Bullseye

By Emma Holm-Olsen

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple weeks, chances are you’ve heard about the dam collapse at the Corrego do Feijao Mining Complex in Brumadinho, a region in Minas Gerais. On the morning of last Friday, January 25, a massive landslide was triggered by the collapse, burying hundreds of houses, vehicles, and people in its path. The Week magazine says “The tragedy may be one of the deadliest in Brazil’s history”, and indeed it might be- or at least the worst environmental disaster Brazil has ever seen. As of February 5, the death count is 134, with another 199 people reported missing (Western Advocate). The event left 250,000 people without water, while also killing thousands of fish. Vale, the company which owned the dam, is Brazil’s largest mining company. Two hours after the disaster, its stock fell 10 percent on the New York Stock Exchange (9News).

“The death count is 134, with another 199 people reported missing.”

On the third day after the collapse, January 28, officials said it was unlikely to find any more survivors, even though there have been rare “cases of people buried under a landslide who lived for over 30 days” (Folha de São Paulo). However after that statement was made, they proceeded to find thirty more survivors, which gives us hope that there are more to be found. Even so, there are hundreds if not thousands of people left homeless. Even the “lucky” ones are without clean, running water or electricity. The muddy water, contaminated with heavy metals from the mines, is heading toward the Rio São Francisco, a river which provides drinking water for thousands of people in five states (ABC News). Now, the fear is that the problem will soon go from a local tragedy to a national disaster if not dealt with accordingly.

If this isn’t a call to action, I don’t know what is. As a school which aims to ‘positively impact the world through excellence in academics, activities, arts, leadership, and service’, we should be some of the most concerned citizens. This is important for everyone, but especially for us as we are living in Brazil, and we have the opportunity to help these people. There are many efforts being put into place in order to help the families affected by the collapse. One of the frontrunners is Brazil’s Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB). They have launched a campaign whose goal is to “raise funds to strengthen the organization of the people impacted by the tragedy, by sending brigades to support displaced families and the families of the victims, to ensure they have their rights respected” (Brasil de Fato).

Okay, so you’re probably thinking “that’s all great, but even if I wanted to help, what could I do as a meager high school student?” Well, good news! Stores at Park Shopping and Pontão do Lago Sul, and even restaurants like Paprika Burgers are taking donations of personal hygiene goods, non-perishable food items, and mineral water.  If you want to make a difference, #StartWith1Thing! Click the link below to find out more about how you can help.

https://gpslifetime.com.br/conteudo/cotidiano/paula-santana/71/saiba-como-ajudar-brumadinho-mesmo-a-distancia

By Caroline Morvan

“Workers are dying in preventable factory fires because the world’s leading retailers – from Walmart to Gap to H&M – make their clothes in countries where labor laws are not enforced and demand that their contract factories slash production costs to the bone. Factories meet the apparel companies’ relentless demands for lower prices by ignoring workers’ rights and safety. In Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest apparel producer, this has led to a series of horrific fires.”

Apparel companies claim they are regularly inspecting their factories and ensuring that they are safe, yet every deadly fire in recent years has happened at a factory that had been subject to numerous such inspections. It is impossible to imagine a more dismal record of failure.” ~Scott Nova and Liana Foxvog

Every year thousands of factory workers in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan die while working for the sake of “High Fashion”. Unsafe conditions, like locked exits and barred windows, made the death tolls much higher.

Unfortunately, these human rights violations are all too common for a variety of reasons, among them, poor government oversight. Lax certification processes grant permits to multistory facilities with poor electrical wiring, no external fire escapes or fire extinguishers, and there is ineffective auditing to identify and remediate fire threats.

Meanwhile, trade unions, collective bargaining and worker advocacy are not encouraged, but rather suppressed.

But because the apparel industry has become exceedingly price sensitive, the protection of human rights, including workplace safety in low wage countries like Bangladesh, remains a secondary priority. Until the day that workplace risks are factored into apparel price analyses, devastating factory fires will remain a threat.

While Americans are fond of low prices for clothing, some are possible only because workers in Bangladesh and Pakistan (among other countries) toil in sweatshops for meager wages, in dangerous conditions.

On April 24, 2013, Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza garment factory building collapsed, leaving over than 1,100 workers dead and around 2,500 injured.

Among the survivors was Rehana Begum, a seamstress who worked at the Ether Tex garment factory on the third floor. Even though her left arm was broken, she knew she was among the lucky ones.

“I felt I was buried alive,” Begum said through her tears. “I never thought I’d see sunlight again.”

How many more need to die for things to change for the better?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=9Fkhzdc4ybw

In the video above, Ismail Ferdous photographed this deadly disaster and showed viewers the raw destruction and how the lives of those were shattered.