the human spirit...
Seeing Cambodia has really opened up my eyes about a lot of issues in regards to global poverty and the human spirit. I cannot help but compare and contrast both of the countries that I have visited the past weeks. Just a few days ago I was in Nicaragua seeing poverty all around me at this contained area of a landfill call La Chureca, while here I see poverty more spread out through the slum visits that I have experienced Tuesday.
The cultures and traditions are very different, yet human suffering is all the same. There is hope, joy, as well as disappointments and heartaches. Poverty has been deeply ingrained within their roots that some see it as a way of life instead of challenging their situation and try to make life better for their future. But how fair is it for me to say this when really all they want is to survive today so they can live for tomorrow? What need do they see in education when all they really want is to know where their next meal will come from?
Nicaragua touched me and moved me to tears, but Cambodia broke me. I do not know what it is, but perhaps it is because every lady I see carrying her goods upon her shoulders along Monivong Road with a pole, reminds me of how my mom had struggled while trying to feed us in Laos. Their weathered skin and their traditional clothing contrasted so much with the modern clothing of the city folks and the big Lexus driven by the ever richer rich.
The things that kept me up at night are not the same as the things that kept most of these people up at night. They have gone through so much turmoil within the past half century and despite their bleak past, their heart and spirit shines as beautifully as ever.
somphonh.squarespace.com
6 Comments
Reader Comments (6)
These experiences are what give your art and photography such force and meaning. You not only see poverty - you see how poverty affects this one little girl, or that one lady - and when you capture it, with as much dignity and respect as the subject will allow, you bring that force and experience to the rest of us.
Take care you.
I know it must be hard for you, reliving some of your own hard times. You may be broken, but I know you have a well of inner strength that will flow again to heal your breaks, and make you stronger. My heart goes out to you, and my prayers ask that you find your inner strength again.
I wish you peace and understanding.
Patrick
Sam,
Cambodia is an incredible country of adversity and people who handle this adversity with such kindness and love. Your work is great! The LOVE website looks fantastic.
Take care,
Ty
Jeremy,
thank you...it is hard...the strange thing was that when I saw a short documentary on a child whose lives have been affected by HIV virus, I was moved to tears...and then to see the children in their own home and own environment and documenting it with my camera was a bit different...instead of being a bystander, I felt more like a participant in the human drama...I am not sure if that makes any sense...
Patrick,
As always, thank you...the resiliency of the people really is motivating...
Ty,
Thank you again for your kind words...to see and meet so many people whose lives have been affected by the Khmer Rouge and yet can love and greet foreigners like me to their country with such kindness is amazing. A few weeks ago, Ari who is blond and fair skinned, took me and friend out in Phnom Penh one night. Our suv was going to be going through a pot hole as well as a very tight spot and we knew it, but all of a sudden a man around his 60's, came rushing towards our car as if we were in danger. And when Ari rolled down his window and went out to check, all the gentleman wanted was to let us know it was going to be a tight spot and guided Ari throughout the whole time as if we were his lost children. I mean with such a kind gesture of kindness, how can you not fall in love with Cambodia and it's people?