DIANA'S LIFE IN THE RADIOACTIVE RESERVE


Bierolussia is the land most affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and the most forgotten with 30% of its territory rendered useless . Here there is a village, Dubovy Log, considered the most radioactive inhabited village in Belarus, and it lies within an exclusion zone. To get there you have to cross a checkpoint and that is what the 200 villagers do every day to go shopping or simply to go to school.

 

As does Nadia, a 13-year-old girl who had to move here three years ago because the government gave her mother a job here. In fact, in recent years, the Belarusian government has started to repopulate the contaminated land, giving incentives to the population, such as free housing and jobs, but putting people's health at serious risk. And this is what is happening to Dubovy Log, Nadia and the other villagers. In order to survive the misery, they live in a radioactive reservoir, constantly eating contaminated food and drinking contamnated water.

 

Nadia has just discovered that she has a thyroid nodule, one of the most common diseases due to the legacy of Chernobyl. Since 2012, Mondo in Cammino, an Italian volunteer association, has been helping the village by providing clean food to the population and creating activities for the village's youth. This is the story of Nadia and her life in the radioactive reserve of Dubovy Log.