Another moving pic

Lange, Dorothea, photographer, "Destitute Pea Pickers in California. Mother of Seven Children. Age Thirty-Two. Nipomo, California." February, 1936. America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black-and-White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945, Library of Congress. [more about this picture here]

Following on from my earlier Blog Action Day post.

On a happier note, a few months ago, I think (!) I blogged about how I joined http://www.kiva.org/ and lent some money to an Asian family for a new motorcycle they desperately needed. I'd recommend this organisation, as so far they've kept me up to date with regular emails about where the loan is at, repayments and how the family is going. One way to do something without leaving your chair.

Image source: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/lange/aa_lange_power_2_e.html

Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day, which you can read more about if you click the button at the bottom of this post. We're supposed to be blogging about poverty to raise awareness...and given the retro-based nature of my blog, thought I'd share a vintage photo taken by Dorothea Lange.

The caption reads:"August 1936. "People living in miserable poverty. Elm Grove, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma." Medium-format nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the Farm Security Administration".

I'm not going to attempt to preach to anyone about doing good works, giving money or anything like that, I'm just reminding myself how lucky we are to blog and craft and meet and shop and relax and play in our leisure time. I borrowed this pic from the Shorpy blog here, and one of the comments left was "I have in-laws who live almost at this level today -- in Borneo." ...and I think that's my point, while I can look at depression-era photos with horror, there's still lots of people the world over living in poverty. And that's not an address you want on your mail. Just some thoughts.