Remember the Chernobyl Disaster

Recently, I was appointed to be an honorary member of the Kyiv Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International. The appointment comes just as the committee is planning to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in Chicago.

The Kyiv Committee plans to commemorate the tragedy by hosting a presentation at the Chicago Cultural Center on April 28, which will feature speakers, an awards presentation, and a documentary film about the disaster.

I’m honored to be appointed to this committee, especially because I vividly remember the accident when it happened on April 26, 1986.

At the time, I was a little girl in Russia, and my parents used to take me to a little village in the Ukraine, not far from Chernobyl, during the summers for vacation. It was one of my favorite things to do! I loved picking strawberries and apples and playing by the river in the sunshine.

Then the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl suffered a major meltdown, and my family never went there again.

In addition to all of the people who were sickened or who lost their lives to the radiation, much of the trees, rivers, and animals were also severely affected.

I am glad that I can do my part to honor those who suffered as a result of this disaster.