Although my organization is best known for sending shoebox gifts to children in need all over the world, we work in a number of different sectors. Since my job focuses on the other work that we’re doing here in Cambodia, I don’t often get to help to distribute shoebox gifts. However, I recently got invited to photograph a distribution that was taking place in a village about an hour outside of Phnom Penh. The experience was all kinds of delightful.
Photographing children in Cambodia has been interesting for me — this is the first place I’ve visited where not every child immediately smiles. Many of the children get sheepish and turn away or just look at me with a blank stare. When I greet them in Khmer and ask them their name, they’ll usually crack a smile. Whether they’re surprised to hear Khmer or laughing at my poor pronunciations, I’ll take whatever I can get.
There was one little boy in particular that I became determined to make smile. He would laugh with his friends, but stop smiling as soon as he saw my camera. I would hold my camera away from my face to see if he would laugh with me… Nothing.
But then his friends came around. Suddenly, four boys were fighting to be the closest one to my camera. When I would show them their photos, they would howl with laughter. I took out my iPhone and let them take selfies on it, which they had a blast with.
Once every child had been given a shoebox, they were allowed to open them all at once. The room filled with children laughing and showing each other their toys. Some of the kids would look through their box and then shut it tight. For many of them, this was the first gift like this they had ever received, and they wanted to make sure they didn’t lose a single part of it.
When the event ended, the children packed up their belonging and headed their separate ways to walk home — many of them with big smiles on their faces.
