Nuclear Victims Day

Friday February 29th was Nuclear Victims Day in the Marshall Islands. I don’t know if the holiday is only celebrated in leap years, but I’ll hazard a guess that it’s simply the last Friday in February. Though detonating 64 nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands was certainly traumatic to the environment and the people exposed to cancer in the aftermath, it was a day with little fanfare.

I’m used to the pomp and circumstance of Remembrance Day (Veterans Day to Americans), where we wear poppy flowers, hear poetry about Flanders Field and otherwise feel grateful to the folks that fought in the world wars. But I guess an active group of veterans can keep things alive. Somebody has to stand on the street corner and exchange the red and green flower I pin to my jacket for a small donation.

In this case, there aren’t “veterans” of the nuclear testing done by the Americans in the 50s and 60s. Just victims.

It was fitting that Ali and I should find ourselves living on solar power on Nuclear Victims Day. We trekked across the lagoon to Enecko for a getaway from the every day. Both of us have things coming to a head at work, a lot to plan for when we get back to North America, and were in dire need of a swim in clean water. We stayed for the whole weekend.

The picture depicts the solar panel behind the chalet at Enecko. The chickens are responsible for guarding it.