This photograph is of the Camp of Benako located near the Tanzania border in Africa. These children are playing on a pile of dirt that was dug for the latrines. In the camp, the piles of dirt were where all the kids played for fun. This camp is one of the places that those affected by the Rwandan slaughter in 1994 went to for safety and protection. There were around 500,000 people in the camp who were of the Tutsi tribe, fleeing from all the killings (Thomas). This massacre was brought about all because of discrimination of people being part of different tribes. While there were a lot of people in the camp, there were many sicknesses that were spread throughout the camp especially between the children (Thomas). They had very little food and the people running the Refugee Camp just would tell the Refugees to hold out until more help could come. There wasn't any good shelters to protect anyone from the elements of weather, just fabric tents. I think that it's really cool that amidst all the hardship that families went through, these children are able to find ways to have fun and enjoy themselves regardless of how bad their conditions were. There isn't much information about the camp today but I think it still probably has people living there today in the same harsh living conditions.
Salgado, Sebastiao. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York: Aperture, 2000. Print.
---. Pamphlet. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York, Aperture. 2000. 271. Print.
Thanks for sharing! You got me thinking.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that terrible--the way that these refugees live? Scarcely any water or food; no school/learning, no stabiity or home. But they're finding ways to enjoy what life has handed them and are making the best of it. This is a lesson that we could all learn and apply more fully!
So you can't find out if there are still people living like that? I'd be interested to know. :) Great post--I also love your blog format! Appealing but not overwhelming. :]