Last September I went to Cambodia with a group of Japanese volunteers, and during our time at Wat Opot I made this short movie. All the actors are kids, mostly orphaned by AIDS (having lost one or both parents).

It’s a movie about friendship and living with HIV. There is a worldwide fear of HIV, but that fear is intensified in cultures with relatively little formal education or medical awareness. When Cambodians were dying by the thousands of AIDS, their own families cast them out, hospitals wouldn’t receive them, and even crematoriums were afraid to burn their bodies for fear that workers might be infected by the smoke.

That was three years ago. Not surprisingly, people living with HIV are still stigmatized in Cambodia.

About 20 percent of the kids at Wat Opot are living with HIV. They have worked hard with the surrounding community to dispel their fears. All the kids at Wat Opot attend the nearby public schools, and they interact freely with kids in the community. That isn’t to say all the fears and stigmas have gone away, but the situation is much better than before. The director wrote the short story that this movie is based on to help more people to understand that it’s okay to make friends with HIV infected people. We hope to distribute it in Cambodia on DVD’s and via YouTube. I’m still working on finalizing some things, like adding credits in Khmer script, but now you can see it with English subtitles.

A quick qualification: this was a learning experience. It my first attempt to make a short movie, and the crew were all learning with me as we went along. We made some significant mistakes, but we also got some things right. The actors are all kids and staff from Wat Opot, plus one woman from the community who spontaneously assumed the role of Doar’s mother (and proved to be a natural). I’m proud of what we did, and I hope we’ll create more movies in Cambodia with better and better results.

Enjoy. If you want to tell others, just send them to the main page here: www.photosensibility.com (thanks).

A Japanese volunteer and Cambodian youth handling the sound

In November of the year when daughters in Japan turn seven, it’s a tradition for their families to dress them in kimonos and take them to a shrine. The year of their third birthday is also marked, and boys are especially honored in the fifth year. The Japanese shorthand for the tradition is 753 (shichigosan).

Our twins turned seven this year. We didn’t take them to a shrine, although our friends invited us to bring them to a church service just for kids. Then we took  them to a photo studio that specializes in kimono pictures. This video documents that experience.

In recent years, the Japanese have added the tradition of dressing their daughters in “princess” dresses as well. Sure, it’s another Western incursion, but we went for the whole nine yards. We were there for three hours. I took 200+ pictures, more than one per minute. I edited those down to 45 for this video.

I recommend watching in HD, or download the video from YouTube for (by far) the best results. BTW, here is a photo I took of Reia on the same occasion two years ago.

I made this short video featuring my kids’ outdoors school digging potatoes. Digging potatoes in the Fall is part of the rhythm of life for Japanese kids, but I think this group does it with style. I’ve always liked the way they relate and work together, something that the teacher cultivates starting in preschool until they finish the outdoors school after the sixth grade. Years ago we saw a group of kids from the school playing together and noticed how the boys and girls were getting along so well. That really go our attention. I guess you’d have to see how Japanese kids play  and relate to understand (e.g., groups of boys all sitting around each with his own Nintendo DS, groups of girls nearby checking cell phones for email). Anyway, you can click to watch in HD if your connection is fast enough. Leave a comment with your thoughts below.

Japanese hip-hop dancers competing

I was wandering in Yoyogi Park, near Harajuku Station, last weekend and heard the sound of hip-hop music emanating from a crowd across the street.  Crossing over I found a thousand or more people participating in a hip-hop festival called “BBoy Park.” Groups were performing on the main stage, rappers were facing off under a small, packed pavilion, graffiti artists were creating pieces on plywood boards set up for the day, and hundreds of high schoolers were having a hip-hop dancing competition.

The video is in HD. If you like it, please vote 5 stars.

If you have a high speed connection click “HD” for super quality even on a full screen.

Take a few minutes and watch this video. I think you’ll agree it’s worth seeing and learning the story.

I recommend watching THEN reading the story. If you prefer just to read it, see the previous post (with more details and better looking versions of the best photos). If you’d like to help out, there are more details at the bottom of that page.

UPDATE: You can read Abraham’s story in his own words here.

What are your first impressions after seeing this? How do you want to respond?

They range in age from first grade to Junior High (with a couple of adults mixed in). The event was a mostly fun slalom kayaking competition. For those who are unfamiliar with the sport, you have to navigate a series of gates suspended above the river. Some gates must be entered facing downstream and others facing upstream. Your score depends on the time it takes to finish the course plus penalties for each time you touch (2 seconds) or miss (50 seconds) a gate. In this case, most of the kids only had to touch each gate with a paddle (rather than passing through) to avoid deductions. The outdoors school tries to play down competition, but it’s hard for the coach to be a purist when his daughter is an international level competitor who seems to have just barely missed making the Japanese team for Beijing. One of the Junior High boys aspires to be an Olympian, too.

My daughter, Reia, is in the second grade now. She really loves kayaking. She says she’s not afraid of being in the river. That makes us a little nervous, but I’m excited for her, too. I would have loved this sport when I was young but never had an opportunity to give it a try. If you watch the video you may see her. Her kayak is blue on top with a yellow bottom. Actually, there is another boy with the same colors, so picking her out may be a challenge.

The music is by my friend, Rennie Foster, who has been called a significant force and a pioneer DJ in the techno music scene. He’s recently been named one of the top 50 DJ’s in Japan and he’s hoping for a Top 5 ranking (by a music magazine here in Japan that I don’t read…so no link due to my ignorance, sorry).