Photograph by Salgado. Can you even imagine having to bury bodies with construction equipment? Here in Kibumba, Zaire after the devastation of the Rwandan Genocide, bodies are piled into mass graves. There were well over a thousand bodies here and with volcanic terrain digging graves was difficult. The French and Americans were some of the first to arrive with heavy machinery for excavating the land. Most of the bodies were moved by Rwandan Nationals hired by aid agencies. (Perlez) There was great personal risk in moving the dead because of the disease and illness in the bodies. In my life I have seen little death. Very few of my close relatives have passed on and death seems almost fictional to me. I cannot fathom having to bury people in such a distasteful way. I understand the inability to perform thousands of proper burials, but my heart shutters to think that so many left this world in such an appalling manner. *
Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Aperture. New York, 2000. 193
Perlez, Jane. “At Disease-Ravaged Camps, a Battle to Bury the Dead.” New York Times. 1 August 1994. Web. 2 February 2010
It's true, this is heart-wrenching. So many people were taken from this world and their bodies were left behind unclaimed. Many of the people who would have claimed them were lying next to them in the mass graves they were buried in. It makes me angry to think how long it took the world to respond to this horrific event. I can't help but think how these mass graves wouldn't have had to be dug if the world would have responded earlier. One of the biggest flaws in modern politics, I think, is how long it takes to get anything done.
ReplyDelete