My land is sick, and so am I.
By Christopher Gao, Gloria Ma, Amy Li
This post is part of a series of opinion pieces in diverse mediums focusing on the theme “What makes you mad about global health?” These submissions are by McGill students who were part of the course PPHS 511 Fundamentals of Global Health in Fall 2021.
When I was young, my elders told me
Of a city of progress in the North—
Where buildings shined half the year
And streets flowed with rich heritage.
To Ghaziabad, off I went! And yet,
My chest is heavy, my sight is stolen
I’ve lost more than I’ve received.
My ears and memories are all I have left
My companions are also struggling.
The things I once longed for
remain only distant dreams.
Now I wish to breathe
And see blue instead of grey.
To hear children’s laughter
And not sickly coughs as they decay.
That our lives were interwoven with our land
Our spirits, tethered to the Earth as closely as
The umbilical cord ties mother to child.
Yet, what I was supposed to cherish and call home
Was only an oil fantasy to others.
In the Chemical valley of Ontario where I live,
Water was not to be touched.
Billows of smoke dance in the sky instead of leaves
And the roads are littered with signs that read “Toxic”.
Our lands are polluted, but so are our bodies.
The taste of ash is thick on my tongue
My lungs burn and ache with each breath
Remember Brother who succumbed?
Lung cancer. Stroke. Heart Disease.
Millions dye from the killer air
Faceless names across the oceans
Gave us our sentence of despair:
27,000 factories.
The emissions, exhaust, soot, and dust
Manufacturing is paid not with gold and silver
But with total lives lost.
When I am gone and leave no trace,
The smog will come and take my place.
I count the days until my turn comes
Because no one is listening.
Spilt oil spills blood too-
For we are dying- acute myeloid leukemia rates
1.5 times higher than the rest of our country.
Coughs rack my body- Asthma
We grew up with her, a name
Much too common among my friends and I.
The colossal rates of cancer and respiratory diseases
Scream loud and clear
Yet our voices are muted by the booms of “big business” and
Clinking of money that flows into the
Pockets of the already rich.
And so we toil away.
Every whiff of chemicals, clanging of the factories-
A reminder that our lives do not matter.
Profit is for the living
Sympathy is for the dead.
My land is sick, and so am I.
Explication:
Today, millions of people worldwide are sacrificed for industrial revolution—a problem that disproportionately affects the “Global South,” but doesn’t discriminate against those neglected in the “Global North.” Though pollution has seemed to become a thing of the past for many of us in the “Global North,” those living in the “Global South '' or minority groups within the “Global North” do not share this reality. For instance, some Indigenous communities in Canada, one of the richest nations in the world, live in areas where benzene levels are as much as 55 times above air quality standards due to factory emissions (11). In the “Global South,” 22 out of the 30 most polluted cities in the world are located in India alone where the AQI (air quality index) remains consistent at hazardous levels (6). Therefore, we must continue efforts in properly controlling pollution and becoming allies for those who continue to fight against it. Awareness and advocacy needs to continue to push the initiative forward and to not forget about the issue that still continues to affect so many people today.
References:
ANI (2021, August 7). Air pollution linked with higher risk of dementia: Study. Hindustan Times. Retrieved from https://www.hindustantimes.com.
BBC News. (2019, July 12). India air pollution: Will Gujarat’s ‘cap and trade’ programme work?. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com.
CBC News. (2021, January 20). Indigenous two-spirit describes living in Canada's 'chemical valley' in Greenpeace report on recycling. CBC. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca.
Cribb, R., & McIntosh E. (2018, November 2). In Sarnia’s Chemical Valley, is ‘toxic soup’ making people sick?. Toronto Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.
Delisle, R. (2021, March 19). ‘I can feel your breath’: when COVID-19 and environmental racism collide. The Narwhal. Retrieved from https://www.thenarwhal.ca.
IANS. (2021, November 13th). Why does Ghaziabad continue to be India’s most polluted city?. Orissa Post. Retrieved from https://www.orissapost.com.
Khandelwal, P. (2021, November 12). With AQI at 488, Noida overtakes Ghaziabad to be most polluted city in India. Hindustan Times. Retrieved from https://www.hindustantimes.com.
MacDonald, E. (2020, June 22). Clearing the air in Chemical Valley. Ecojustice. Retrieved from https://www.ecojustice.ca.
Mowat, J. (2019, May 28). Acute myeloid leukemia rates higher in Ontario industrial cities, study says. Humber News. Retrieved from https://www.humbernews.ca.
Pandey, V. (2018, November 18). Delhi's rickshaw pullers: Toxic air is killing us but we can’t quit. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com.
Ranniger, G. (2020, June 1). "Today, zip code is still the most potent predictor of an individual's health and well-being". Environmental Health News. Retrieved from https://www.ehn.org.
Wakefield, S., & Baxter J. (2010). Linking Health Inequality and Environmental Justice: Articulating a Precautionary Framework for Research and Action. Geography Publications, 272.
WHO. How air pollution is destroying our health. World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://www.who.int.
Acknowledgments:
We would like to thank Professor Madhukar Pai for setting and sharing this assignment results with us and the teaching assistants Alexandra Jaye Zimmer, Lavanya Huria and Angie Sassi for their support in coordinating the results.