After The Apocalypse

I saw this rather moving True Stories documentary on More4 last year but you can still watch it on 4od.

It focuses on the people of "The Polygon" region of Kazakhstan as they struggle with the consequences of nuclear bomb testing from the Soviet era. One in twenty children are now born with defects. Bibigul is one such resident and she fights for her right to have a child.

I have transcribed below a speech by Bibigul's mother, which I found rather moving; almost primitive but so eloquent at the same time.

It is better to lie under the ground than to be laughed at by people. A figure of fun. Everybody makes fun of me. People on the street. People walking by. It doesn’t matter. It is better to leave this world.

I am angry that I am not lying under the black earth. That is the only thing I am angry about. I want the black earth.

For the last ten to fifteen years they have been chasing me. But forget about me. They have started to chase my daughters now, both of them. Pestering her everywhere.

I am a Polygon victim. She is a Polygon victim too. All she wants is to have a baby. So why don’t they just ignore the fact that she is from the Polygon and just let her give birth.

Watching harrowing documentaries such as this puts most of the problems we have in our comfortable lives into perspective.