"Trash City" Photographs

I came across a short article and photo essay recently, which seemed apropos of recent posts to this blog. It documented life for hundreds of human beings in a dump outside the capital of Mozambique. The link below will pull up the article and photos.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/27/Mozambique.trash.city/index.html?hpt=hp_abar

In one sense I'm hesitant to share the article and photos in this forum. We Westerners often have a stereotyped view of Africa, that it is just a continent of human misery and hopelessness. I have already posted several heartwrenching articles about the dire famine in Eastern Africa. I'm torn between wanting to raise awareness of the suffering of others in our human family, and not wanting to perpetuate these stereotypes.

Personally, I have a real love and admiration for Africa and Africans. I have never been to the continent, but have read books and seen documentaries. I am well aware of the beauty of the land and its diverse peoples. It is my dream to one day spend time in Africa in some capacity.

There is a lot of human suffering in Africa, but that is not the whole story of Africa. Human suffering is also occuring on every other continent. I've seen stories about people living in garbage dumps in Central America and India. People elsewhere--and in our own country--live by collecting what others throw away. It is a truly profound difference in the standard of living among the members of the human family.

The photographs in the link above are difficult to look at. You can see how filthy the people are, how their skin is not healthy, and how desperate they are to attend to just the most basic human needs like quieting a hungry stomach or fending off the cold. The images of children and the elderly are particularly difficult to see.

There were two parts of the article that most made an impression on me.

First, the photographer talked about the generosity of the people he encountered at this trash dump. He said, "Despite all the circumstances of how they live, they keep on showing their kindness and happiness and hospitality. We don't find these human qualities in many places in the world."

Later, in conclusion, the photograph said, "The life we waste everyday because we want a better one or because we are never satisfied with it, is the life that many wish and yearn to have and would give everything to have it."

I think these two points are very profound and worth pondering.

Luke 6:21, 25
Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh.
Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep.

Hunger

Not long ago, as I was navigating rush hour traffic on my way home, I was listening to NPR’s “All Things Considered” to catch up on the day’s events. I was really moved by one story in the broadcast. It was about an artist’s exploration of the experience of hunger.

In great depth, the artist interviewed people who had experienced hunger first hand. The interviewees described in heart-breaking detail what the experience is like. For most of us, who have never known real hunger, we don’t know how physically and emotionally torturous the experience is.

You can listen to the broadcast at the link below. As I listened to it in my car when it was originally aired, I found myself moved to tears. Many of us may be supportive of anti-hunger efforts, but may not have a real sense of what it is like to be food insecure and not have food to feed yourself or your family. The broadcast was heart-breakingly insightful.


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125299636





Matthew 25:35 (New International Version)

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.

El Paso Museum of Art’s American War “Propaganda”

During the Christmas holidays several months ago, my family was in El Paso, Texas and had occasion to visit the El Paso Art Museum of Art. It has an architecturally impressive home in downtown El Paso. Among other things, there is a lovely collection of European religious art from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. And during our visit there was an exhibit of art depicting the Virgin of Guadalupe. However, for purposes of this blog, I actually wanted to focus on another part of the museum.

Tucked away just outside of the gift shop, the museum displays a collection of what it termed American “propaganda” from the World War II period. It was a fascinating series of posters encouraging the American public to do various things in support of the country’s war effort. I was born well after World War II, and have only learned about that time from history books and documentaries. The posters were encouraging a wide variety of sacrifices of ordinary citizens—from participation in air raid drills to using less meat to recycling an array of industrial materials (well before the first Earth Day). Citizens were being asked to use less of just about everything and to do without certain items, many of which were considered staples of every day life.

And despite the great sacrifices being demanded, it seemed to me that Americans did all this—in other words, the war propaganda was successful-- because the average American ardently wanted to support the troops on the front lines. One could argue that support arose simply because our country had been attacked and our future seemed in jeopardy. And one could argue the same situation has been present in our country since 9/11. But its seems to me that the level of support was different, more personal during World War II in part because of the widespread mobilization of the nation’s young men. The war directly touched every community many times over, and touched most families personally. People were sacrificing not just for abstract ideals and to support folks they had never met. During World War II, Americans were literally sacrificing to support their sons, husbands and brothers.

Since our invasion of Iraq in 2003, some have called for a return to a mandatory draft. I’ve had mixed feelings about that proposal. I tend to have a great skepticism about wars generally, and that skepticism has intensified in recent years for fairly obvious reasons. However, it does seem a persuasive argument to me that nations with a more widespread conscription of their young people would be more reflective and cautious in following their leaders’ call for war, particularly in cases when the war is preemptive or elective in nature. (Indeed, many countries in Western Europe have compulsory military service for their young.) It seems strange to me that our own country has been at war for about 7 years now, but that fact seems to not disrupt the lives of most of our citizenry. For most of us, life goes on with only occasional remembrance that our troops are abroad fighting two wars.

http://www.elpasoartmuseum.org/

Matthew 5:9 (New International Reader’s Version)

Blessed are those who make peace. They will be called sons of God.