Rough Draft 2

In a troubled country, suffering from war and famine,Rwanda, live children full of hope. Children who were born into this madness, they we call war. They didn't have a decision. They could have been born anywhere and grown up to be doctors and lawyers. Instead, they were born into the poor country of Rwanda. Africa's most densely populated country, Rwanda, has 7.8 million civilians with a 1.84% population growth rate. Needless to say, there is very little hope that these children will live a long and prosperous life. But in this picture you see that the children still have room left to dream. In this photo snapped by a young boy named, Musa, you see 10 young boys sitting on a rail near a body of water by the orphanage. The boys all seem to be enjoying themselves. Not one of them looks sad or upset. They seem to be looking into the open world set before them. Maybe in hopes that they will soon live in a better place.

The Imbabazi Orphanage was founded by Roz Carr. She first settled in Rwanda more than 50 years ago, finding refuge near the Virunga Mountains. When the Rwanda Genocide started in 1994 she took several civilians into her care, by hiding them on her farm. When the insurgents found out about her farm, they immediately sought out to kill Carr. She found a way back to America and escaped death. Later that very same year she returned back to Rwanda. Only to find her farm and the villages burnt to the ground, destroyed, and lonely. It was at that time that she decided to start the Imbabazi Orphanage, to save and care for the lives of the children suffering in Rwanda. There the children still have room to believe that something good can come from a country that seems to be suffering. It is the only private orphanage in Rwanda. They help pay for tuition fees for secondary school and college students. They provide the hope that these children need to live. With the average life span in Rwanda only being 39, these children have a head start on their future. Some in hopes of being able to be in politics, or change their country around.

The photo that I have chosen from the Compose Design Advocate website "Through the Eyes of Children" is taken by a young boy named Musa. My chosen photograph is of 10 young boys that are sitting on a rail looking out onto a body of water. The boys seem to be enjoying themselves just hanging out on a lazy day. Before I knew much about my picture I thought it had to be in a poor country in Africa, by the way the boys are dressed. Their clothes look unwashed, tattered, and old. Some of the boys are not even wearing shoes. The pathos can be interpreted several ways in this picture. Some people may say that the boys look sad or upset, some may argue that the boys are just happy sitting there on the rail. Which is a hard thing to interpret because you can not see their faces. You simply are guessing how they are feeling by looking at the way they present themselves. Some people may say that they are sad by the way the picture is edited. It's edited in a way, saturation, that makes the dark colors seem darker, and the lighter colors more of a yellowish hue. Some people may consider them to be happy for the fact that they can just sit and enjoy a day down by the lake. Pathos is the artist or photographer in this case trying to make you feel in a similar way. How do you feel when you look at this photograph? Personally for me, I feel mixed emotions. I feel sad that they were born into such a war stricken country, but also I feel happy that they get to enjoy themselves just doing something that many of us take for granted. The ethos of a photo is a mode of persuasion. What the photographer wants you to focus on in the picture. Which leads me to focus on the boys, you can't see their faces. So it must not be important who they rather, what they are doing. In some photos the photographer wants you to focus in on one certain person, but in this photo you are focused on all of the boys. The fact that who they are is not important in this picture was very interesting to me, and it took time for me to develop an opinion on it. After I did some research on it, I realized that maybe the photographer is saying, it's not who you are thats necessarily important but rather, what you get out of life thats important. For instance the boys seem to be enjoying the simplicity of the Earth, looking out onto the water.

At first glance the photo seems to be simply of 10 boys hanging out, but if you look closely you realize there's more to it than that. You notice that there is another young man below the dock, but your attention is not directed at him. You would also notice that the it is a cloudy day, with no sunshine. You also notice that the photographer may have adjusted the contrast and the colors of this photo. As you can see the boys are darker than everything else, making them the center of attention. Or it could be the lighting of a cloudy day in Rwanda. Also the photo is not showing the whole rail, but rather taken at an angle. This is what we would call framing in the photograph. The photographer doesn't want you to see the whole rail, he wants you to focus on the 10 young boys. Also the boy farthest on the left is partially cropped out, leaving the audience to wonder how long does the rail go on. Is it a bridge, or is it just a dock? The fact that we don't know leads us to keep studying the picture trying to find the answer.

While looking at this picture I want others to truly understand the hardships that these Rwandan children have faced. While some of them were lucky enough to be born after the Rwanda genocide, many of them were born during or lived through it. In Rwanda it is very common for children to die either at birth or before the age of five. During many labors the mothers die, leaving the child either to grow up with its father, or to be orphaned at birth. With the help of the Imbabazi Orphanage these children are getting a second chance. One that many do not receive in Rwanda. These children are not completely free from the government and the ways of their country though. They just have a better chance of surviving through the hardest time in their life, childhood.

Works Cited

The World Factbook "Rwanda" 7 October 2009.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium "Roz Carr and the Imbabazi Orphanage" 2009
http://www.columbuszoo.org/partners_in_conservation/rozcarrandtheimbabaziorphanage.aspx
Infoplease "Rwanda" 2005
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107926.html

Writing Project 1

In a troubled country, suffering from war and famine, lives very intelligent children. Children who were born into this madness. They didn't have a decision. They could have been born anywhere and grown up to be doctors and lawyers. Instead, they were born into the poor country of Rwanda. Africa's most densely populated country, Rwanda, has 7.8 million civilians with a 1.84% population growth rate. Needless to say, there is very little hope that these children will live a long and prosperous life. But in this picture you see that the children still have room left to dream. In this photo snapped by a young boy named, Musa, you see 10 young boys sitting on a rail near a body of water by the orphanage. The boys all seem to be enjoying themselves. Not one of them looks sad or upset. They seem to be looking into the open world set before them. Maybe in hopes that they will soon live in a better place.

The Imbabazi Orphanage was founded by Roz Carr. She first settled in Rwanda more than 50 years ago, finding refuge near the Virunga Mountains. When the Rwanda Genocide started in 1994 she took several civilians into her care, by hiding them on her farm. When the insurgents found out about her farm, they immediately sought out to kill Carr. She found a way back to America and escaped death. Later that very same year she returned back to Rwanda. Only to find her farm and the villages burnt to the ground, destroyed, and lonely. It was at that time that she decided to start the Imbabazi Orphanage, to save and care for the lives of the children suffering in Rwanda. There the children still have room to believe that something good can come from a country that seems to be suffering. It is the only private orphanage in Rwanda. They help pay for tuition fees for secondary school and college students. They provide the hope that these children need to live. With the average life span in Rwanda only being 39, these children have a head start on their future. Some in hopes of being able to be in politics, or change their country around.

The photo that I have chosen from the Compose Design Advocate website "Through the Eyes of Children" is taken by a young boy named Musa. My chosen photograph is of 10 young boys that are sitting on a rail looking out onto a body of water. The boys seem to be enjoying themselves just hanging out on a lazy day. Before I knew much about my picture I thought it had to be in a poor country in Africa, by the way the boys are dressed. Their clothes look unwashed, tattered, and old. Some of the boys are not even wearing shoes. The pathos can be interpreted several ways in this picture. Some people may say that the boys look sad or upset, some may argue that the boys are just happy sitting there on the rail. Pathos is the artist or photographer in this case trying to make you feel in a similar way. How do you feel when you look at this photograph? Personally for me, I feel mixed emotions. I feel sad that they were born into such a war stricken country, but also I feel happy that they get to enjoy themselves just doing something that many of us take for granted. The ethos of a photo is the what meaning it has behind it rather than the overall look. Which leads me to focus on the boys, you can't see their faces. So it must not be important who they rather, what they are doing. In some photos the photographer wants you to focus in on one certain person, but in this photo you are focused on all of the boys. The fact that who they are is not important in this picture was very interesting to me, and it took time for me to develop an opinion on it. After I did some research on it, I realized that maybe the photographer is saying, it's not who you are thats necessarily important but rather, what you get out of life thats important. For instance the boys seem to be enjoying the simplicity of the Earth, looking out onto the water.

At first glance the photo seems to be simply of 10 boys hanging out, but if you look closely you realize there's more to it than that. You notice that there is another young man below the dock, but your attention is not directed at him. You would also notice that the it is a cloudy day, with no sunshine. You also notice that the photographer may have adjusted the contrast and the colors of this photo. As you can see the boys are darker than everything else, making them the center of attention. Or it could be the lighting of a cloudy day in Rwanda. Also the photo is not showing the whole rail, but rather taken at an angle. This is what we would call framing in the photograph. The photographer doesn't want you to see the whole rail, he wants you to focus on the 10 young boys. Also the boy farthest on the left is partially cropped out, leaving the audience to wonder how long does the rail go on. Is it a bridge, or is it just a dock? The fact that we don't know leads us to keep studying the picture trying to find the answer.

While looking at this picture I want others to truly understand the hardships that these Rwandan children have faced. While some of them were lucky enough to be born after the Rwanda genocide, many of them were born during or lived through it. In Rwanda it is very common for children to die either at birth or before the age of five. During many labors the mothers die, leaving the child either to grow up with its father, or to be orphaned at birth. With the help of the Imbabazi Orphanage these children are getting a second chance. One that many do not receive in Rwanda. These children are not completely free from the government and the ways of their country though. They just have a better chance of surviving through the hardest time in their life, childhood.