The Horrors of a Genocide

In my English class we are reading a book called Left to Tell, which is a first person story about the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994. I thought that this Salgado photograph was very fitting because that is exactly were it is from. These are a few Rwandan refugees that have fled to the country of Zaire to get medical help. The roots of this genocide started in the late 50's and early 60's when the Belgian's encouraged the government take-over of the Tutsi tribe by the Hutu tribe. When the Hutu tribe was in power the Tutsis became second class citizens. The physical appearance of Hutus and Tutsis was almost inseparable, but that was enough for the Hutus. In 1994 the Rwandan President, a Hutu, ordered a slaughter which ended up totaling more than one million people in 100 days. In 2003, after many interactions with the UN, Rwanda has a new president and their are laws that strictly prohibit discrimination of any kind (Wikipedia).

Photo by Sebastiao Salgado

Works Cited

1. Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. PDN Gallery. 2010

2. Rwandan Genocide. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2010. 2010.

The Plight of Refugees

Photograph by Sebastiao Salgado

Do to the wars that have been raging in Pakistan and Afghanistan, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced or driven out of their homes (McCarthy). They now have been forced to live in refugee camps, such as the one that is shown above. These camps have grown extremely over-crowded throughout the years. Food and water is scarce; these people are in need of help. As of now these camps continue to swell as the wars continue. There is a low supply of food in the refugee camps as well as clean water for drinking. Similar situations exists in the torn country of Haiti. The earthquakes have left 200,000 people dead and over 2 million homeless (Haven). There are many ways to help so I encourage everyone to follow the links I have posted and aid these suffering people.

Works Cited

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture Foundation. New York. 2000. 87.

McCarthy, Julie. "Refugee Camps Swell as Fighting Rages in Pakistan". NPR. 2009.2010.

Haven, Paul. "Haiti's mass graves swell". Associated Press. 2010. 2010.

The Mission of Sebastiao Salgado

Photograph by Sebastiao Salgado

Sebastiao Salgado was born in Minas Gerais, Brazil. He moved around a lot himself in his life, living in places such as Sao Paulo and Europe. He studied to be an economists in his university career but that all changed when he took a trip and saw something that shocked him immensely. He refugees that were in need of help. He decided to use his camera to show the world what was happening to people all over the world. In six years Salgado traveled to 40 countries in five continents. The refugees consisted of poor people, people who were being repressed by another group, and people looking for a better life somewhere else. The plea of these migrant people has been silent for a long time. Salgado is now trying to do one thing. He is trying to show the public that this is a real issue and that these people need your help.

Works Cited

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture Foundation. New York. 2000. 78

Salgado, Sebastiao. Introduction. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture Foundation. New York. 2000.

Picture That Represents Me

This is a picture of my all-you-can-eat meal at the Sushi Factory, which is near my house in San Jose, CA. I picked this picture because I love sushi and just food in general.