Honour the Victims
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The nuclear age has many victims. Among them are those who were killed, injured, traumatised or lost loved ones in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945; those who became sick or who had stillborn children as a result of nuclear weapons testing; and those who developed cancers or inherited birth defects because of the nuclear power industry.
By honouring the victims, we improve the chance that our past mistakes won't be repeated and that the mistakes of today will one day stop.
Suggestions
- Hold a minute's silence at your school to honour the victims of the nuclear age.
- Dedicate an event or piece of writing to the victims of the nuclear age.
- Hold a candlelight vigil in a public space to raise awareness about nuclear dangers.
- Mark Hiroshima Day, 6 August, by folding Japanese peace cranes (see Activity 10).
Lijon's story from the Pacific
I was eight years old at the time of the Bravo nuclear test on Bikini Atoll in 1954. I woke up with a bright light in my eyes. It was a brilliant light that consumed the sky. Soon after, we heard a loud noise and the earth started to sway and sink.
Then it began to snow. We had heard about snow from the missionaries, but this was the first time we saw white particles fall from the sky. We played in the powder, but later everyone was sick. My own health has suffered as a result of radiation poisoning. I cannot have children. I have had seven miscarriages. One was severely deformed- it had only one eye.
Many of my friends have kept quiet about the strange births they had. They gave birth not to children as we like to think of them but to things we could only describe as octopuses, apples, turtles and other things in our experience.
The most common have been jellyfish babies. These babies are born with no bones in their bodies and with transparent skin. We can see their brains and hearts beating. But there are no legs, no arms and no head.
