October 7.

October 7th, 2015

#2.

    Though I may not be as active on Facebook in the present as much as I was in the past, one of the main “pages” I still follow is a famous photographer that I am sure many have at least heard the name of. “Humans of New York” is a simple photoblog led by the talented photographer, Brandon Stanton, who literally goes around New York, takes pictures of random strangers, and asks them to simply “talk.” He asks about their day-to-day lives, their past, their possible future, anything and everything, Stanton will ask. His FaceBook page slowly hit fame as many people began to realize the depth of his photos which portrayed ordinary people going through such terrific/terrible ordeals and brings many to realize just how small this world really is. Though there are 7 billion nameless and faceless people all around us, it simply means there are 7 billion stories being untold and going unheard.

Recently, Stanton traveled to Europe on a mission to tell the stories of the many Syrian Refugees who literally left their homes with nothing but the clothes on their back to escape the ongoing civil war which started back in 2011. It’s heartbreaking to read some of the stories that many of these people told; to think of actually going through it? Why, it’s mind-blowing.

Here I am, sitting in my apartment with the air conditioning on high blast, new sheets covering my bed, wearing my new pajamas, my tummy completely full since I had a rather filling meal at dinner. Thousands of millions of miles away from me on another continent, there was a mere child of three sitting on the ground, with only a sheet of cardboard to separate him and the rocks beneath, no shoes to cover his feet, and was surviving on the small portion of meal his hunger-stricken parents had given him. This child of three years had to endure leaving his home in the middle of the night in a less-than-sturdy boat with no water or food. He then went on to drown as the boat collapsed mid-sea because of the overload in weight.

This child’s name was Aylan Kurdi.

Back in September, pictures of him lying on his face in his red shirt, denim shorts, and black shoes circulated the Internet as people cried out in horror at such a sight. Him and his five year old brother were trying to escape from their homeland towards safety in Greece (along with 12 other people). No one survived.

War.

What is it good for?

Why do people continue to fight and maim and kill and endure such violence when only tragedy is the result?

Because let us be quite frank here: in war, no one can ever be considered a winner. War can only yieldlosers as both sides can will endure tremendous loss.

However, Syria is not the only place where war is occurring at the moment; the war occurring in Palestine versus Israel, the war occurring against ISIS, the semi-war occurring in Korea, Malaysia, Burma, etc.

Again, war; what is it good for?

Aylan Kurdi could have grown up to be a young man who may have had all the answers to the universe or possibly a simple kind soul; his brother may have grown up to be a doctor or an engineer or he may have lived happily with his significant other and children; the thousands of innocent people that are losing or have lost their lives for absolutely no reason in a war they did not outright ask to participate in may never see what their future or their childrens’ future will hold.

What is War good for? Besides amounting absolute destruction, creating an imbalance in peace and chaos, showing that no matter how much Good there is in the world, Evil is always around.

What is War good for?

Absolutely Nothing.

 

P.S. If anyone willing to donate to the UNHCR (United Nation Refugee Agency), please go to http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home and help not only the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Europe, but also many others all over the world trying to seek a better and safer life. You can go on their site via the link above for more information.