Just a few days ago, I remember too clearly how I scolded my seven year old daughter while she was having lunch. It has always been like that, be it lunchtime, dinnertime or even breakfast. It seems too difficult for her to concentrate on eating her food like we do at a normal pace. Or even worse, she normally doesn't make an effort in finishing it...putting most of it to waste. It's as if eating, for her, is some kind of punishment. And I, as a concerned mum, felt a sudden urge to make her realize one of life's very important lessons.
I thought a good spank...or a sermon for that matter, isn't enough to get my message across to this oh-so-charming kid with a not-so-favorable eating habit. Luckily, I was browsing through the internet that time, so I clicked on YouTube and started typing away on the search bar. When I found just what I've been looking for, I called her attention even if she's just halfway done with her food. And she gladly went by my side to watch.
I played several short videos of starving kids in Africa...slowly dying...battling against poverty and hunger. I noticed how my daughter's facial expression shifted from excitement to sheer pity. She was teary-eyed. Staring into those walking skeletons made me shiver. They are people just like us...our brothers and sisters...and yet, they are deprived of their right to live. I myself cannot stand watching them suffer like that... so i clicked STOP.
And so I came across this intriguing video entitled "The Photograph That Made the World Weep". Interesting as it may seem, the two of us found ourselves waiting patiently for the video to buffer. As the background music plays (Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word), it narrates "In 1994, photojournalist Kevin Carter was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for taking a photograph that made the world weep....". I must admit, it was presented in a very slow motion fashion....as the purpose of the one who made this video is to "force" the viewer to think about the shocking story behind it... for at least the length of the video. The photo was taken in 1993 at the Village of Ayod in Southern Sudan. It shows a vulture waiting for its prey to die before it can feed on it. The video continues to buffer...and I was left wondering what kind of prey that might be. As the rest of the photograph starts to unfold right before my eyes, I couldn't help myself but cry. There she was, a Sudanese toddler struggling her way to a UN food camp. The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat her. This sent shivers down my spine and left me with a question: "Was she able to survive?"
That image worth more than a thousand words shocked and made the whole world weep. It has been said that no one knows what happened to the child, including Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken. And this triggered some to put Carter under heavy criticism for just photographing — and not helping — the little girl. By many eye witness accounts, he did stay long enough to make sure that she made it to the UN food Camp. If he had carried her, he would've been killed or imprisoned in Africa. Kevin Carter suffered from depression...haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain ... of starving or wounded children... Four months after bagging a Pulitzer for his most hated picture, he took his own life.
I know it's just a picture...but the real story behind it is what really bites. It was so saddening to see the real picture of the world. Some say that there are people in this world who eat to live, and people who live to eat. Worse, there are those who die simply because they have absolutely no food to eat. And yet, most of us are lucky enough to eat at least three times a day, complain about food and waste surprisingly large amounts of it everyday. This leads us back to me and my daughter's little dispute...
Days have passed and somehow, I have seen a major change in my kid's attitude towards mealtime. She eats much faster now and finishes her food completely. And i know for sure she had realized how lucky she was.
/march 31, 2010
I thought a good spank...or a sermon for that matter, isn't enough to get my message across to this oh-so-charming kid with a not-so-favorable eating habit. Luckily, I was browsing through the internet that time, so I clicked on YouTube and started typing away on the search bar. When I found just what I've been looking for, I called her attention even if she's just halfway done with her food. And she gladly went by my side to watch.
I played several short videos of starving kids in Africa...slowly dying...battling against poverty and hunger. I noticed how my daughter's facial expression shifted from excitement to sheer pity. She was teary-eyed. Staring into those walking skeletons made me shiver. They are people just like us...our brothers and sisters...and yet, they are deprived of their right to live. I myself cannot stand watching them suffer like that... so i clicked STOP.
And so I came across this intriguing video entitled "The Photograph That Made the World Weep". Interesting as it may seem, the two of us found ourselves waiting patiently for the video to buffer. As the background music plays (Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word), it narrates "In 1994, photojournalist Kevin Carter was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for taking a photograph that made the world weep....". I must admit, it was presented in a very slow motion fashion....as the purpose of the one who made this video is to "force" the viewer to think about the shocking story behind it... for at least the length of the video. The photo was taken in 1993 at the Village of Ayod in Southern Sudan. It shows a vulture waiting for its prey to die before it can feed on it. The video continues to buffer...and I was left wondering what kind of prey that might be. As the rest of the photograph starts to unfold right before my eyes, I couldn't help myself but cry. There she was, a Sudanese toddler struggling her way to a UN food camp. The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat her. This sent shivers down my spine and left me with a question: "Was she able to survive?"
That image worth more than a thousand words shocked and made the whole world weep. It has been said that no one knows what happened to the child, including Kevin Carter who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken. And this triggered some to put Carter under heavy criticism for just photographing — and not helping — the little girl. By many eye witness accounts, he did stay long enough to make sure that she made it to the UN food Camp. If he had carried her, he would've been killed or imprisoned in Africa. Kevin Carter suffered from depression...haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain ... of starving or wounded children... Four months after bagging a Pulitzer for his most hated picture, he took his own life.
I know it's just a picture...but the real story behind it is what really bites. It was so saddening to see the real picture of the world. Some say that there are people in this world who eat to live, and people who live to eat. Worse, there are those who die simply because they have absolutely no food to eat. And yet, most of us are lucky enough to eat at least three times a day, complain about food and waste surprisingly large amounts of it everyday. This leads us back to me and my daughter's little dispute...
Days have passed and somehow, I have seen a major change in my kid's attitude towards mealtime. She eats much faster now and finishes her food completely. And i know for sure she had realized how lucky she was.
/march 31, 2010
