Results tagged “human trafficking” from Kimberly Reed Photography

I flew back into Phnom Penh late Sunday night after spending the day at the temples. After breakfast on Monday I went to a spa down the street for another 1 hour foot massage, and, being adventurous, figured I'd give a Thai massage a go. I have to say it wasn't very enjoyable at all. About halfway through, my masseuse was standing on my bum, and then walked up my back. She wasn't a tiny girl, but before I could figure out how to say "Pardon me ma'am, but that really hurts...please stop" in Khmer, she stepped of and continued contorting me around for another half an hour or so. On the upside, the foot massage was good, and when it was all said and done, my total was $16 for two hours of massage. I could get used to that.

I spent most of the rest of Monday editing images, and met up with Tim, Fritz, Seth, Laine from SISHA, and Athena, Alison, and Liz from Transitions for dinner. Several hours and a few bottles of wine later, we called it a night. Good times.

Tuesday morning I was in the shower when a gecko ran out from behind the shower head and scared the crap out of me. Not that a gecko is all that scary on it's own, but it was rather startling darting around my shower, when I was sleepy and not expecting company. At least, I think it was a gecko. It could have been a guy in a green T-shirt.

Met up with Tim and he and I were off to the Ministry of Justice for Tim's scheduled interview with Ith Rady, Under Secretary of State for Ministry of Justice and Deputy Chair of the Cambodian COMMIT (Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region) Taskforce. I assisted with audio during the interview and acted as a lightstand afterwards as Tim took a few portraits. Afterwards our translator explained that proper protocol would have dictated that someone from the National Task Force (who had set up the interview) should have accompanied us to make an official introduction, and the first order of business would have been an exchange of business cards. Also, the proper channel to request the interview should have been a formal letter, on letterhead, explaining the purpose of the interview and the intended output, as well as an outline of the questions to be asked. So we went in with a few strikes against us. Fortunately, our translator was pretty fantastic, and Tim can be charming when he needs to be, so all ended pretty well.

Below: Tim sets up his video camera and gets ready to put the mic on Ith Rady. From left to right, Ith Rady, Tim Matsui, the translator.

Following the interview we went over to Transitions so I could get a tour of the transitional living center. The image below, depicting receiving a beating from a pimp, was taken in the counseling room, where the girls receive intensive trauma therapy, including art therapy.
 
When I was leaving, one of the girls hugged me and slid a friendship bracelet she made for me on my wrist. (Ladies who grew up in the 80's: Do you remember making friendship bracelets?)

Then Tim and I were off to Sophea's house to interview her. That deserves it's own post, which will be forthcoming.

After heading back to the hotel, I met up with my friend Tim Matsui who is here producing media related to trafficking. This makes for the perfect time for a little backstory about how I ended up in Cambodia. (warning: fragmented, rambling story ahead).

So I've wanted to do documentary photography for some time now. Specifically, I wanted to tell the stories of people whose voice otherwise may not be heard, and I wanted to focus on areas outside of the US. With no formal training in photography or journalism (my degree is in graphic design) and no real documentary portfolio, I had a hard time finding any work that would produce a viable income stream. I had been working random jobs for several years, and always doing photography on the side, waiting for 'some day' to take the leap into full time. And then my sister was diagnosed with leukemia. She was 30 years old...so young...and that was a huge wake up call for me. I thought if I knew this was my dream, I couldn't keep putting it off for 'someday', because who knows what the future holds?  So I took the leap and started my business, and figured I had to at least give it a shot. I started out doing a little bit of everything, and ended up falling in love with wedding photography. I made that my focus with the intention of taking time in the 'off season' to pursue photography projects that inspire and encourage social change. That was almost two and a half years ago.

Sometime in the beginning of the year I stumbled upon the travel blog of a couple who spent several weeks traveling throughout Asia. While I love to travel, Asia has never really been on my radar...until I saw Rebecca's posts about their time in Cambodia. Before that, I probably wouldn't have been able to find Cambodia on a map, but I was really intrigued by her photos and the organizations that they worked with while they were here. I started doing a little more research, and was horrified by some of the stories I was reading. I decided that I wanted to come to Cambodia to help raise awareness about some of the issues facing this country and it's people. Finding someone to come with me, however, was more daunting task. After asking around for a few weeks, I decided to just go ahead and book my plane ticket and figure out the details later. Not my first choice, but I'd rather go by myself then not go at all. Like any good Facebooker, I updated my status to reflect I had just booked my flight to Cambodia.

Tim is a photojournalist who lives in Seattle, I met him last year when I photographed his sister's wedding. We chatted a bit at the wedding and sent a few emails afterwords in regard to his nonprofit, but didn't stay in close touch. As luck (or fate?) would have it, Tim and I are Facebook friends, so when he saw on Facebook that I had booked a ticket to Cambodia, he sent me a message asking when I'd be here, as he was going to be in Cambodia as well. I took a peek at his blog, and saw that he had been here several months prior, doing exactly the kind of work I was interested in. He came back this November to finish up some work and stories he started in the beginning of the year. After a few emails and a phone call, it seemed like the stars had aligned for me, and I suddenly knew someone who was going to be in Cambodia at the same time I was, had similar interests, had already been doing work in the areas I wanted to, and was totally cool with showing me around and making some introductions. Seriously, what are the chances of that?

So Tim and I met up and made plans to meet up for dinner and drinks with some guys from SISHA (South East Asia  Investigations into Social and Humanitarian Activities). One of the things SISHA does is investigative and undercover work to gather evidence that will lead to convictions. We went to a series of 'girlie bars', which started out a little tame and ended up with girls dancing on poles. They were specifically looking for girls that were underaged, or there against their will, since actually working at one of these places isn't a crime, and many of the women are there by choice. There simply aren't a lot of employment opportunities for women here, and this line of work pays very well in comparison to say, working in a garment factory. (As a side note, the number of middle aged white men in these places was really creepy.) It was eye-opening for me to see a little slice of the sex trade here, even though it was more of the PG version, at least comparatively. I really appreciated the opportunity to spend the evening with a group of guys who have dedicated their lives to helping trafficking victims, and witness a small part of what they do.