“Dispossessed peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin America, hungry nomads turn their herds out into fragile African rangeland, reducing it to desert, and small farmers in India and the Philippines cultivate steep slopes, exposing them to the erosive powers of rain. Perhaps half the world's billion-plus absolute poor are caught in a downward spiral of ecological and economic impoverishment. In desperation, they knowingly abuse the land, salvaging the present by savaging the future.” WorldWayAmericaTurnsPoorHalfEconomicLandRainAbuseIndiaAbsolutesCaughtBillionsHungryForestsDesertPlusLatinFarmersFragileDesperationReducingPeasantsHerdsLatin AmericaEcologicalExposingSpiralsPhilippinesSlopesSteepNomadDownward Spiral Author:Alan Thein Durning
“It's strange how deserts turn us into believers. I believe in walking in a landscape of mirages, because you learn humility. I believe in living in a land of little water because life is drawn together. And I believe in the gathering of bones as a testament to spirits that have moved on. If the desert is holy, it is because it is a forgotten place that allows us to remember the sacred. Perhaps that is why every pilgrimage to the desert is a pilgrimage to the self.” IfsBelieveLittlesSelfTogetherRememberLife IsSpiritTurnsI BelieveWaterLandHumilityStrangeWalkingHolySacredMovedForgottenI Believe InBonesBelieverDesertLandscapeTestamentGatheringPilgrimageMoved OnMiragesDrawn Together Book:Red: passion and patience in the desert Source: Red: passion and patience in the desert
“A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands. But a mother's love endures through all; in good repute, in bad repute, in the face of the world's condemnation, a mother still loves on, and still hopes that her child may turn from his evil ways, and repent; still she remembers the infant smiles that once filled her bosom with rapture, the merry laugh, the joyful shout of his childhood, the opening promise of his youth; and she can never be brought to think him all unworthy.” ThinkingWorldWayMayChildrenStillsRememberFacesMotherTurnsEvilFatherEnemyLaughingWifeChildhoodYouthBrotherPromiseHusbandFilledEndureOpeningDesertJoyfulBrothers And SistersInfantRepentBosomsMerryUnworthyRaptureCondemnationMother's Love Author:Washington Irving
“I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields that turn to desert...” CountryTurnsFieldsConcernClimate ChangeDisappearDevelopingDesertCropsSympatheticInactionEmissionsDeveloping Countries Author:John F. Kerry