A fleet of 20 ambulances from Ireland will be donated to a number of hospitals, orphanages and day care centres in Belarus next month.The donation is part of a humanitarian aid convoy being organised by the Chernobyl Children's Project.
The total value of aid to be delivered as part of Operation Hope XXI will be in excess of €2 million.
The ambulances will be distributed throughout areas which continue to suffer the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion.
Aid workers will pass through nine countries before arriving in Belarus and western Russia a week after their departure from Cork Racecourse in Mallow on April 6th.
The purchase of the fleet has been made possible by the fundraising efforts of a number of groups and organisations throughout Ireland over the last number of months.
In addition, ambulances have been purchased by Irish employees of the giant pharmaceutical multinational Pfizer, by charity fundraisers Operation Rudolph, by USI (Union of Students in Ireland), and by the bikers' club the Iron Butt Association.
Representatives from these groups will drive the vehicles across Europe to their final destinations.
Since initiating the Ambulance Services Programme in the mid- 1990s, the Chernobyl Children's Project has delivered 160 ambulances throughout the Chernobyl region.
One of the vehicles will be the first children's cardiac care ambulance in Belarus. The vehicle will be delivered to a children's hospital in Minsk, the capital.
Over 80 volunteers will travel with the convoy, which is the 21st convoy of humanitarian aid for the "Chernobyl Zone" which the Children's Project has organised and co-ordinated.