Goro Rivera's Place

A photographer risks his life to capture what most of the world refuses to see. The idea that every minute could be your last is a concept that most of us rarely think about. While we may sometimes reflect on our own mortality, it is usually done in the comfort of a safe environment . The people of the Congo experience a living hell on earth, if lucky , not only dodging bullets from their own brothers, but also some of the most heinous of crimes . For them, in the here and now, they have already been condemned to a life in Hell. How they have the strength to believe in something better is beyond me. Their faith must come from something much deeper. The realization that they have already experienced the worst that mortal life could offer, with something measurably better when in God's hands.

Tummy Time , an exercise during which my three month old daughter Carolina, while lying on her stomach face down, tries to lift her head off the ground, is really a microcosm of the difficult road she will face during her lifetime. As she wails, I am reminded that life is a constant struggle, and the only way to make it better is to work hard and only then will you create your own good fortune. After only a couple of days, I can already see progress. She can now lift her head and look around for a few seconds at a time.

I grabbed my wife's copy of the Freeport Voyager, Class of 1993 High School Yearbook, from the bookshelf. I thumbed thru the alphabetical pictures of that year's graduates and stopped at the pictures beginning with the letter D. There he was . Just two spots from my wife. How many times had I looked at that yearbook, skimming past his face and resting my eye's on my wife's picture. This time I didn't notice her. I stared at the once 17 year old and I could only think of the indignity of his death. The Holiday season will never be the same for his family. Hell, every single day will never be the same for them. Killed during a Midnight Madness shopping event at a local WallMart Store. Impatient shoppers, some waiting as many as 7 hours in front of the store's main entrance, became rowdy when the store opened 3 minutes after it's advertised 5:00 AM opening. They chanted and shouted impatiently, some 2000 people, hoping to find what is now some meaningless