Making By

Photo credit: Sebastiao Salgado

On the eastern edge of Mexico City, Mexico lies a poor district known as Chimalhuacan. In recent years, as families move from the countryside into the city, dense areas of impoverished families have risen up quickly. As a result, the rapid influx of residents has created a strain in providing basic services to these new families. Experts say that many poor cities such as Chimalhuacan often have to make more or less illegal improvisations (such as selling goods out of a residential building) in order to provide basic needs (such as electricity, water, and food) for residents. I neither endorse, nor condemn these actions as it is not my place to pass judgment on the issue.

Having lived in a relatively poor country, I experienced first hand the sacrifices and struggles of good people trying to just make it to the next day. Most aren't given a choice as to how they would like to live. Nevertheless, they do their best to deal with the present circumstances as best as they can to make it by.


Works Cited:

Funiss Charlie. "Keeping It Informal." Geographical. Geographical, April 2008. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.

Salgado, Sebastiao. Pamphlet. "Exodus to the Cities (Mexico City, Mexico, and Sao Paulo, Brazil)." Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture: New York, 2000. 24. Print.

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture: New York, 2000. 321.

What is?

Photo credit: Sebastiao Salgado

High in the Andes mountain range in Ecuador, this little girl tends the family's sheep. As the men of the poor Ecuadorian villages move into the larger cities for higher paying jobs, the women and children are left behind to take care of the livestock and village affairs. To make strenuous matters worse for these villagers, reports say that in the early months of 1998 sudden cases of plague and disease broke out in the communities of Chimborazo, Ecuador.

What does it mean to be a refugee? Sometimes it's not a soldier or a war that forces someone to pack up their belongings and search for a better life. Sometimes it's a simple as 'surviving.' This photograph eloquently portrays the conditions of the silent refugee; no gunshots, no exploding bombs, just a struggle for survival.


Works Cited:

Salgado, Sebastiao. Pamphlet. "Abandoning the Land in Ecuador." Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture: New York, 2000. 19. Print.

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture: New York, 2000. 266.

"An Outbreak of Plague Including Cases With Probable Pneumonic Infection, Ecuador, 1998." Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Elsevier Inc, 18 Jan. 2000. Web. 17 Feb. 2010.

Brothers In Arms

Photo credit: Sebastiao Salgado

The country of Sudan, located in Africa, has been the sight of constant war and bloodshed. Not against a foreign enemy or nation, but against itself. Reports say that the country has been fighting, off and on, in civil war since 1955 to the present date. This picture, taken in 1993, depicts a particular camp run by the Sudanese People's Liberation Front which claims to protect young men from being forced to serve in the Sudanese army. However, in reality, this camp is intended to train these young men to fight against the Sudanese government. Thus the vicious circle of hatred and death spins around and around.

Often, when wars are considered, a mental scene of grown men with dirtied faces is conjured. Rarely, if ever, do we imagine young boys being trained for the sole purpose of carrying on a conflict and battle which they didn't even start. What else is left for these young men? Perhaps they have nothing else. Without a family, your brothers in arms become the next best thing. However, the question must be asked- aren't we all brothers and sisters?


Works Cited:

Salgado, Sebastiao. Pamphlet. "Southern Sudan: A Population In Distress." Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture: New York, 2000. 11. Print.

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture: New York, 2000. 163.

"History of the Civil War in Sudan." SPLM Chapter UK and Ireland. SPLM Chapter UK and Ireland, 17 June 2009. Web. 10 February 2010.

Forward?

Photo credit: Sebastiao Salgado

With nowhere else to go, these Rwandan Tutsis (one of several tribes that live in the country of Rwanda, in Africa) walk onward to the nearest refugee camp in the area. Most of the population of Rwanda is made up of a tribe known as Hutu. For centuries these two tribes (Tutsi and Hutu) have lived together in relative harmony. However, recent decades have put a striking rift of animosity between them. When an airplane, carrying the president of Rwanda, was shot down on the 6th of April 1994, a chain of events was triggered that led to the awful scene of genocide on this African land. A genocide which would take the lives of about 1 million people.

This particular picture stands out to me because of its great imagery. It looks as though these refugees are walking out of a giant dust storm. They have taken whatever they can and left the chaos and terror behind them. Heavy laden, they walk towards an unknown and bleak future; asking a curious question: are we really moving forward?

Works Cited:

Salgado, Sebastiao. Pamphlet. "Rwandans Take Refuge In Tanzania." Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture: New York, 2000. 11. Print.

"Rwanda 1994." Talking About Genocide- Genocide. Peace Pledge Union Information, n.d. Peace Pledge Union. Web. 3 Feb 2010.

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture: New York, 2000. 171.