PhotoJournals

The Bottom Line

• In Texas, a child is born into poverty every
7 minutes. A child is abused or neglected
every 10.
• Texas has the most teen births and the
most repeat teen births in the nation,
earning a ranking of 50th in the U.S.
• The following slides illustrate the need of
Texas’s most neglected people.
Barely one day old, Jasmine Williams sleeps on her mother’s lap as they wait
for the baby’s paternal grandmother to come and take custody of her. Her
mother, Kimberly Williams, 15, is in TYC custody and correctional officers
shackled her feet shortly after giving birth to her baby. Both of Jasmine’s
parents were 15 when she was born.
Texas is home to the three poorest counties in the United States.Three year old Hector
Cabada patiently waits for the dribble of water to reach him in the family’s shower,
enclosed by hastily built walls of plywood, corrugated tin, and the camper trailer they
call home in Salida Del Sol colonia near Penitas, Texas in Hidalgo County. Texas is
home to the most Fortune 500 companies.
• Sixteen percent of Texans live with hunger or in fear of starvation — the
third highest in the nation. Surrounded by clutter, dirty dishes, and trash,
two-year-old Abby takes a bath in the kitchen sink of the manager’s
apartment at the Budget Motel.
• Texas is 1st in the nation in the number of executions. Kenneth Foster
prayed in a visitation cubicle on Texas’ death row one week before his
scheduled execution date. The state has performed 405 executions since
the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
• Twelve-year-old Matthew Clark stood crying in the rain outside “The Walls
Unit” of Huntsville prison moments after his stepfather, John Joe Amador,
was executed on August 29, 2007. He was convicted of robbing and
murdering San Antonio taxi driver Mohammad Reza Ayari 13 years ago.
• Rosaries were placed out of the way near Yola Barriere’s feet during a
sponge bath in the bedroom of her mother’s Port Arthur, Texas home. Yola,
50, lived near the refineries and chemical plants in the area since she was a
tiny baby and family members believe the toxic pollution and cancerous
emissions from the smokestacks that ring the area is what caused her
cancer.
• Forty-one percent of children in the juvenile justice system have serious
mental health problems. Joseph, 17, got a little bit of sunshine in the yard
outside the security unit at Marlin. The facility, which once housed adult
prisoners in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
• 60% of children under the Texas juvenile prison system come from low-
income homes. Texas spends more than twice as much per prisoner as per
pupil. Laying on the floor, thirteen-year-old Drake Swist peers out from
underneath the bars on his cell door in the security unit of the Marlin facility.
Greece Wildfires
• In late August 2007 large parts of Peloponnese
suffered from wildfires, which caused severe
damages in countless villages and forests.
• The out-of-control situation claimed at least 68
lives and left the countryside looks as though a
bomb has been dropped on the area.
• Greek authorities believe many of the fires were
started deliberately.
• The impact of the fires to the environment and
economy of the region are still unknown.
• It is known, however, that these fires are the
largest wildfires in the history of Europe, and the
largest environmental disaster in Greek history.
• Mountainside with dead burned trees in the southeastern Peloponnese
region of Greece. It may cost Greece more than 1.2 billion euros.
• Two fire fighters are battling a raging forest fire in the small village of Kato
Kotili on Peleponnese in Greece.
• Firemen trying to save the houses in Maypia, Greece.
• Desperate residents are guarding off the wildfires with everything they have. Here Poul
Efstadiadis and his wife stand guard with a couple of plastic buckets filled with water.
• More than 800 Greek firefighters and 800 soldiers were battling the wildfires
• Desperate residents are guarding off the wildfires with everything they
have.
• Helicopter fighting against the fire on the mountain on the Peloponnes,
Greece
• Burnt-out wrecks of cars are testament to local people's bid to escape the
flames "in a convoy of death". Just across the road is a fire engine lying on
its side
• Maria Pothou in the black shirt is in a state of shock when returning to her house in
the village of Makistos. Her neighbor Demetra Kokkaliary is crying with her neighbour
• The massive fires ravaged fragile ecosystems in the Peloponnese peninsula
and caused ecological damage in the mountains, now facing the threat of
floods and land slides
• The rural way of life, as here in Artemida, is threatened after the wildfires,
and puts thousands of villagers in danger of ending up as environmental
refugees.
• The church in the village of Makistos lost the roof in the fire and the
surrounding forest is left barren.
• The fires killed 70 people and destroyed more than 5000 homes and
businesses, according to latest figures. Here the cemetery in the village of
Artemida is prepared for a family who lost their lives in the wildfire.
• The local priest stands outside the ruins of a burnt church in Grekas, Greece
on Wednesday, August 29, 2007. While the whole village was saved, the
church was burned to the ground.
• Firemen trying to save the forest around Maypia, Greece
• Funeral held for a 70-year-old woman and her two grand kids in Artemida,
Greece, on Friday, Aug. 31, 2007. These 3 persons were among the 19
people who was killed by the fire when they tried to escape the fire in and
around the village of Artemida.
• Mountainside around Makistos, Greece, on Monday, Sep. 3, 2007.
Mandalay-Myanmar
• With economic sanctions crippling the
Burmese economy it’s people are eager
for change and a better life.
• However, after the protest were squashed
by the military regime’s violent crackdown
freedom is far from a reality and everyday
life remains a serious struggle.
• Khin Shwe,70, stands outside her bedroom at the Mingun Buddhist Home
For The Aged February 25, 2007 in MIngun, Myanmar (Burma). The
privately run nursing home houses around 78 elderly Burmese who have no
family to care for them.
• A Burmese monk walks by a sign written in Burmese script after praying at
the Sule pagoda February 20, 2007 in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma).
• Burmese men wait in line for new passports at a government office.
• A Burmese woman sits on a rusty old city bus February 20, 2007 in Yangon,
Myanmar (Burma).
• A Burmese beggar carries her child asking for money February 21, 2007 in
Yangon, Myanmar (Burma).
• A Burmese child struggles to carry a rice bowl on top of her head along the
Ayeryarwady river February 23, 2007 in Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma).
• Unemployed Burmese women sleep away the day at a park February 21,
2007 in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma).
• Burmese man carries shredded paper through a narrow alley as people eat
lunch at a local restaurant February 19, 2007 in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma).
• A pregnant Burmese mother
rests with her son suffering
from diarrhea and
malnutrition.
– The Mae Tao Clinic provides
free healthcare for all Burmese
in need.
• According to a UNICEF
report, 10 children out of 100
die before the age of five
while in Thailand only 2 out of
100 die.
• Myanmar has one of the
world’s worst healthcare
systems, many die from a
variety of illness such as
malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS,
and diarrhea.
• Burmese cross the border
daily to purchase goods, seek
medical help, see relatives
and for migrant work.
• Burmese students pray after english class at the Thaw Ya Khyani monastery
school in Myawadi, Myanmar November 3, 2007. Students from 5 to 11
years old pack the classroom.
• Burmese monks carrying their rice bowls wait in line for lunch at the
Mahagandhayon monastery February 23, 2007 in Amarapura, Myanmar.