Projects
My personal projects bring me to unexpected places without and within. They allow me to discover new perspectives on life, on womanhood, on identity and spirituality.
- this beautiful lady was happy to have her picture taken but did not want to tell us too much about herself, she coocks the rice herself and sells it during the day. ricewine is a tipical recepy in cambodian culture.
- Srok rey Pou, 21 divorved mother of a 2year old babygirl, She has to privide also for her mother and brother. she gets up at 4 am traveling 20km into town, piciking up her cart and running the streets up and down collecting recicling items, many times she has to pay for it, as ppl dont just put it on the streets, but actually sell it to the collectiors. who than sell it to a collectin point. She has been working since she was 14, when I ask her about the future, she says she does not care about the future, the present is all she has time for to worry about.
- Sokan, 25 sells sweet potatoe since 2 years, his mother did the job for over 10 years, now she cooks and her children sell, he is married since 3 years his wife also sells the sweet potatue, they come early in the morning with the goods to PP by taxy to pick up their bycicles, than worl from 7- the afternoon. him and his wife earn around 12-15$ together per day.
- Ka Uon, 62 and Pe Han, 65 parents of 8 children, have moved to PP a year ago because they were too sick and old to work on the rice fields, they took a loan of 300$ from a bank, to buy a tile repair machine which would provide them some income. They pay 25$ monthnly to the bank for 2 years which means they took a loan of 300$ and pay 600$ back. They work and sleep on the street, usually close to BKK Market Phnom Penh.
- San Sita 59 and his wife Tek Na, 59, they repair leather goods, mainly shoes close bu the BKK market, they rent this little place wich is in a prominent spot since many years but fear the owner may tell them to leacve soon. They earn well and he is happy that he could make a living from his profession. He became a shoemaker when he was young.
- Sokan, 25 sells sweet potatoe since 2 years, his mother did the job for over 10 years, now she cooks and her children sell, he is married since 3 years his wife also sells the sweet potatue, they come early in the morning with the goods to PP by taxy to pick up their bycicles, than worl from 7- the afternoon. him and his wife earn around 12-15$ together per day.
- Phnom Penh Echai
Selfemployed in Phnom Penh
There is much to learn form other cultures and their creative way to make a living
During the 7 years I spent in Cambodia I mostly enjoyed the connection I could experience with the people around me. Something I was not used to, coming from a much colder european background. The Ladies at the market, where I would buy my daily fresh fruits and veggies, would quickly remember me, and get concerned when not showing up for a few day, the Tuk Tuk driver next door, would call me by my name, the street vendor where I get my coconut would
genuinely ask how I was doing, the massage lady, the hairdresser, the nail lady, the backed- Banana Lady and her 2 small girls, the flower lady, the mango-shake lady an many more, all would become part of my life and I felt like I was part of a community. I feel deeply grateful for this beautiful connection and have learned a lot from their inspiring attitudes towards life.