups really are beginning to
intensify their efforts, understanding that the peak of the crisis is
actually ahead of us. What we've noticed, in the last 2 years, has
been a bit of a revival in interest, both financially and in terms of
activity.
Mr. Smith. Does the Catholic Hospital Association lend a hand
in this?
Mr. KuZMA. Yes. The Catholic Medical Mission Board, under the
leadership of Father McMahon and Father Yannarell, has been
very active, and we've worked closely with them. I know they've
been active not just in Ukraine and Belarus, but also in Lithuania,
and really have produced a very large volume of aid going in there.
Mr. Smith. How about UNICEF?
Mr. KuzMA. I have to admit I'm not that familiar with UNICEF's
programs and how in-depth their activity's been,
Mr. Smith, We'll check it out, because I think that's very important
there.
Mr, KuzMA. Certainly.
Mr. Smith. Looking at the overall international response, governments
providing moneys—which obviously are best administered in
most cases through NGOs—^has the U.S. Government been as generous
as it should be and ought to be?
Mr. KuzMA. I hate to cast aspersions on the U.S. Grovernment in
this sense. I think, certainly, in the last few years, we've seen an
improvement both in the level of interest in the Chomobyl zone
and the Chornobyl aftermath. Also, the level of activity, I think,