Chernobyl generation
clings to life in BelarusBy Larisa Sayenko
KHOINIKI, Belarus, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Marina Vasilenko, a thoughtful 15-year-old girl with sad blue eyes, no longer tries to conceal an ugly white scar running across her neck.
"After the operation, I used to wear a turtleneck sweater for a while, but then my sister said, 'Are you the only one with this?' Now I no longer hide the scar -- there are many people like me after Chernobyl," Marina said.
Marina, who underwent an operation for thyroid cancer a year ago, still feels nausea, suffers from headaches and has sudden gaps in her memory. She is part of Belarus's vast "Chernobyl generation."
In the nation of 10 million, this age group now comprises hundreds of thousands of people who were under 15 or still in their mothers' wombs in April 1986 when reactor number four at Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded, spreading radiation.
According to various data, Belarus absorbed over 80 percent of Chernobyl's radioactive dust which also spread over Slav neighbours Ukraine and Russia and large parts of Europe.
Children proved to be most susceptible to an epidemic of thyroid cancer which accompanied the disaster.
"Even medical people did not expect that the aftermath of this powerful release of radioactive iodine would be so severe," said Valentina Drozd, in charge of a radiological laboratory.
"We have so far detected up to 1,000 cases of infant thyroid cancer, and every year we register some 80 new cases. For specialists, those are incredible figures -- before Chernobyl, we would register annually only three or four such cases."
Official statistics say that every seventh child living in radiation-contaminated areas, which cover one fourth of Belarus, has developed defects in the thyroid gland.
POVERTY ANOTHER PROBLEM FOR CHERNOBYL GENERATION
Belarus's radioactive tragedy was intensified by a lack of information as top Soviet leaders tried to hush up the real scale of the disaster and present its lethal impact as slight.
Residents of Khoiniki, a town of 10,000 on the country's southeastern edge, remember days of official silence after rumours of the exploded reactor started to circulate. Officials said nothing, but cattle herds were evacuated.
Now everything made by local collective farms and nature is contaminated and hard-up people cannot afford "clean" products.
"What's up? Have you eaten mushrooms?" a weary doctor at a local hospital asks a young mother who brought her little daughter with her to measure her internal radiation.
Anatoly Kovalev, deputy chief doctor of the local hospital, says that in theory the daily diet of people in contaminated areas should include exotic fruit and vegetables, fruit juices and mineral water.
He adds glumly that spinach, squid and oysters would also be welcome and a heath sanatorium once a year is a must.
"But, for instance, I cannot afford myself to buy all this, to say nothing of collective farmers," he said. "Poverty is another diagnosis."
Khoiniki's meagre budget also cannot provide locals with the free medicines guaranteed by law.
Local Soviet-era collective farms are loss-making because farmers are forced to sell their contaminated grain to the state at prices three times lower than in other regions. This grain can be used only as cattle fodder.
"What oranges are you talking about?" local milkwoman Alexandra Shesterik spread her arms in despair. "We are struggling to buy bread!"
Like many local children, Alexandra's daughter Tanya, 16, has had her thyroid gland removed and only smiles shyly when her mother talks of mishaps. There are nine children in the family.
Many houses in their street have been abandoned by better-off residents who have moved to safer regions.
For those who remain, life is often unbearable.
Tanya's tumour was removed only after it became as big as a dove's egg -- until then, she was told it was a sore throat.
Now Tanya, who constantly feels weak and giddy, has just returned from the regional capital Gomel where she was registered as a disabled person.
"My favourite pastime?" she repeats the question. "To come home after classes, lie on the sofa and fall asleep."
LOST GENERATION
Many consider young people like Marina and Tanya to be part of a whole lost generation which is physically weak and often treated with prejudice.
"They are so different -- weak, feeble and do not trust anyone," said a local teacher with 30 years of work experience. "I feel they are in complete disarray, even on the level of separate cells. Of course, this is Chernobyl. It is a pity."
Marina has tried to enter a vocational school to become a confectioner, but dropped out because of her health.
Saturday is the happiest day for Marina when her mother gives her some money and she goes to a discotheque. Otherwise, a furry toy which talks amuses her on work days.
After a recent visit to the United States, she also dreams of America, not as a prosperous country but somewhere far away from her daily life.
"If I am lucky, I will be invited to America again. I want to go somewhere. Most importantly, it must be very distant."
21:08 12-10-00
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