Bhopal, India. 1984. A massive gas leak (30 tons of toxic gases) occurred at a Union Carbide pesticides factory. It was late in the night, and the gas drifted through homes and streets. People ran to the hospital - and into the deadly wind. That night two to three thousand died. Since, many more have died from the gas's effects and from birth defects caused by both gas exposure and contaminated water - Union Carbide had hastily put toxic chemicals in an unlined pit, causing them to leak into groundwater.
In 2001, after denying responsibility for years (there was a small settlement with the government of India but for nowhere near enough money), Union Carbide was bought out by Dow Chemical. Dow also refuses to accept responsibility, clean up the chemicals in the groundwater, or pay the survivors.
This all sounds horribly depressing. And it is, but that's not the whole story. We found great amounts of hope and defiance in Bhopal. The people there are engaged in a brave struggle to both win re-compensation from Dow and prevent any other chemical disasters from happening anywhere in the world.
We arrived in Bhopal and got settled into the volunteer dorms at Sambhavna, a wonderful clinic providing free treatment to survivors and those later affected. Sambhavna has a policy for most volunteers that they stay at least a few weeks, which I think is neat. You don't really understand a place if you're only there for a day or two. It was all of us in a single room, but it felt comfortable and cozy and I was grateful to stay with such an amazing organization.
Then, we were given a tour by Sambhavna's founder, Satyu. He is incredibly smart and brave, having been jailed several times for his nonviolent activist work. His wife Rachna works with the international campaign and is equally as strong and awesome. At the clinic, they provide a combination of modern medicine and natural Ayurvedic healing, and take care to only use natural soaps and other products. We also toured Chingari, an organization founded by two incredible women to care for the children left with disabilities due to the poisoned water. They provide free treatment as well, and we were able to tour their facilities and see how much love they put into the care of the children.
Later in the week, we visited the Union Carbide factory site. It's abandoned now, the land owned by the government. It was incredibly haunting to see the site where so many deaths had been caused, the factory pipes rusting and surrounded by plants. Something rather beautiful about Nature healing the wounds that humans have caused, and reclaiming the land. The site was so peaceful, so quiet, so innocuous. It didn't seem like it could have caused so much pain.
The slogan used by the activists and people of Bhopal is "We all live in Bhopal." By this, they mean that chemical manufacturing happens everywhere, not just in India but in our backyards. And that there is still the possibility of more Bhopals, wherever dangerous chemicals are used and safety measures are cut to increase profit. They are doing wonderful work to put pressure on Dow and to raise consciousness about the danger of chemicals mixed with desire for profit. I strongly encourage all of you to support them, to watch the excellent documentary Bhopali, and to check out the website run by Bhopal activists:
http://www.bhopal.org/
We must get Dow to take responsibility, and we must prevent this from happening again.
Peace and love,
Malyn
In 2001, after denying responsibility for years (there was a small settlement with the government of India but for nowhere near enough money), Union Carbide was bought out by Dow Chemical. Dow also refuses to accept responsibility, clean up the chemicals in the groundwater, or pay the survivors.
This all sounds horribly depressing. And it is, but that's not the whole story. We found great amounts of hope and defiance in Bhopal. The people there are engaged in a brave struggle to both win re-compensation from Dow and prevent any other chemical disasters from happening anywhere in the world.
We arrived in Bhopal and got settled into the volunteer dorms at Sambhavna, a wonderful clinic providing free treatment to survivors and those later affected. Sambhavna has a policy for most volunteers that they stay at least a few weeks, which I think is neat. You don't really understand a place if you're only there for a day or two. It was all of us in a single room, but it felt comfortable and cozy and I was grateful to stay with such an amazing organization.
Then, we were given a tour by Sambhavna's founder, Satyu. He is incredibly smart and brave, having been jailed several times for his nonviolent activist work. His wife Rachna works with the international campaign and is equally as strong and awesome. At the clinic, they provide a combination of modern medicine and natural Ayurvedic healing, and take care to only use natural soaps and other products. We also toured Chingari, an organization founded by two incredible women to care for the children left with disabilities due to the poisoned water. They provide free treatment as well, and we were able to tour their facilities and see how much love they put into the care of the children.
Later in the week, we visited the Union Carbide factory site. It's abandoned now, the land owned by the government. It was incredibly haunting to see the site where so many deaths had been caused, the factory pipes rusting and surrounded by plants. Something rather beautiful about Nature healing the wounds that humans have caused, and reclaiming the land. The site was so peaceful, so quiet, so innocuous. It didn't seem like it could have caused so much pain.
The slogan used by the activists and people of Bhopal is "We all live in Bhopal." By this, they mean that chemical manufacturing happens everywhere, not just in India but in our backyards. And that there is still the possibility of more Bhopals, wherever dangerous chemicals are used and safety measures are cut to increase profit. They are doing wonderful work to put pressure on Dow and to raise consciousness about the danger of chemicals mixed with desire for profit. I strongly encourage all of you to support them, to watch the excellent documentary Bhopali, and to check out the website run by Bhopal activists:
http://www.bhopal.org/
We must get Dow to take responsibility, and we must prevent this from happening again.
Peace and love,
Malyn
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