LEFT TO TELL

I believe that everyone can learn something of value from Immaculée Ilibagiza’s book Left to Tell. It is the very personal story of how Ilibagiza survives the horrific Rwandan genocide in 1994. With her tale comes incredible insight into building a very real relationship with God. It is ultimately this relationship that saves her life.

What is it that makes Immaculée Ilibagiza’s story so compelling? For one thing, the events that unfold before Immaculée are heart-stopping; I discovered a thorough understanding of the atrocities committed during the genocide of ’94. These events were far from joyous (ignorance may be bliss), but it is far more important and enlightening to perceive the world for how it really is. It is arguable that keeping atrocities like this one in the Shadows of Unawareness makes it significantly easier for these events to repeat themselves; Left to Tell shines a light here that helps stop the darkness from spreading.

But while awareness may be the book’s pearl of great price, its magnum opus is Ilibagiza’s enlightening insight into forgiveness achieved through a sincere relationship with God. Reading this book is like witnessing a miracle; the reader watches Immaculée suffer again and again and then immediately put her trust in God to take away all of the pain. Never before has developing complete trust in God been laid out in such a sincere and raw real-life example.

I have recently finished this book, and I have no doubt that it has had a profound impact upon my life. Immaculée Ilibagiza believes that God has spared her life with the purpose of telling her story. She has dedicated her life to helping others forgive and learn to rely upon God to heal their own pains. Take a chance on this book. Immaculée Ilibagiza’s story Left to Tell is one that has been blessed with real power.

The Struggle For Employment

Photograph by Sebastião Salgado

This is a photograph of a refugee working at a construction site in São Paulo, Brazil. Here refugees are greatly blessed with the opportunity of finding jobs even when these men are without education or proper qualification. But, unfortunately, the rest of the world is not as gracious as São Paulo’s construction industry. Throughout the world, refugees struggle to find jobs and earn a sufficient amount of money. This problem becomes even more serious when you consider how refugees have given up basically everything and left their homes, sacrificing so much, with hopes of finding better opportunities elsewhere – without some sort of job they will find themselves with nothing and no way of getting anything.

This all made me think back to my first job. I was job hunting in the middle of the economic troubles facing the US about a year ago, which was no easy task. I remember applying at a countless number of places and competing with not only teenagers, but also with experienced adults who were recently laid off of work. If it was such a struggle for the average US citizen to get hired at a minimum-wage, basic-difficulty level job, then I can’t even begin to perceive just how near impossible it must have been for refugees trying to compete. An article on syracuse.com shares some insight into the mind of Maria Sanchez, a 48 year old woman who was employed ever since leaving Cuba for the US in 2005 but was laid off last year due to the economic troubles: “‘It's a difficult situation,’ Sanchez said in Spanish. ‘We left Cuba because of the economic problems and to find better life for my children. If we don't find job, it's going to be bad for us’” (Thompson). Despite how much effort and sacrifice these people put in towards fixing their lives, so much of the process is out of their hands. All they can do is put forth their effort and hope.

Works Cited

Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000. 317.

Thompson, Jennifer. “Refugees are finding fewer job opportunities in Central New York.” Syracuse.com. Syracuse Online LLC, 20 April 2009. Web. 17 February 2010.

53 Million Children

Photograph by Sebastião Salgado

This week’s photograph is one that was taken at the S.O.S. Orphanage in N’Dosho, a small city in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This orphanage holds more than 4,000 children. I personally find this amount to be mind-blowing – N’Dosho is just a tiny, obscure city buried deep in the colossal continent of Africa. This understanding led me to research more on the subject. What I found was troubling. According to the Inter Press Service News Agency’s website, “between 1990 and 2000, the number of orphans in Africa rose from 30.9 million to 41.5 million” (de Queiroz). This article was published in 2006, and it predicted that by 2010, there will be a haunting total of 53.1 million orphans. Whether or not they were successful in projecting their statistics four years into the future, I was unable to determine. But part of me can not help but to think pessimistically and wonder if the beginning of this decade has proven to be even more upsetting than the Inter Press Service News Agency had hoped. But like I said, this is just me thinking pessimistically. Please pray for these children.

Works Cited

de Queiroz, Mario. “AFRICA: A Continent of Orphans”. Inter Press Service News Agency. IPS-Inter Press Service, 2010. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.

Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000. 197.

The Rwandan Massacre

Photograph by Sebastião Salgado

This photograph of Salgado’s is, without a doubt, the most graphic photograph used yet in my blog. It captures the paralyzing scene of the “burial” of 4,000 Rwandan refugees. These people have all died at the refugee camp in Kibumba because of various health difficulties, such as cholera, dysentery, and starvation. Because there are so many corpses, tractors (like the one shown in this picture) pile the bodies up against mounds of volcanic lava and then cover up these stacks with heaps of earth.

“Scholars of these sorts of events say the killers, armed mostly with machetes and clubs, nonetheless did their work five times as fast as the mechanized gas chambers used by the Nazis” (Amanpour). These are the words of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who held the position as president throughout this awful event. To present a more tangible understanding of just how terrible the Rwandan Massacre was, Wikipedia claims that from the massacre’s window of approximately 100 days, “estimates of the death toll have ranged between 500,000 and 1,000,000, or as much as 20% of the total population of the country” (Wikipedia). The Rwandan Massacre was indeed genocide. It was born out of a history of much contention and open differences between the nation’s two major ethnic groups – the Hutu and the Tutsi. The contentions peaked when Hutus established control in the government and began to exercise ideologies that the Tutsi planned to enslave the Hutu. Spreading ideas such as this by means of propaganda, a significantly large portion of the nation’s Hutu population began “cleansing” the nation of Rwanda of the Tutsi’s evil ways.

Machetes and machine guns were the tools used to “cleanse” the nation. What they really did was stain the lands red with blood. So many lives were broken and altered forever because of these long 100 days. Even today the story of the Rwandan Massacre is told and retold again and again. Hopefully we can learn from the mistakes of our past and avoid another catastrophe such as this one. But, ultimately, it is up to us.

Works Cited

Amanpour, Chris. "Amanpour: Looking back at Rwandan genocide". CNN. CNN, 6 April 2004. Web. 4 Feb. 2010.

“Rwandan Genocide”. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 2010. Web. 4 Feb. 2010.

Salgado, Sebastião. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000. 193

Holding On to Images of the Past

This picture depicts two Iraqi women holding photographs of loved ones, but the men in these pictures were taken away from them many years ago. To these women, July 31st 1983 is remembered as a day of real tragedy. On this day, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi soldiers came into various villages and took away all of the men. The villages were told that the men were being taken to work as laborers for the day, but as it turned out, they were never to be heard from again. The women of these villages, like the ones shown in Salgado’s picture, are still hopeful for the return of their brothers, sons, friends, and husbands.

In an article published in the Los Angeles Times, Bahar Suleiman, one of the thousands of women who lost family that day stated that, “We still have not given up hope. We expect our husbands to return” (Daragahi). This is very optimistic, but when does optimism go too far? Suleiman again says, “I still believe that someday my husband will walk through that gate there” (Daragahi). Many of these widows have pushed themselves into somewhat of a state of denial. It is like these Iraqi women have placed their lives on pause and have failed to press play again for over twenty-six years. This same news article tells how Bahar Suleiman’s daughter, Leila, refused to marry for many years, and the article attributes this decision to her missing father. She was afraid of leaving her mother and moving on, so these two women simply continued to wait for the return of their loved one. In 2006, Leila discovered that her father had indeed died and been buried in a mass grave many years ago. At first, this was difficult for her and her mother to deal with, but the pain eventually subsided. Also, Leila fell in love and was married not long after. Reflecting on her experience, Lelia said, “Until now, there was no happiness in my heart. If you are waiting for something, you cannot move on to something else” (Daragahi).

It is not difficult to imagine the effects of a harsh dictator or the pain of a war. Saddam Hussein, and other corrupt leaders like him, caused much damage and tore apart the lives of a countless amount of people. Those with such total disregard for the rest of humanity have also been the cause of so many innocent people becoming refugees. Thankfully there are some, like Leila, who have managed to ultimately find happiness despite the terrible struggle to reach that point. But this isn’t always the case; even today many of these widows continue to sit and wait for the return of those Iraqi men. Will they ever find them? Will they ever find peace?

Works Cited
Daragahi, Borzou. "Lives of Some Kurdish Widows Frozen in Time." New York Times. New York Times, 9 Sep. 2007. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. "Legends Online." Photo District News. 1999. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.

So Many Thirsty Souls

Today I had a shower that lasted close to 20 minutes. I didn't need to take one this long, but the hot water was just too soothing for me to pass up. I had a pretty stressful day yesterday, so I awoke with the idea that I deserved a nice, warm shower to somehow make up for the previous day's troubles. Understandable, right? Well, needless to say, I didn't think twice or feel any shame for wasting a little water.

But when I saw this picture taken by Salgado, the shame kicked in. It shows an infant in Jakarta, Indonesia bathing himself in a bucket of water. And if this child's bucket-bath isn't enough to bring the waves of sympathy, it is also noted that the water he is using is "imported" - meaning there is no running water available. But a reliable water supply means much more than just luxury: without sufficient water supply, health is also at risk. The terrible situation in Haiti occurring right now illustrates this concept. "With further destruction of the water supply, the people of Haiti are going to be at increased risk of developing gastrointestinal diseases, food poisoning, as well as worsening of injuries sustained by those in high-risk groups like children and seniors" (Fiore).

Realistically speaking, those struggling in Haiti wouldn't have been affected any differently whether I took a 20 minute shower or skipped my shower altogether. But this doesn't mean we are completely useless in doing our part to help. An excellent place to find opportunities to give assistance in the current crisis in Haiti or other similar situations worldwide is LDS Philanthropies. There are many things we can do to help, and there are so many people in need of help. Let's do our part.

Works Cited
Fiore, Marrecca. "Doctor: Significant Long-Term Health Effects Expected in Haiti". Fox News.com. Fox News Network, 13 January 2010. Web. 21 January 2010.

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000. 362

Sebastiao Salgado

Photograph by Sebastiao Salgado

Look around you. Chances are you've got a pretty nice view: a decent amount of food, a comfy bed, a closet packed with warm clothes, a least a couple of pairs of shoes. Do you have a cell phone in your pocket at this very moment? Heck, if you're reading this right now, then you have some sort of access to a computer and the internet. Not too shabby, huh?

This is a photograph taken by Sebastiao Selgado. His book Migrations: Humanity in Transition is a collection of his photographs that capture the lives of refugees from 40 different countries. What his work reveals is the darker side to humanity -- from broken families and broken bodies to broken souls.

In this society, it's safe to say that a lot of us are really well off and live very comfortably. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own little bubbles of concern that we forget that there are indeed those out there who go through hardships and face incredible trials on a daily basis. While we may get upset because we misplaced the tv remote or our internet connection is slow, others in this world struggle to find somewhere warm to sleep each night. But I think this is the purpose of this weekly blog project: not to guilt-trip us, but to raise our awareness. In the introduction to his book Salgado stated, "We hold the key to humanity's future, but for that we must understand the present. These photographs show part of this present. We cannot afford to look away" (12). While these pictures may trouble us or even make us feel somewhat guilty for living lives so rich with comfort, the purpose of these is not to hurt but to heal. Hopefully we can all take something from this new-found awareness and somehow play our own part in healing the present to create a better future.


Works Cited
Salgado, Sebastiao. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000. Print.

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