My war is not Iraq

from www.chfestival.org

America is truly the land of opportunities. It has so many opportunities that an average fast food patties flipper could earn more than a receptionists back home.

I am reminded of how much developed this country is when I attended one of the seminars conducted for the 17th Chicago Humanities Festival. The summary of the program follows:

War Through the Lens

Two of the world’s most acclaimed documentary photographers discuss the work and craft of capturing images of armed conflict. Steve McCurry, whose award-winning work has ranged from the battlefield to Buddhist shrines, is joined by Sara Terry, a reporter-turned-photographer whose work Aftermath documents stories and conditions of post-war Bosnians, and Ashley Gilbertson, whose work has taken him across the globe photographing war-torn areas and who is best known for his work documenting the infamous Battle of Fallujah in 2004. Moderated by Chicago Tribune photographer Nancy Stone.

It was a moving seminar because the topic is one that, as one of the panelists stated, "horrifies us and fascinates us." War is all that.

Americans are angry and upset with the war in Iraq. Every news show features the war in Iraq. So war is a timely topic that touches the core of most average Americans. It is no suprise that programs like these recieve a lot of funding, hundreds of thousands worth of funding. Journalist Sara Terry even created a foundation that will support journalists who go to places of war aftermaths.

I marvel at Ms. Terry's dedication to her profession and passion to tell the truth as she sees it. That being said, I also cannot help but feel a disconnection. The amount of money being poured into awareness campaigns here in the United States is enough to feed dozens of orphanages or create a viable water system to remote villages in the Philippines. Coming from a country where the most basic of human needs are not often met, I feel the need to tell these rich first world citizens to put their money on a more tangible cause.

But then again, these are subjective feelings of a person who comes from a totally different place. Who knows what my consciousness and reality would be if I was born and bred in a developed country like America?

Therefore my war is not Iraq. My country's war is existential but on a more basic plane. The war is the struggle to create a decent existence in the Philippines. The war in the Philippines is at its doorstep--poverty and endemic corruption. I wonder if there are enough grants from Western countries to eliminate that.