A blind girl living in an orphanage near Chernobyl has proved to be an inspirational figure for staff and management at a Waterford factory.
Eight-year-old Zarina Lysenkova lives in the Vasilivichi orphanage close to the Chernobyl exclusion zone with 140 other children whose eyesight and health have been impaired by fallout from the nuclear disaster. She is one of the children who have been "adopted" by staff at the Bausch & Lomb contact lens manufacturing plant, who set up "Vision for Vasilivichi" in 1995 and since then have raised £150,000 in deductions from their pay packets.
The project enabled Zarina, who was born prematurely and is almost totally blind, to spend a summer holiday in Ireland with other children from the orphanage. Among the activities was a visit to a summer camp at Dunhill, Co Waterford, where the children painted pictures.
Mr Tom Bolger, one of the Vision group organisers, said a colleague came across a painting by Zarina "and was touched by the fact that the little girl was interested in creating something that she herself would never see". She is able to distinguish between light and darkness.
"Zarina's spirit and determination is so typical of the children of Vasilivichi," he said. "We liked the painting and decided that it should not be left in a folder somewhere."
Bausch & Lomb Waterford, which employs 1,750 people, decided to use the painting on its corporate Christmas cards this year. It also printed extra cards, without the company's greeting, which the Vision group is selling to colleagues and friends, with the proceeds going towards ongoing improvement works at the orphanage.
The project has paid for medical treatment, built showers and toilets at the orphanage and brought children to Waterford for summer holidays each year. It has been boosted by donations from other organisations such as the World Mercy Fund and won a Bausch & Lomb global award for the Waterford workers.
