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I first read about UNWLA’s visit to Opachychi in an article written by Marta Kolomyets in the April 28, 1996, issue of The Ukrainian Weekly. The article had a profound effect on me because although I had heard and read about the scientific, economic, medical, and environmental aftereffects of the explosion, I didn’t realize that there were survivors living in Chornobyl by choice. This was astonishing! These women were intriguing, and I wondered—who were they? why did they return? what would happen to them? I explored those questions as a writer, and began a novel based on the women’s lives. Four years after Mrs. Czernyk and the other UNWLA members first met the Opachychi women, my novel, The Sky Unwashed was published. Because this book is a fictionalized account of what these women experienced from the Chornobyl disaster, I felt it was important to meet them in person and document their experiences on film to better illustrate the horrific circumstances of their predicament while celebrating their perseverance and courage. Thanks to a very generous $25,000 grant from the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America/Mary V. Beck Chornobyl Fund and from countless donors from several UNWLA branches, other Ukrainian and American organizations and individuals, and foundations, we are in production with our documentary film about these women. The film is called Life in the Dead Zone, and the focus of our documentary is to further educate, impact, and chronicle the legacy of Chornobyl and the amazing spirit of these elderly survivors whose remarkable stories will reach a global audience so that the world will not forget them or the lessons of Chornobyl for the next twenty-five years and beyond. Irene Zabytko with two residents o f Opachychi, Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Film crew on location in Chornobyl. (photo by Irene Zabytko) XXIX Конвенція СУА 9 www.unwla.org
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