By Cianna McNally
Former Monaghan Rose Sonia Casey has issued a message of thanks to everybody who donated towards her recent trip to Belarus to volunteer in Vesnova Children’s Mental Asylum.
Sonia first travelled to Belarus as Monaghan Rose in 2014 with Adi Roche’s Chernobyl Children International, which was founded in an effort to help alleviate the suffering and to offer hope to those most affected by the Chernobyl explosion in 1986. The children she met left a lasting impression on Sonia as did the volunteers and the work of CCI in general, so much so that she went back to Belarus the following year and is now the secretary of the Dublin CCI committee. Sonia has been involved with fundraising for the charity since 2015 and also supports the Rest and Recuperation trips to Dublin. These trips can extend each child’s life by an estimated two years, and reduce their contamination levels.
Speaking to The Northern Standard about this year’s trip to Belarus, which she made with five other volunteers, Sonia extended her thanks to everybody who donated towards her fundraising or gave her …
