The photojournalist Stuart Matthews travelled to Bangladesh on what ended up to be a three year trip to investigate a meet the people that the countries cyclones have affected. Due to the flooding, mass migration from the countryside to the countries capital is growing to be a big problem in Bangladesh. Shantytowns are growing rapidly, by 2025 the predicted population of the capital, Dhaka, will be 20 million people.
Dwellers in these shanty towns are forced to take out unregulated loans to pay for rent, water and electricity. The water is polluted, causing illness throughout these towns. To pay their way, these people are forced to work low income jobs for relentless hours in places like garment factories. This situation is almost impossible to escape, until they find employment that will pay them a fair wage for an appropriate amount of work.
Matthews states, "The Bangladeshi people are very strong, they seem to adapt a lot, something that really affected me and inspired me to keep going back.”
"BERI BAD, DHAKA, BANGLADESH – August 2011. Workers separate scraps of cotton in a recycling store on the outskirts of Dhaka. This type of employment is an essential to the people of the city as it provides a meagre income to support their families."
Stuart Matthews. 2013. In Search of Hope. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.stuartmatthews.eu/index.php/stories/in-search-of-hope/. [Accessed 07 November 13]
No comments:
Post a Comment