Work is a necessary evil to be avoided.

U Thein Than, U Tun Nay Win y U Kyi Soe seguramente celebrarán el Día Internacional de los Trabajadores recordando qué les ha traído a Tailandia. Como tantos otros compatriotas (Myanmar), un día recibieron, por fin, una oferta de trabajo para poder mantener a sus familias. Sin saber muy bien de qué se trataba, fueron introducidos ilegalmente en Tailandia por una broker y enrolados en un barco. Allí pasarían los 5 meses siguientes, en aguas de Indonesia, pescando sin descanso, ya lloviera, hubiera fuerte oleaje o el sol abrasara su piel. Faltos de fuerza por la malnutrición y el cansancio, el capitán del barco decidió simplemente prescindir de ellos. Los dejó, de nuevo, en un puerto de Tailandia, sin visado y sin el salario que supuestamente habían ganado durante los cinco meses de trabajo. “Buscad a vuestra agente. Ella tiene vuestro dinero”, les dijo. Pero ella se había esfumado sin dejar rastro.

Derecho al trabajo ninguneado, esclavitud moderna, desempleo, desamparo.

Feliz día.

*Texto por Laura Villadiego

Care.

I Need Care – Camp 9

“Currently, children conflicts in society have been intensified in different social dimensions. In terms of either positive or negative aspects in providing special activities for specific group, we can see similarities and differences of people from different cultures trying to assimilate, though consequentially created teemed social conflicts incapable to resolve. What worst is that most of these conflicts have actions that are inflicted onto the children by the adults. Stateless children are incapable to receive adequate protection due to complexities of legality, and sometimes instigated obstacles to assist them. These factors prevent violated children from obtaining the protection or fundamental rights they deserve[...]“

More info at Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN).

The sea has neither meaning or pity

“Wind to a sailor is what money is to life on shore”

(Sterling Hayden)

Lo importante no es la caída, sino el aterrizaje.

Hoy escuchaba una charla de Manu Brabo y de la vida del reportero freelance. Una vida complicada. Más si uno se especializa en conflictos, en reporterismo de guerra. También hoy, es nombrado ganador de un premio Pulitzer junto a otros compañeros fotógrafos de Associated Press. Se merece tal premio, sin duda. Así como tantos otros fotógrafos y periodistas freelance que siguen estando al pie del cañón pese a la que está cayendo. Profesionales que creen en su trabajo. En acercarnos historias que denuncien, que emocionen, que cabreen, que hagan reflexionar y, con un poco de suerte, actuar.

What the fuck are you even doing here?

Anthony ‘Swoff’ Swofford: A story. A man fires a rifle for many years. and he goes to war. And afterwards he comes home, and he sees that whatever else he may do with his life – build a house, love a woman, change his son’s diaper – he will always remain a jarhead. And all the jarheads killing and dying, they will always be me. We are still in the desert.

(Jarhead)

Songkran, Thailand’s new year festival in Bangkok begins.

Thais and foreigners took Silom Road in Bangkok to celebrate Songkran, the Thai traditional New Year. The most obvious celebration of Songkran is splashing water at each other for luck.

More pictures via DEMOTIX

Dry land is not just our destination, it is our destiny!

Mariner: What are the markings on her back?
Helen: Some say it’s the way to dry land.
Mariner: Dry land is a myth.
Helen: No, you said it yourself, that you’ve seen it.
Mariner: You’re a fool to believe in something you’ve never seen.
Helen: But the things on your boat…!
Mariner: The things on my boat, what?
Helen: There are things on your boat that no one has ever seen. These shells, the music box and the reflecting glass. Well, if not from dry land, then where? Where?
Mariner: You wanna see dry land? You really wanna see it? I’ll take you there.

(Waterworld)

*Happy Songkran Day / สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์ (suk san wan songkran)

What we think, we become.

“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell”

(Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha)

*Ongoing project

If your dog is fat, you’re not getting enough exercise.

Scott Turner: These are the simple rules. No barking, now growling, you will not lift your leg to anything in this house. This is not your room. No slobbering, no chewing, you will wear a flea collar. This is not your room. No begging for food, no sniffing of crotches, and you will not drink from my toilet. This is not your room.

(Turner & Hooch)

If you met yourself, what would you say?

Richard Berendzen: It would be very hard to think “I am over there” and “Can I go meet me?” and “Is that me better than this me?” “Can I learn from the other me?” “Has the other me made the same mistakes I’ve made?” Or, “Can I sit down and have a conversation with me?” Wouldn’t that be an interesting thing? The truth is, we do that all day long every day. People don’t admit it and they don’t think about it too much, but they do. Every day, they’re talking in their own head. “What’s he doing?” “Why’d he do that?” “What did she think?” “Did I say the right thing?” In this case, there’s another you out there.

(Another Earth)