Starving

         In the aftermath of the genocide and war in Rwanda, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from their homes, and ended up in refugee camps in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). Many of these refugees waited in large groups near the train tracks to wait for food to arrive on trains. A train came--but did not deliver much food per person. Nobody was sure of how where or how many refugees there were, so each family was given only one pound of corn and peas. This resulted in mass starvation among the refugees (Salgado 213).
        The image I chose from this week's pages depicts two men, a woman, and a small child who are all starving. These people are almost literally skin and bones, especially the child. It is scary to see what happened to these people. They were completely dependent on outside aid for food, and were let down. This meant not only discouragement, but many deaths as well. Looking at the pamphlet's description of the photo, is says it was taken on March 31st of 1997. This means that the starving child is just about the same age as me at the time. This really makes me think about what these people went through, how it really did happen, and could have potentially been me, if I had been born into a different family. These starving people are just like you and me.

(From page 213)

Work Cited

Salgado, Sebastião. Migrations. 1st ed. New York, NY: Aperture Foundation, Inc., 2000. Print.