Hi,
11:33 am. Make it a habit not to “report yourself” with the hope of being scolded. That isn’t what will make you feel less guilty faster. It reminds me of the contemporary Nigerian saying, “avoid shalaye”. That means “avoid explaining your actions to people”. Rather, work quietly and deliberately towards being better next time. Also, forgive yourself while you’re at it. If this applies to you in any way, you will understand what I mean.
Yesterday, I was scrolling through YouTube and stumbled on a video about Hiroshima. I was shocked to see the magnitude of destruction the explosion left behind. Prior, I thought the nuclear explosion affected only a small portion of land, killing and injuring the few people who worked there. Imagine my shock when I realised that Hiroshima is a city where about 255,260 people lived. It is the city capital of Hiroshimaken (prefecture), located at southwestern Honshu in Japan. It was the first city to witness the deathly blast of a weapon of mass destruction.
The atomic explosion that happened in 1945 at Hiroshima killed no less than 80,000 people immediately (about 27% of the population). Guys, this number of people died nearly all at once. To put things into perspective, about 106 people die every second. On August 6, 1945, the number of people that died in any of the seconds within the 15th minute of 8am increased by 754%. How devastating. The name of the nuclear weapon was “Little Boy”. By the end of the year, over 50% of Hiroshima’s population – about 140,000 people died from injury, burns, trauma, malnutrition, and radiation.
Not just that, Nagasaki, another city in Japan was attacked only three days after; August 9, 1945. “Fat Man”, an atomic bomb more massive than it’s predecessor, killed over 40,000 were killed immediately. Its impact was quelled by the mountainous structure of Nagasaki. Else, the numbers would have been higher. Anything to make Japan surrender, right?
Between both blasts, nearly 200,000 Japanese people died in 1945. Reports show that there are ess than 1000 survivors. These people have continued to suffer grave adverse health even decades after the attacks of the United States on Japan. Radiation is the cause. Some symptoms include
- Hair loss
- Inflammation of the throat
- Central nervous system damage
- Internal bleeding
- Bleeding into the skin (petechiae)
- Skin reddening (erythema)
- Gastrointestinal symptoms
- General effects such as confusion, convulsions, weakness, and fatigue
- Long term effects such as cataracts and cancer
The incident happened in the Second World War. I hate that this seems to “explain things”. It shouldn’t. Why should there be a war in the first place? People, innocent people, die. Does that mean nothing? I’m sad that wars are still very much a part of our society. In my country, people in the North are slaughtered every single day. Things are barely different in the South in terms of killings; it’s just more subtle. Asia, in places like Israel, Palestine, Iraq, and Iran have been at war for as long as I can remember. I remember the first day I saw news about Russia’s attack against and Ukraine. Alongside it, I was people talking about the possibility of a Third World War. I couldn’t help but wonder:
What is wrong with the world?
These are 500 words (or more ?)! Talk to you tomorrow!