Holly Morris Presentation: Why Chernobyl Natives Stay Rooted

TED Talks is a great website dedicated to speeches and discussions on a myriad of topics and the one that immediately caught my eye was Holly Morris’s presentation about the current female residents that defiantly chose to stay in their homes in Chernobyl after the nuclear disaster in 1986. Holly’s purpose was to explain why, despite a dangerous living environment (called the Dead Zone) partitioned off from the rest of the world and still teeming with dangerous levels of radiation, a large number of native female settlers refused to leave or returned and continue to live there today. With the majority of these women now in their 70’s and 80’s, Holly argued that their deep connection to their homeland and their passion for “home” is much stronger than the “common sense” of leaving that home for a safer environment. Based on their age, they have lived through times of famine during Stalin’s rule as well as the invasion of the Nazis; they were not about give up something so important to them based on an invisible enemy like radiation. World authorities and health experts have all warned that they would never survive in that environment but based on the fact they still live today, and in many cases have outlived those natives that chose to relocate, Holly suggested that their faith in home and community is a much more powerful force and more contributory to longevity than what common sense suggests.

Holly set the stage by giving a brief history of the Chernobyl incident and a visual description of the current situation that she walked into during her visit there. She highlighted the danger of the environment by demonstrating the constant sounds of the Geiger counter device in her hand for measuring radiation followed by pictures of her worried look and the numerous warning signs, security checks, and government personnel that had to accompany her for protection. She setup the anxiety of the situation by narrating her own feelings to us, followed by the sudden realization of smoke coming from a nearby chimney that signified the almost absurd possibility that there might be someone living nearby. This led into her main argument and was accompanied by many more pictures and a bit of tasteful humor. There were no questions taken but there was no need; her presentation was effective at describing the environment in which these native women continue to live in, even 27 years later.

Since I am very interested in history this topic kept me very engaged, but Holly Morris’s presentation really helped in trying to mentally transport me into that environment in order to better understand the gravity of that situation. Her ability to present well shows through her explanation of how she approached a situation that many of us have not experienced and helped us to understand and empathize with it.

Until next time…..