I’ve been living abroad for years, and now I naturally simplify my spoken English to accomodate whoever may be listening. I filter out complex grammatical structures and choose simple words. Sometimes when I want to say something too complicated to express in simplified language, I stop as if lacking the language. Or I switch to Japanese. The same thing  happens in writing if I know the audience are not native English speakers. The difference is more pronounced in Cambodia. The language of Cambodia, Khmer, doesn’t have verb tenses. When speaking to shopkeepers and tuk-tuk drivers, they understand better if I keep all verbs in the present tense. This naturally spills out in more and more conversations in Cambodia.

On my last trip, I discovered it took a conscious effort to speak like a native English speaker. Rather, simplified English is becoming my default.

Now I have a word for what I do: globish (global English). Do you speak it?

Globish is a “decaffeinated English” that is increasingly becoming a widely used international language. (h/t Kottke)

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This is just a photographic sketch I made one afternoon in Phnom Penh. I take photos like these as a way to observe and learn; and I enjoyed talking to the people as I photographed them. It was in February, just before Chinese New Year. I walked into Wat Lanka, a Buddhist temple, and saw several young men and one older man at work. I don’t think any of them do wood working as a profession, though I could be wrong. My impression was that they showed up and learned. Perhaps they are carving images of Buddha to earn merit, or dollars (the statues were being made to sell). Buddhism in Cambodia is very practical. Young men become monks for spiritual reasons and/or because they want a place to live, food to eat, and an education. Most are monks for a few years, and some continue for life. I didn’t know what motives these men had for their labor, but I admired the care they put into the task.

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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

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Today I submitted some photos for photo contest hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club in Thailand (here). After all the work I did to re-work them, I wanted to post them here. Here’s one that I entered as an individual feature photo. I was walking through Phnom Penh returning to my hotel when I saw a small factory, so I veered in. They were very friendly, and I’d love to go back some day and learn some of the workers’ stories. Most of them wandered in looking for work, or came at the invitation of a friend, and just started carving. If they could do it, they got hired.  There’s no training program, but I assume they work very slowly for the first few weeks or months.

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Japanese boys running a race on Sports Day

A Japanese girl on Sports Day before performing a dance

The sixth graders performing traditional gymnastic exercises

The crowd of kids sitting in classes and cheering the events

Japanese parents at Sports Day

The final score is displayed

Here are a few photos to give you the feel of being at a children’s sports day at a school in Japan. Well, they can’t really capture all the feelings of parents watching the events which range from pride and wonder to boredom and pain. I felt all of these today. When only Reia was participating we were always waiting and waiting for her next event. Today it seemed like our kids were constantly coming up next. They were all very proud of their dances, and Maika was selected for the relay (one of just a few girls in her grade). Mari is actually faster than Maika, but they were on different teams — and Mari happened to be on the team with most of the fastest 1st grade girls.

I haven’t posted any photos of my kids, because I like these shots better. Mostly I shot video of my kids with a scattering of photos in between events.

The highlights of sports days are often the running events. Even though they aren’t supposed to be very competitive, at least not in elementary school, it still works out that way. They also have fun relays, dances, and the older kids do “gymnastic exercises” (for lack of a better word in English).  It’s a long day in the hot sun, and if you’ve seen one…  But if you ever have a chance, I recommend attending one. They’re free. They’re happening all over the place at this time of year, and anyone can walk in.

Today on the last lap of the final relay a boy came from behind in 3rd place to win. It was amazing, because he made up more than 20 meters over such a short space. When the final score was announced the red and white teams had tied: 288 to 288.

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