life in color

A landmine is “a mine designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons.” Landmines have caused great destruction around the world, taking limbs and lives. According to Salgado, of those who step on landmines, fifty-percent are killed. Furthermore, eighty-percent of children die instantly as a result of landmines. The African country of Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975. The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) began a civil war with the rebel group Unita. 300,000 people lost their lives before a peace treaty was signed. However, fighting quickly resumed, and thousands more were killed. In 1994, they attempted peace again, but the war continued. It was not until 2002 that the conflict in Angola finally ended. But the country is still suffering.  Though it has an abundance of oil, Angola remains one of the poorest countries in the world...

Sitting in the dark of my friend’s basement. Scary movie on the screen. The character walks slowly to the door. The music turns eerier. Suspense builds. When suddenly, the killer jumps out with a knife. The girls at the party squeal and scream, while the guys just laugh at the reactions. And then there’s me with my knees to my chest—missing all the action from behind a pillow. Yes, I am “that girl,” who can watch an entire movie peering through her fingers. I don’t like scary movies. Even worse—blood and gore. I often close my eyes. However, this week while looking at the Salgado book, I couldn’t just look away. Salgado took this particular photo in 1995 after the Rwandan Genocide had ended. The remains of many Tutsi people lie on the dirt floor of an abandoned schoolhouse. I tried to count the skulls but couldn’t determine how many souls lost their lives in that room. Their bodies were never buried, just left to decay. Salgado describes the photograph, “Most of the...

Genocide (noun): the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. See also: mass murder, massacre, annihilation, extermination, elimination, decimation, butchery, ethnic cleansing, holocaust. The Salgado photograph I focused on this week depicts the Rwandan genocide. Nine men lie strewed across the road. It is hard to tell where one body ends and the next begins. One body drapes across the wrecked pickup’s hood, coming through the broken windshield. He wears only socks, which makes me wonder if the Hutus took his shoes as easily as they took his life. In Rwanda, three separate ethnic groups exist: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The Hutu race dominated, blaming the Tutsis for the social and economic problems facing the country. The reign of President Habyarimana amplified these tensions through much propaganda. On April 6, 1994, the president was killed, and war broke out immediately. The Hutus began their plot to ext...

The Republic of Yugoslavia broke up as a result of many political upheavals in the 1990s. Conflicts broke out around the region as the separate factions fought for both independence and control. One of the most significant was the Bosnian War. Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic wanted to annex Bosnian territory to create a “Greater Serbia.” The Croats and Muslims living in Bosnia called for independence. The Bosnian Serbs attacked and massacred thousands of civilians in what later would be deemed genocide. While the actual number of casualties remains unknown, it is estimated that over 100,000 died during this war. They also used rape as a military tactic; around 50,000 girls and women were raped during this time period. Approximately 2.2 million people fled from the destruction and horror that existed in their country. This has been described as the worst conflict in Eurpoe since World War II. Salgado documented one of these Bosnian refugee camps in his photographs. Aro...

Three weeks ago I entered the doors the South Franklin Community Center for the first time. I am amazed at the changes that have occurred within myself--mostly on my perspective--in such a short time. I see the world through different eyes--opened to the issues around me, ways to make a difference, and the power of the written word.  This particular time volunteering, the first child to arrive was my precious Daniela. She walked in, scanning the room until her eyes locked on mine. She immediately came up to me, math test in hand. She proudly showed me the big, red ‘A,’ announcing her success. Her spelling test grade lacked a little, though, so we decided to work on the words she had missed. We practiced the spellings until she could write them all perfectly. However, when I asked about the meanings of her words, she could not confidently tell me the definitions of many of them. I went over them one-by-one until she had a better understanding of their meanings. Why k...