We had two hours to do a photography workshop with the teens at Water of Life.  When we hit the point of no one knowing the word for Aperture in Cambodian, I felt the freedom to really drop the technical jargon and just go for it!  And so we did!  They totally got Buttery, Blurry Backgrounds!  More than good enough for me!

Teaching photography in Cambodia was one of the most humbling experiences.  It’s already challenging to teach someone Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO when you both speak the same language.  But to take it a step further with someone trying to translate, I wasn’t sure if anything was really making sense.  But they were so hungry to learn,

so excited and hanging in there with my lack of experience in teaching with a translator (Rith and Rin were both AWESOME translating, but it was a different dynamic for me and Brian—no other way to get better then jump in!  ).

Everyone wanted to keep pushing forward.  So we did the Magic Three that I teach about in the Beyond the Green Box dvd.  We also talked about the story telling elements, I teach in Refuse to Say Cheese. They all knew “cheese”, and we talked about what it means to not say that dreadful word and instead capture someone’s life story.

And then we hit the streets of Phnom Penh and decided to take a few hours and shoot away.  We brought as much equipment as possible with us so they could try the gear out.  SONY is HUGE in Cambodia.  You see the Sony signs everywhere, so they were super excited to try the cameras.  I had no idea what had sunk in and felt a little down on myself.  But then the guys, and our token sweetie, Sreyown, our only girl—started asking us questions while shooting.

EVERY PHOTO that you see from this point on was taken by the students.  Every ONE!

“Is this what you mean by the Third’s Principle Me Ra?

“Is it the lower numbers for f-stop that give me the blurry background?”   (Bora Sang is with Blaze. He is Rith’s younger brother who is now at Water of Life with Rith.  Bora’s smile and tender heart got into my heart that I cried at the airport when we had to say goodbye.  But we will see each other again, yes, we will Bora!)

“How do you focus and then move your camera so you can do the Third’s Principle without losing your focus?”

“Wow, that makes sense!”

“Me Ra, since the sun is so bright, do we use the lower ISO?”

“Will you look at this and tell me if this is what you mean by Filling the Frame so the picture is only full of the story you are trying to tell?”

This is Me Ra—I LOVE how the photo above and below has so much emotion, action, and diversity in both images.  And yet, EVERY THING points to the story the photo is trying to tell.  The students nailed it!  My favorite part is Pascaline in the bottom right hand corner shooting away! 

Rin, the amazing art teacher that I told you about yesterday, had some wonderful conversations with me.  He wanted to learn photography so he could enhance his drawings, and he wanted to be stretched in his creativity.  We talked about the importance of shadows.  We discussed how important it is to add mystery to your images or drawings—to invite your viewer in.  What does it mean to take away light and clarity?  What does it mean to cause someone to lean forward, want to know your image’s story, be captivated by what they see but want to understand more of?  I talked about different techniques to try.  This is one of the photos Rin took from those conversations.

The students were so focused, so intent.  This is Tongchou Fleming, and he embraced the camera like nobody’s business!

They were determined to learn as much photography in our time together as possible.

and they LOVED seeing their results.   Even the kids jumped in at times to help explain something.  Such a gift to me and Brian!

I have to hand it to SONY because the Live Preview helped the students grasp these crazy technical elements so fast!   The students could SEE the Live Preview getting darker if they increased their Shutter Speed.  They could see the Live Preview get brighter if they raised their ISO.  They could watch me show them how to frame with the Third’s Principle.  It was pretty, freaking AWESOME!   There is no way that such technical ideas could be grasped with this much understanding in one day, not to mention a language barrier and so many other barriers.  But to see it—is to believe it!

Brian and I took them all out to ice cream afterwards to celebrate.  They kept thanking us and telling us this was the best day.  But oh my goodness, they have no idea how much they gave to me and Brian.  They opened their hearts to us.  They took a risk with their creativity and insecurities.  They showed us how they see the world.  And this inspired us beyond words.

Thank YOU Water of Life!  We LOVE YOU!

xoxo,

Me Ra

Our hearts were so moved by the little ones at Children of Hope.  It’s hard to imagine that babies are sold for $10 on the streets of Cambodia.  Randy and his team do their best to bring in as many children as they can fit and feed.  Each day is a faith walk.  Sometimes Randy has no idea where they are going to get enough rice to feed the kids.  But somehow, it always comes.

But the love and support doesn’t stop with the Children of Hope.  There is also a Center of the Arts for teens and twenty somethings called Water of Life.  When the children are old enough, they can live here IF they commit to continuing their education.  Randy and his team of teachers (who are mostly local Cambodian twenty-something, young men that were once his first orphans) teach the kids piano, flute, guitar, singing, drawing, English, writing, computer skills, Internet tools of building websites, and some are even law students. These young men are AMAZING!  They have so much to give the world, and they work harder and study more than anyone I’ve ever known.

Channa Bo is a fourth year law student. He is on the other side of Randy, opposite of me doing hand motions.     When he isn’t studying law, he’s helping out the little ones whether it’s playing with them or doing the hand motions for songs.

Channa is in the middle with the can of Coke and black shoes.  I found this photo of him on FB, and his smile is so gentle and unforgettable.  This is the smile that is fighting to finish his law degree and help his people. 

Randy has taken Channa through the system of filling out all the right legal papers for the Cambodian government, so the orphanage adopts the kids legally with no loop holes. Channa now does this on his own, sometimes travelling five hours by bus to help claim a 2 week old baby before it is sold into the sex industry for $10.  Shawna is amazing.

Rin’s story is also powerful.

He was an orphan by the time he was 8 years old.  He refers to his boyhood as being a rat on the streets, living an insane life of danger and recklessness.  But what does a boy do when both their parents have left him alone at 8 years?  He ended up in a Christian school and discovered his passion for art.  He can sit down with almost any instrument and play it as if he has been practicing for years. He is also phenomenal with drawing.  Rin was commissioned by the Cambodian government to take his drawings on exhibit throughout the US.  This is only one of many.

He has been offered many teaching opportunities that would pay him a pretty penny, but he has moved into the Center to teach the younger boys music and art.  Rin Yame has a passion to give back to his own community and see other young boys achieve what he is achieving.   Become his friend on FB, and you can see his amazing drawings for yourself.

Rith Sang comes from a remote village in Cambodia.  Several years ago, Randy was helping with a medical clinic in the village where they met Rith.  The doctor was so taken with the emotional stress and malnourishment that Rith was suffering.  They worked with Rith over years, praying for his mind and heart to be healed.  Rith…brings tears to my eyes. He has a spirit full of love, kindness and a passion for learning.

He is now an AMAZING English teacher at the Center—teaching me a few things about past and present participles!  His mind is so sharp!  And his heart if so BIG, so full of joy, hope—to think he was once buried under burdens as a young boy. Rith is a miracle, and Brian and I both feel so honored to have him in our life. 

Within the Center is a quiet room.  When you open the door, you find two brothers.  The older brother is named Rath.  He is sitting on the floor.

The younger brother is Roth, and he sits on the bed.

Both brothers suffer a fierce and rare form of Cerebral Palsy. It is genetic and only attacks the boys.  Randy told me that if the mom had daughters, the Cerebral Palsy wouldn’t have ever come.  Such a huge burden for a mom to carry.  She loves her boys and cares for them with every inch of her being. 

Randy heard about these boys, and went to their village to find them.  When he found them, they were almost dead from malnourishment and the disease.  He invited the two boys and their mom to come back to the orphanage and live there. Their muscles and bodies were twisted so tight.  And then a man showed up from England, and the man just happens to be a Physical Therapist.  He went and found a massage table for the boys bedroom and started working on them every day.  Slowly, their muscles began to loosen.

They now go to school everyday.  The orphanage was given special wheel chairs for both boys.  Their mom helps around the house and in turn she and her boys are loved and cared for.  Randy said that several months ago, they brothers had to return to their village for a short visit.  Randy was unable to go, so one of the young men drove them.  When the boys arrived, the village gathered around them in shock.  They couldn’t believe the boys were still alive.  They couldn’t believe how much better they looked.  But this is the part of the story that brought me to tears.

The boys asked if they could have their wheelchairs put in the middle of the village.  Then they invited all the village to gather around them.  When everyone had gathered, the boys began to share their hearts.  They told the villagers that they wanted them to all know something.  They wanted them to know that they had forgiven them.  They forgave them for all the years that the villagers had made fun of their bodies, cursed their lives, neglected them and shamed them.  The brothers said that they had been adopted by a Father in Heaven that called them his own, and that they now had a family at the orphanage.  They have learned what it means to be loved, and how important it is to forgive.  They sat in their two wheelchairs and forgave their village.

The villagers were so struck at the change in Rith and Roth that they begged them to come back and share more of what they had learned.  A couple months later, the boys went back in their wheelchairs and brought almost 200 Bibles with them.  They sat in their wheelchairs with hands that sometimes won’t even open from the Cerebral Palsy, and they shared the hope and forgiveness they had found.  And then the villagers asked them to pray with them, and they called Randy on a cell phone and said, “Randy, tell us how to pray with our village.”  And over the phone, Randy guided them in praying with their villagers.

There are so many powerful elements to this story, but what hit me most is that Randy didn’t go to their village and try to teach the village a thing or two.  Randy is all about empowering the boys to follow the desires of their heart.  So the brothers, Rith and Roth, went back alone and found that they have a voice and have healing and love to offer.  They are not worthless.  Their lives are not a mistake.  They are symbols of hope. 

Randy has sent their medical records to doctors all over the world.  The doctors say that these boys may only live for two more years.  As I sat on the bed with Roth, he said he is now ready.  He is not afraid to die anymore.  He is excited to see God in heaven.  This boy’s face was so calm, so full of peace.

I wanted to sit with him and his brother for hours.  They taught my heart so many things that I have yet to process.  They sit in this small room, working on their homework, and they are fearless.  But their courage is not made of a strong body and ambitious spirit.  Their courage is made of peace and undying hope.  That room was one of the most peaceful rooms I’ve ever entered.  Heaven itself was in that room.  And I shall never be the same.

The stories go on and on.  All the boys and girls are miracles.  Some of their parents have died, but many of them have been given up because their parents can’t afford to feed the family.  They have experienced traumas that would cause them to sleep with the light on and the door locked for the rest of their life.  And yet, they have risked to love again—to let Randy and his staff in—to believe that there may be more to life than being abandoned—that there is a God of the impossible who loves, has not abandoned them and can heal the most broken of hearts. They are the living testimony that healing like this is real.  They look at you and smile.  They hug you and share their powerful stories, and then they share the hope they hold for their lives—I have never been so inspired in all my life.

All they need is someone to have a bit of confidence in them.  Randy says that when someone believes in them, they are unstoppable.  I felt so humbled with their invitation to teach photography.  They had already taught me so much.  And I wasn’t sure how this was going to work?  Teaching Aperture to a group of Cambodian teens with Rem and Rin taking turns translating for me… that quiet voice said “Have a little Confidence in me Me Ra.”  What worked was something that was so beautiful, so moving—tomorrow.

You can join the Facebook Cause Pages for Water of Life and Children of Hope to learn more about the children.  A lot of them have their own FB pages and love having friends, just search their names on FB!

xoxo, Me Ra