We Are Orphans Here (response 2)

Between the two essays we read this week, "Two Shallow Graves" and "We Are Orphans Here", I found that the latter stuck with me a little more. It was a narrative that I couldn't relate to, but, I wasn't meant to. This was about bringing awareness to what was going on and I, like the author, sympathized with the people going through the situation and wishing there was something I could do to help. In class, we got to see pictures of the refugee camp and it definitely impacted the reading in a different way. I think that, when reading, it's easy to forget that these are real people with very real and unfortunate situations and the images definitely hi-lighted that for me. It gave a face to the people and the heroes like Baha was. Similarly, it was also difficult to see his family, especially his youngest son who was left without a father and would never get to meet him. It's heartbreaking to think about, and when I went back to reread through the last part of the essay, it was even more difficult to read.

As for the refugee camps, I definitely has envisioned them being in a worse shape than what was portrayed through the images. It was interesting to see the little things they had, such as a mall to shop in. I guess it goes to say that having images to read alongside with the essay really changes the meaning, for me at least, and brings attention to these issues.