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Everyday life in Cambodia
– as seen through the eyes of children
A photo documentary by
Anne-Lise Aakervik
February 2004
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 In
February 2003. I went to Cambodia for the first time. I am a
Norwegian journalist, my name is Anne-Lise Aakervik, and my knowledge of the
country at that time was of the terrible civil war in the 70’s and the killing
of millions of people during the regime of Pol Pot.Still,
after 20 years, the wounds from Pol Pot’s regime haven’t healed. Even today
a lot of children don’t go to school. Their parents don’t know how to read
and write, as they grew up during Pol Pot times, and they were sent to labour
camps. They lived in fear. Since 1980 the country has struggled to build up
the education system. I wanted to see for myself how the children manage their everyday life.
Cambodia
is the land of children. They are everywhere, playing, working, going to
school or begging. Over 50 % of the country's population is children under
18 years. And nearly half of them have to work to support their families. |
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 To
be a child in this country is hard work, and the future prospects are
uncertain. Even though many have a chance to attend school, few manage to
complete elementary school and start senior education.To
start to get an answer I needed to get close to the children. But when you use a
translator it is difficult. I therefore brought with me disposable cameras
and gave them to 5th grade pupils attending Baktok School and
Norodom School in Phnom Penh, pupils at the floating school in the village
Kampong Our and paper-collecting street kids at the Olympic Market in Phnom
Penh.
I
asked them to take pictures from their everyday life, the life that I as a
foreign journalist, who doesn’t speak Khmer, will never get to know. “The
purpose is to show children in Norway how your life is”, I told them. I
wanted to make an exhibition back in Norway. |
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 All
of the children I had contact with responded positively to this challenge.Photography
is universal in its way to communicate. The cameras worked as a tool for the
children in this connection. With them they could tell Norwegian children
and adults about their everyday life, despite the lack of a common tongue
and a distance half the world away.
The
motifs are entirely the children’s choice. The only thing I asked them to do
was tell stories from their daily life with the pictures. Otherwise they had
free reign. Some of them had taken pictures before, others held a camera for
the very first time. That fact made it very exciting for both them and me.
From
the huge amount of pictures, I’ve tried to pick motifs that I think show
different sides of these children’s lives. On the way I had many surprises
and acquired new knowledge. |
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 The
pictures show eagerness, interest and joy. I hope the exhibition touches
those who attend it and that maybe they will be inspired to reflect upon
their own daily life. The pictures you see are all taken by different
children, at home or school. I’ve never seen such pictures before. I could
never have taken them myself.I
have cooperated with Save the Children, Norway, and they helped me to get in
touch with the children in Phnom Penh.
The
exhibition has already been shown in Norway twice. In February it will open
at a conference for journalists, and later at a museum in Trondheim, where
children from different schools will be invited to take part.
My
plan is to take the exhibition to Phnom Penh in October. Then the
children who took the pictures finally will have an opportunity to take part
in the exhibition. More information will follow at this website. I want to
thank Mick for letting me write about the project, and Save the Children
Norway for helping me get in touch with the photographers.
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 Gaye
set off from |
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Gaye
set off from |
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It
is now November 2004. Anne-Lise has just brought us up to
date on the status of her project. She says: |
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"I worked all spring to get money or sponsors to take the
exhibition. Save the Children, Norway, decided to help me. So I was planning
my trip the last week of October (2004) and had started to plan workshops
and other things to do. But suddenly everything changed for me, since I had
got ill. Still, now I am feeling very well, and are working and living as
usual. But because of the illness I couldn't go to
Cambodia this autumn. Lena (Richter, Save the Children Norway's Director in
Cambodia) promised me that the exhibition will be taken care of, and that
all the children involved will get to see it, and write their own texts to
the pictures.
I also have a copy of the exhibition in Norway so it is
possible for local Save the Children groups to use it.
In fact this summer the exhibition attended a big culture
festival in the north of Norway". |
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Gaye
set off from |
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e-mail
Anne-Lise
Aakervik |
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Slide
Presentation to King Edward's School, Bath
- November 2002
Anlong
Veng & Trapang Prasat photos - March 3 2003
Angkor
Chum & Varin photos - March 4 2003
Svay
Leu photos - March 5 2003
Siem
Reap / Artisans d'Angkor - February 20 2004
Anlong
Veng & Trapang Prasat
- February 21 2004
Dangrek
Mountains & Preah Vihear
Temple - February
22 2004
Kulen
District & Koh Ker Temple - February 23 2004
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© yates family 2005
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