Party Time!

Come celebrate the opening of Snapdragon Photography's new studio and gallery!

In addition to debuting the new space, I will be showing my Cambodia photography collection - a limited-edition series of images from Michael's and my recent trip to Cambodia to visit the school we founded. The photographs will be for sale, with a portion of proceeds to be donated to the school.

In case drinks, dessert, a party and an art opening weren't enough. . . I will be raffling off free photography sittings. Everyone who comes will get a ticket, and additional tickets will be available for purchase for $5.

See you there!

(Click on the post title to view the evite and rsvp!)

Construction Zone!

The build-out is almost complete, and I'm moving into the new space this weekend! I will be announcing the opening party date soon, so get your babysitters ready. . .

A few more pictures from the school. . .

Overwhelming Welcome

As promised, more about our visit to the school. . .

We visited the school on our last day in Cambodia. Initially we were concerned that it would not feel as powerful to go on our last day - we had been in-country for nearly two weeks at that point and had seen a lot of rural areas and a lot of poverty - maybe we would be underwhelmed. Not an issue - we were blown away.

We arrived at 9am after a two hour drive from Phenom Phen. When we got out of the van, we were greeted by 120 students and several government officials lined up along the walkway clapping and smiling. They handed each of us a bouquet of flowers, and we walked through them to a large tent set up for speeches. It is hard to describe this moment. The attention was embarrassing - it was a Miss America moment, and that is so not me (remember, I like to be BEHIND the camera) - but it was also incredible.

I was disappointed that I couldn't take more pictures of this part of the day, but so many people were taking pictures of Michael and me that it was difficult.

Once we were sitting at the head table in the tent, we realized that in addition to the students, the whole village was in attendance. Several government officials gave speeches (in Khmer, but we came with an employee of the organization that oversaw the construction of the school, and he translated a lot of it for us), and Michael and I gave a speech as well. After one incredibly long speech from the Provincial Minister of Education and tons of posed photographs, we were able to hang out with the kids.

We had given money to have some sports equipment (soccer balls, volleyballs and jump ropes) and school supplies (notebooks, pens, books) purchased for the students. To say they had an inexhaustible energy for soccer and jumping rope would be a gross understatement - they played for hours. Michael played a Mario Brothers typing game on the computer (with many amazed observers!), and I was finally able to wander around and take pictures.

After a banquet lunch with the government officials, we walked through the village. The poverty was the most extreme we had seen during our travel. All of the other places we had been, no matter how remote they seemed, had some tourist dollars coming in since we were obviously not the only ones touring through. This village is two hours from anything. But the people were wonderful and the children were playful and happy. It really puts life into perspective.

So where to go from here? Michael and I thought a lot about next steps. Although we would like to continue to raise money for our school, our biggest hope is that our experience will encourage others to build a school themselves. All it takes is $13,000. While it was more than we were able to write a check for, once we spread the word about what we were doing, we got to our goal pretty quickly - we actually doubled it. And to think that $13,000 changed the lives of not just the 120 students, but the entire village. . . forever. . . it seems like pennies.

What's in a name?

The trip to Cambodia was nothing short of life-changing.

For those of you who don't know the background. . .

In January of 2007, my husband and I were watching ABC News and were blown away by a story about an organization that builds schools in rural Cambodia, called American Assistance for Cambodia (click on the post title to get to the clip from ABC News).

One of this organization's many efforts - The Rural Schools Project - has built about 400 schools in rural areas of Cambodia since 1999. The project aims to repair damage done during the Khmer Rouge regime, when all institutions, including schools, were banned, and the people were forced into communist slave-labor farming communities.

So what does this have to do with us? Michael and I decided to undertake a year-long fundraising effort to raise the $13,000 necessary to build one of these schools. And why this project? We feel very passionate about the power of education, and we were excited about being able to do something with such a tangible and impactful result. The Cambodians in these villages are living in extreme poverty, and the young, uneducated girls are at serious risk of being kidnapped for the sex trade. This program gives these children a school - equipped with teachers, books, computers and internet access - and with it, a future.

From Valentine's Day 2007 to Valentine's Day 2008, we worked to raise both money and awareness to build our school and name it "Heart to Heart". Our major events were an art auction at the Timothy Michael Gallery and a visit from the founder of American Assistance for Cambodia, Bernie Krisher.

All in all, we raised just over $26,000. This payed for the construction of the 5-room school, a computer, additional teachers for English and computers, various other instructional items for the kids, and a small working capital.

After the school was completed, we asked to be emailed pictures. It was at that point that we realized that my name was featured prominently on the sign. . . which was not what we had in mind! Not only do I not feel comfortable having something named after me, I did not write the check - it was a combined effort of so many wonderful donations, which is why we wanted the school to be named Heart to Heart. (Not to mention the total absence of my husband's name - it was all me, and I was so embarrassed!) Ultimately we decided not to spend the money to change the sign, since that money could be much better spent on the children.

Next post will be more about the trip - looking forward to sharing.