The south Kildare girl visited several Chernobyl Children's Project International (CCPI) undertakings in the worst-affected parts of Belarus, in the company of organisation chief Adi Roche.
CCPI is one of Charmaine's two official charities during
her year as reigning Rose of Tralee.
The pair spent four days visiting medical and nursing programmes, orphanages, asylums and foster home projects.
"Adi was keen to get a Rose over there and view first hand the organisation's work on the ground," said Charmaine. The Rose believes that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion and its aftermath has slipped from Irish minds. "It happened in 1986, so it is almost forgotten about, but the real disaster is still to come because of the effect on future generations of the people of Belarus," she said, noting that contamination lingers in the local food and water supply system and has worked its way into the natives' gene pool.
Irish people are familiar with the smiling faces of Chernobyl children who arrive in this country for a period of rest and recuperation every year. Yet Charmaine says that 90 percent of CCPI's work is 'on the ground' in the poorest areas of Belarus, engaging with locals and supporting impoverished communities.
The Rose has spent time doing voluntary work in Africa, so is used to scenes of utter poverty. However, she said that the trip to Belarus was still "quite tough".
"The disaster was human-made, and it will be thousands of years before its effects fade," she said.
Charmaine paid a visit to the Vesnovo Children's Mental Asylum, in the south east of the country , which houses over 140 children. Youngsters from poor families with physical and mental disabilities, including hydrocephalus, cleft palates, withered limbs and autism, are sent to institutions such as this. They are often bed bound. Charmaine described their situation as "heartbreaking".
"These mental asylums are really on the road to nowhere. They are often built on a cul-de-sac with nothing on the road. They are kept out of sight, and a lot of Belarusian people would not know they exist," she said. "Adi managed to get a Belarusian television crew to accompany us, but the reporter was scared to walk in."
CCPI has ferried humanitarian and medical aid to the asylum for over eight years, and it was refurbished by a team of Irish builders. Medics and nurses working for the charity visit every month.
"In physical appearance it is quite nice, thanks to the Irish people who have put so much work into it, but it is certainly no substitute for a child growing up in a loving family," said Charmaine.
The Rose also visited a 'Home of Hope' in the town of Glusk. This programme aims to provide a substitute family for abandoned or orphaned children. Up to 10 youngsters of mixed ages are housed with a foster mum and dad.
