A former hotelroom in Pripyat, 2005

On the walls of the Chernobyl Museum

thereused to be an interesting poem:

UPROOTED©

Yet from these strange ashes hope will rise

If a man’s thoughts dye his soul
What kind of stain do his deeds leave?
A hazardous spill on himself and upon the laps of others
Who share the same air
Breathing in and out
In and out

Now, there’s bitterness that abounds
In the bread basket to the north
Uprooted family trees with forgotten people
In yellowed photos dangling town
Wooden cradles set ablaze
In the forest
Where blue light sprang from place to place
Luminescent
Deadly beautiful
Reminiscent of sparklers
Crackling at a May Day parade

The rain has become hot tears pouring down
Falling down
Dropping to the earth
The fragmented rivulets on a musical score
Splash on these paper lives, fragile and all too brief
The muffled sobbing is a melody
But only to the ears of Him unseen
It’s an aria of the heart that sings a Capella
The high pitched notes of pain
Yet he who suffers much speaks a wordless language
That can be understood, although the tongue is mute
It transcends dialects, country lines
And political ideologies

Uprooted, yet not alone

I have seen lives irrevocably changed
In one moment in time
From one thoughtless choice, a careless decision
Leaving ancient villages empty
Doors are swinging on squeaky hinges
For all eternity plus seven years more

And the plastic dolls of stolen youth
Sit on dust covered window panes
Vacantly gazing at the loss

Uprooted, yet not alone

Heartbreak and tragedy
Are no respecter of persons, traditions, religion
Or plans
It is blinded by skin colour
And the coins in one’s purse

I have been told that fear is like rust
That eats away hope, little by little
Corroding all confidence
This invisible acid obliterates desire
Until we are mere shells with nothing left inside

Uprooted, yet not alone

I believe that love is a salve
To be spread on the wound to heal and soothe
Able to mend the innermost places
That are hidden from man

Faith causes that page to turn

Just because today’s sunshine is blocked out by the clouds
Doesn’t mean the sun is gone
If God seems silent
It doesn’t mean he has left us
Or doesn’t hear our cries
Perhaps we are the ones who are not listening
To the voice that is gentle and low
Tender and always near

We must be quiet and still
He is here
And anxious to woo us to Him like a lover
He will be revealed once more

Uprooted, yet not alone

There is a day that dawns upon all of our broken lives
That we are able to see clearly
If we look with unjaded eyes
We can see that we are all people with ruined dreams
With unrealized plans
Yet, somehow they can fit perfectly
Into His bigger picture
And will be breathtakingly beautiful
In time

Uprooted, yet not alone

From these strange ashes
Hope will rise!


LAUNA

Launa is an American student that wrote this article about Chernobyl for school.

for English scroll down

april 2011

Tsjernobyl actueler dan ooit

De problemen met kernreactoren in Japan als gevolg van de verwoestende aardbeving hebben de grootste kernramp uit de geschiedenis uit het stof doen oprakelen. Merkwaardig genoeg gebeurt dit exact anderhalve maand voor de 25e herdenkingsdag van Tsjernobyl. Op 26 april 1986 ontplofte reactor 4 van de kerncentrale in Tsjernobyl.

Recent was op televisie een documentaire over Tsjernobyl. Waar de bewoners van het dorp Tsjernobyl en stad Pripyat werden geëvacueerd, namen de flora en fauna in het gebied ongekende afmetingen aan. Zijn de dieren resistent geworden tegen straling? Het onderzoek geeft antwoord op deze vraag en is hier terug te zien.

Op deze site vindt u het meest uitgebreide verslag van een excursie naar het verboden gebied rondom Tsjernobyl. Verder een verslag van een 9-daagse reis naar Kiev en de Krim in Oekraïne. De Oekrainereisverslagen zijn opgedeeld in drie delen:

Tsjernobylexcursie (inclusief foto's)

Tsjernobylmuseum (inclusief foto's)

Oekraïne

Klik op het gewenste verslag voor een impressie in woord en beeld. Vragen of opmerkingen naar aanleiding van de website kunnen gericht worden aan jobgoes[AT]gmail[PUNT]com.