Diana's life in the radioactive reserve

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.

The Check point that delimits the exclusion zone where the village of Dubovy Log is located

Diana warming milk for her brother at her home in Dubovy Log. The milk is contaminated as it comes from the country's cow farms.

The main square in the village of Dubovy log

Nadia with her friends around the village. In Dubovy Log there is any kind of entertainment for young people, except after-school activities organized by the Italian NGO Mondo in Cammino.

An abandoned farm in the village of Dubovy Log.

Diana and her friend Katya in the Dubovy Log village park.

A child enters the Dobrush school, the school serving the Dubovy Log village.

Cow breeders on the Dubovy Log village collective farm.

Distribution of clean food bought by the Italian NGOMondo in Cammino for the village of Dubovy Log.

Collective farm in the village of Dubovy Log.

Children playing table tennis in the after-school program created by Mondo in Cammino in the village of Dubovy Log.

Nadia watching television in her home in Dubovy Log village.

Abandoned farmhouse in the village of Dubovy Log.

The bus that takes the children from the village of Dubovy Log to the Dobrush school.

Nadia with her friends in the Dobrush school canteen.

Water well in the village of Dubovy Log. In the village, the inhabitants use wells to get water, but the aquifers below are all contaminated by radioactivity.

Nadia in the Dobrush village grocery store buying food for her family.

The house of culture of the Dubovy Log village where Mondo in Cammino has set up the after-school program.

Nadia in her room before going to sleep.

Nadia with her friends waiting for the bus that will take them to the Dobrush school.

Radioactivity map and sign that warn of the danger of contamination at the entrance to the exclusion zone where the town of Dubovy Log is located.

An elderly resident of the village of Dubovy Log. The village, despite the high levels of contamination, was never evacuated

Nadia and Katya around the village while they wait for dinner.

Nadia in the main square of Dubovy Log village

Nadia on the bus on her way to school in Dobrush as she passes the Exclusion Zone Check Point.

Nadia with her friends during recreation at Dobrush school.

Nadia and her friend Katya going to school