Sunrise School Days

This little guy in class seemed to be very positive about answering the teacher's question, the girl not so positive. This was shot in a classroom of the Sunrise Children's Village Orphanage in Siem Reap, Cambodia where the children were taught Khmer, dance, maths, computer skills, and music.

Space & Time

Getting many different elements of a photograph to work together at the same time is usually very difficult .... or some would say lucky, but in this case I was very pleased with the final result. Shooting in Siem Reap, Cambodia to prepare a story about orphans I had the opportunity to shoot inside the Sunrise Orphanage to capture aspects of the rehabilitation of many of these unfortunate orphans with classes in Khmer, dance, arts, computer, music, etc. This shot was taken during a dance class and I like this photo for many reasons. It captured my intended storyline, the 3 girls are neatly and geometrically arranged in a triangle, the eye contact of the two girls at the rear showing their concentration is perfect, the beautiful reflections of the two girl in the shiny floor tiles and the purposely out of focus foreground girl in her dance pose acts as an anchor point.

When it comes down to it, it's all about time and space to capture these elements in the optimum location or space at the precise time.

Portrait of an Orphan

I met this young orphan boy at the perimeter of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I think his vacant and blank gaze tells us a lot about the difficult life he leads.

Orphans are found in many of the poor and underprivileged Third World countries but Cambodia has a significantly high proportion of orphans and abandoned children. This disproportionate number of orphaned children is a result of around thirty years of war, foreign occupation, civil war and the infamous Khmer Rouge Regime which had some dramatic and deadly effects on the people of Cambodia.  In addition to the brutal events during those dark days one of the current ongoing problems is the continuing effect of land-mines on victims and the healing and rehabilitation of Cambodians who have suffered through land-mine incidents. Cambodia is a country with one of the highest occurrences of death by land-mines. In addition, deadly diseases such as AIDS, coupled with the scarcity of health care resources, compounds these problems into leading causes of death which all contribute greatly to the increasing orphan population in Cambodia.

Afternoon Nap

Young kids and older folks need their afternoon nap. These two kids at an orphanage in Siem Reap, Cambodia take the opportunity to drop out of class for a while for their much needed afternoon nap. No need to bother heading off to their bed when they can just lay out on the desk and catch their forty winks!

School Lessons in Cambodia

The look of concentration can be clearly seen on this girl's face as she sits in a school class at her orphanage in Siem Reap. This is actually the same little girl that was in the photograph in my earlier blog this week entitled Joy & Happiness .... she is obviously not quite so joyous or happy about this classroom lesson compared the the dance class!!

Joy & Happiness

This little girl was participating in a traditional Cambodian dance class at the Sunrise Children's Village Orphange in Siem Reap. Some of the children played traditional instruments while others were coached in the traditional dance movements. You can certainly see the joy and happiness in her face as she danced.

Shower Time

This group of boys are taking their shower at the Sunrise orphanage in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Using an old water pump they collect water in their buckets then swoosh the water over them for a refreshing wash. The Sunrise Children's Villages are two orphanages, one in Phnom Penh and the other one in Siem Reap. The orphanages were started by Geraldine Cox, an Australian who visited Cambodia many years ago and along with some friends started efforts to help out some of the unfortunate orphans she had seen in Cambodia. These initial efforts have now grown into two wonderful orphanages with a third now under construction due to Geraldine's fund raising efforts.

 I had the opportunity to visit the one in Siem Reap over the course of 10 days putting together a story about the orphans in Cambodia.

A video of my story can be seen here:

Potty Time Cambodian Style

These two kids at an orphanage in Siem Reap, Cambodia take the opportunity to socialise during a very necessary potty break.

Heartache and Hope - Orphans of Cambodia

As a result of war, land mines, poverty, and prevalent diseases such as AIDS, Cambodia's orphan population continues to escalate. These Cambodian orphans are forced to beg or forage through rubbish for food and are often the victims of serial predators and violent assaults. Life for these defenseless children seems hopeless but luckily there are orphanages which provide love, shelter, food and education and allow these children hope and the chance of a new life.

Orphans are found in many of the poor and underprivileged Third World countries but Cambodia has a significantly high proportion of orphans and abandoned children. This disproportionate number of orphaned children is a result of around thirty years of war, foreign occupation, civil war and the infamous Khmer Rouge Regime which had some dramatic and deadly effects on the people of Cambodia.


In addition to the brutal events during those dark days one of the current ongoing problems is the continuing effect of land-mines on victims and the healing and rehabilitation of Cambodians who have suffered through land-mine incidents. Cambodia is a country with one of the highest occurrences of death by land-mines. In addition, deadly diseases such as AIDS, coupled with the scarcity of health care resources, compounds these problems into leading causes of death which all contribute greatly to the increasing orphan population in Cambodia.

Street Life

Sleeping rough, begging, scavenging the rubbish in the streets or local rubbish dumps is common place for these orphaned children with all the other associated dangers of crime, drugs and violent assault.

The tourist business is booming in and around Siem Reap due to the attractions of famous ancient temples such as Angkor Wat and Ta Phrom which brings much needed revenue to this poor country. In stark contrast to this influx of rich foreigners is the sad sight of these poor, dirty and under nourished small children selling postcards at the temple sites, begging by the roadside or scavenging the rubbish bags in the streets to find some meagre morsels to eat.

Orphanage Safe Havens

There are a number of orphanages in Cambodia set up to provide a sanctuary for these unfortunate children, providing accommodation, food, education and more importantly love and attention. One such orphanage is the Sunrise Children’s Village which was founded back in 1993 by Australian, Geraldine Cox. Geraldine visited Cambodia with a friend and was so moved that she was motivated to do something. Since that time the Sunrise Children’s Village has grown and now hosts locations in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Children come to the orphanage in a number of different ways: parents or other family members have been killed or injured by land-mines, died of hunger or disease and often targeted for murder because of their political affiliations.

Assessment

When the children become homeless, local villagers may make an effort to care for them, but unfortunately, this usually results in the orphans being used as slave-labour in return for food and a place to sleep until their situation is identified by orphanage staff.

Before taking in an orphan Sunrise has to comply to Cambodian Government regulations, which require investigations of abuse or neglect and agreement by the village that they wish Sunrise to care for the child. Papers are then lodged with the Ministry of Social Affairs, and Sunrise is then permitted to take the children from the village and become their "guardians" until they are 18 years old.

In each case this requires the orphanage staff go to the villages to assess the situation on the ground to ensure that the need is a realistic one. It is sad but there are situations where children, claimed to be orphans, are not; the children’s parents trying to make use of the facilities of the orphanage and the chance for free food and education for their child.

Orphanages such as Sunrise provide the children with love, protection, accommodation, food, medical and dental care, clothing and importantly education to ensure that appropriate skills can be learned and hopefully used when they leave the orphanage to start a better life. Classes at Sunrise include English, Khmer, sewing, carpentry music, dance, fine arts and computer skills.

Self Sufficiency

Given that the orphanage’s existence is totally dependent on donations initiatives have been started to assist the orphanage become self sufficient in a number of ways. One project started in 1999 was the design and creation of the Sunrise Farm, following land being given by the Government. Inside the 10 hectares of the farm are vegetable gardens, fish ponds, an orchard and a variety of farm animals including chickens and ducks.

The plan with the development of this farm is the ability to introduce renewable energy resources, use organic production methods and produce many of the basic vegetables and rice to feed the orphans.

Community Work

Some of the older children participate in a community aid project where they assist poor families with their daily chores, including planting and weeding the fields, cleaning the houses of the elderly or helping the monks at the local pagodas. The purpose of this programme is to help local communities but more importantly teach the children to understand poor families and realise that in life they must give as well as take.

Future Hope

What does the future hold for Cambodia’s orphans? Apart from the continuing need for the kind donations of many people who, like Geraldine Cox, have been touched by the plight of these orphans, there is a hope that perhaps with the increasing tourist business in Cambodia some of this much needed revenue can be directed to the needs of such establishments such as Sunrise Children’s Village.

Cambodia has suffered many terrible years of war, foreign occupation and violent dictatorship and it’s amazing that through all of this shines the people’s beauty, good nature, tenacity and incredible desire to learn. Given their horrific past, they certainly deserve this.

The children, more importantly, deserve some basic necessities and the chance of education to give them some hope of doing something positive to give back to the country.

Perhaps the tourists in their their 5-star hotels, visiting the grand temple complexes in air-conditioned tour buses, should spend a moment visiting establishments like Sunrise Children’s Village and appreciate what fundamentals these children really need and what they themselves take for granted.