Perspectives

In the Region of Ranchi, State of Bihar, India, there is a tribe that reveres stream and waterfalls. They hold family and tribal ceremonies by waterfalls. Waterfalls are so important to them.

I think this is so interesting. The picture from Salgado's book that I was looking at was a picture of two people sitting by a waterfall. They are in a forest. Normally when we see pictures of people sitting by waterfalls in our society, we think of vacations, of tropical adventures. But for these people, the forest and the waterfall are home. It’s not just a beautiful site to visit, it’s where they live.

 I really love thinking about that, realizing how there are so many people around the world who live so differently from me. That’s one of things that I like about Salgado’s book. Not only does he raise awareness for the issues that we often don’t know about, he also brings new perspectives by showing us how other people in the world live and how it works for them.

However, as the forests are lost, rainfall is dropping which means that there is less and less water. In my sociology class, we were discussing what happens when a group of people has a fundamental part of their culture taken away from them. The example we discussed was a tribe in Canada who's culture was largely based around the caribou. Their stories often had caribou in them, they hunted caribou and ate their meat and used their fur for various things. When these people were moved onto a reserve, they lost that fundamental part of their culture and they experienced a sort of culture shock. Alcoholism and other things became huge problems on the reserve. It's very sad to think that if this tribe who reveres waterfalls loses them, they could lose a fundamental part of their culture.

Works Cited

Salgado, Sebastião. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York: Aperture, 2000. 337 Print.

Salgado, Sebastião. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (Pamphlet) New York: Aperture, 2000. 25 Print

Left to Tell

Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza was an amazing book. It’s amazing in its honesty. Ilibagiza tells her story, the story of how she survived the Rwandan genocide. She talks about how her experiences drew her closer to God and ultimately how she learned forgiveness. Her honesty as she tells her story is something that really catches the reader and pulls them in. She doesn’t sugar coat anything, she doesn’t pretend that she never felt hatred or that she was always perfectly forgiving and without anger. She admits her great struggle and that honesty makes the reader want to keep reading, because they recognise that honesty.

This story gave me a new perspective on not only forgiveness, but keeping love in your heart instead of hatred. Ilibagiza went through a great struggle to be able to forgive those who were slaughtering her family. But not only did she forgive them and say those words out loud, she also fought to rid her heart of anger. She recognized how anger was adversary and she couldn’t get closer to God while she had that anger in her heart. It’s amazing to me how she changed and was able to develop a love for her enemies and it makes me contemplate how I can better love those around me. Instead of keeping anger in my heart, I can try harder to feel God’s love for His children.

Living in the Forest

When I think of the Amazon forests, I think of lots of trees. I think of animals. I think of insects. I think of different kinds of plants. What I don't think of are people.

The people of the Marubo Maronal village walk freely through the forest. It's actually quite a busy place. There are paths that link streams and villages. There is a lot of contact between different communities, be it through trade, marriage or ritual. There is a very tight cultural network. Even though from an aerial view the Amazon would seem calm, it’s teaming with human life.

I think this is so interesting. A lot of the time in America we don't even think about people who live differently from us. But there are so many different ways people are living. People live in the forest, they have villages that we would probably find very difficult to live in. There are people living as refugees who don't have a home and sometimes go days without food. We get so occupied with our lives here and with ourselves that a lot of the time we forget the rest of the world. There are probably times that I have gone days without thinking if things outside of my life, my home, where I’m from. I think it’s important to remember the other ways of life there are and that ours isn’t the only way to live. Even if we aren’t doing anything to actively help others by thinking that way, we can at least have a broader perspective of the world and maybe be more open in our ways of thinking.

Works Cited

Salgado, Sebastião. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York: Aperture, 2000. 256/257 Print.

Salgado, Sebastião. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (Pamphlet) New York: Aperture, 2000. 18 Print