And if that was me?

The family in the picture had just seen death, and had been forced to leave their homes in Zepa, Bosnia, or die (Srebrenica). Left to walk the 10 km away to a nearby city, this family finally lays down after the emotional and physical horror of the day. When I saw this photo I saw myself laying down on the ground next to my family, I felt the confusion as I considered what was to become of my life. Though I attempted to see or feel what they did, refugees are placed in situations I can not imagine, let alone attempt to rationalize. Refugees in the world are people like you and me, people who deserve respect and and a feeling of acceptance as they leave their gruesome realities for that of a foreign one. I am trying myself to understand how best I can help refugees now, but for now, I know that changing my view is as good start as any.

Salgado, Sebastião. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. 1995. Photograph. New York: Aperture Foundation, Inc., 2000. 127. Print

"July 27th - 13th anniversary of the fall of Zepa". Srebrenica Genocide Blog. 24 July 2008. Web. Jan. 4 2015

Displaced

Hey everyone!

I will be using this blog to discuss the realities of the displacement of refugees (who they are, why they are refugees, etc...). For the most part I will post a picture taken by famous photographer Sebastiaõ Salgado and talk a little about it. Sebastiaõ Salgado has traveled around the world and has placed himself in the thick of many situations to capture the essence of raw humanity or as some call it "the natural man". I hope that through the furthering of our knowledge on both his work and refugees we can see that we can make a difference in our own community and maybe even the worldwide community. I'm excited to start this journey with all of you. Below I have posted a link to a documentary of Salgado, it's called "The Salt of the Earth" and I highly recommend all to see it. It shed a lot of light on how one man can make such a difference in the world by solely publicizing what happens in it, and who knows, maybe one of you will find the desire to do the same.