10 Students at the Centre for Children's Happiness, a centre for orphans and disadvantaged children in Phnom Penh, take to the streets to capture the essence of Cambodia.

Meet the photographers (above) then scroll down and explore the archives to see their progress each week....

EXHIBITION

The exhibition of the final work of the Smile Project will take place with an opening exhibition on 25 October 2008 at Gasolina (Street 57) in BKK, Phnom Penh. The exhibition will run for a month. We hope you visit to view the children's work.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Lesson 6 - A journey back to the dump

On Saturday 23 August 4 adult assistants and 7 children headed out to the infamous landfill in Phnom Penh - Stung Meanchey.

The children from CCH and CDCC (its sister orphanage) have all been rescued from the dump. The children may have arrived with parents who have since died or even abandoned them. Some came alone - being as young as 8 and armed with only their plastic sack. There are clearly numerous health risks (physical and mental) associated with working in a place as hideous as this. From the risks of AIDS/HIV from the disposal of medical waste to the toxic methane constantly released from the rubbish it is harder to imagine spending longer than the two and a half hours we spent there - Some of the children lived and worked there for over 10 years. The pictures they produced help tell their stunning tale. 5 of the students were new to the photography project. After looking at the pictures below I'm sure you will agree that they did an excellent job - In total the students took 1,256 photographs! More of their best photos can be seen by following the links below.

NOTE: Not all the pictures of all the students will fit on one page - There are so many of them! Please use the links at the side of the page to see the images by Srey Neang and any other posting that falls off the bottom of the page!

1 comment:

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