Before researching the background on Rwandan orphans, the only knowledge on these children that I had was based off the cultural suggestions of the movie "Hotel Rwanda". This movie tells the story of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that ended in the death of over 800,000 Rwandan natives. In the movie it is shown how the death of these 800,000 people, mostly male adults, affected the country of Rwanda.

In this movie, however, there is not much background on the children and how they were affected by this incident. After furthering my research, I learned how entire families were murdered during the genocide, some leaving just the youngest child to fend for themselves. Most were forced to drop out of school and try to survive alone. Adding on to the hardships these children dealt with, HIV/AIDS is a huge problem for Rwanda. According to one of my sources, over 600,000 children were orphaned by 2001 due to this epidemic. The child mortality rate is also outrageously low in Rwanda- 1 in 5 children die before their fifth birthday.

After learning a little more about what these children have to endure, I really sympathized with the little boy in my photograph and understood the project “Through the Eyes of Children” more. These photographs not only serve as ways for these children to express themselves, but the project also helps rebuild the lives of these children by trying to get them back in school and onto a better life.

After thinking more about the lives of Rwandan children I moved on to my photograph. I dissected this photo into two parts: the child in the photo and Devota herself taking the picture. Because of his age I would assume that the little boy in my photograph was orphaned from HIV/AIDS opposed to the Rwandan genocide. His emotions of sorrow affect me a lot more now that I can think about what this child may have gone through. This child may not even live to be five years old according to Rwanda's mortality rates.

Looking outside of the photograph, I also thought about Devota, the photographer. I thought about what she may have gone through. She is old enough that she may have gone through the Rwandan genocide. I picture Devota taking a picture of this baby, a baby that was her a little over ten years ago- lonely and scared. Maybe this photograph was to show that there were problems back when she was a baby that still exist today. That there are still orphaned children in Rwanda struggling to live, that HIV/AIDS and violence in Rwanda contribute to this and that just because time has passed, the problem hasn’t disappeared.

Overall, I feel that knowing background on the subjects of the picture allows pathos to emerge more. I definitely felt more looking into the eyes of the crying baby when I could imagine what he had gone through.


Works Cited

"Orphan Crisis." Orphans of Rwanda.2008. http://www.orphansofrwanda.org/learn/orphan_crisis.php