When in refugee camps, the water supply is far away and the people there had to walk long distances just to get water for their families. Some camps distributed the water in trucks but the lines were often long and many people would wait for hours to get very little water. Sometimes the water they were fortunate enough to get would be contaminated and some would get sick and others would die of bacteria in the water (UNCR). This specific photograph is of a Camp in Zaire which is in Africa. This camp is one of many that were used in the Rwandan Holocaust in 1994. Conditions for them were terrible. No shelters to live in, hardly any food or water, and many died in the camp because of the terrible conditions. The people that were in the camp were mainly Hutus who were trying to escape the terrible fighting and wanted to a start of a new life.
It's hard to imagine a life like that. I've never had to do anything but turn on the tap for water or go to the store for food. I can't imagine not having that luxury in my life. Not only that, but to have no food and to be living under a tarp or sheet in a camp. To some people, this is just everyday life. These people were able to appreciate the more important things in life like family and friends and striving to better themselves. It's too bad that today we have so many things that get in the way of things that are really important.
Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. "Migrations: Humanity in Transition [The Human Family in the World]." Legends Online. PDN & Kodak Professional. n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2010
When I read about these photos, I was surprised to see that many of the Rwandan refugees were Hutus, not Tutsis. "How could this be?" I wondered. The Hutus were the ones doing the killing. The Tutsis were the ones that should have been fleeing. But as I continued thinking about the situation after the genocide was over, I realized that Hutus were not safe. There must have been many Tutsis (the ones who were still alive) that wanted nothing more than to get back at the Hutus. No one was exempted from the tragedy of this genocide. Some didn't feel the effects until after it was over but the tragedy was felt by all. I have a harder time being angry with the Hutus when I realized that they suffered much as well.
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