Photo-A-Week #25: A Simple Life

Life was simple in the Filipino village. I got up early in the morning, walked around the neighbourhood, greeted with the villagers, and chatted briefly with them. Although I only stayed for a couple days, I did not feel that we were strangers. Instead, we were like neighbours.

They rose early to sweep the floor, do laundry, cook rice, send the children to school, pick some vegetables from the field, buy meat from the market… I enjoyed seeing their smiles. They tell us that a pleasant life does not need to have a lot of possessions. Their simplicity makes them beautiful.

菲律賓的鄉村，生活仍是簡樸。早起走一圈，看到村民的生活點滴，打個招呼，閒聊幾句，相當親切，雖然只停留一、兩天，但沒有陌生感，很有鄰居的感覺。

清早起來，打掃，洗衣，煑飯，送孩子們上學，田間摘點菜，市場買些肉。歡喜看見他們的笑容，不用有太多的擁有，生活可以愉快，這是他們的可愛。

- Violin

Photo-A-Week #24: "Is she eating an apple?"

It seems like just another ordinary scene in a Nepali village; a single mother and her daughter were sitting in front of their house. I wanted to capture the moment when the little girl was eating under the beautiful morning light. Just when I approached her, her mother came out the door and started talking to me. Using my limited Nepalese, I casually asked her whether her daughter was eating an apple. The resulted expression on her face gave me the impression that I was asking for the impossible. After some time, I finally discovered why she reacted in such way: the price of a kilogram of apples is the equivalent of a few days' worth of salary to many people in Nepal! I was grieved with this knowledge and wished that I could give the mother and daughter some apples if I meet them again.

這小女孩和她單親的媽媽，坐在自己屋前，是鄉村生活的一個鏡頭，不算太特別，然而心中忘不了小孩手上的食物。當我從遠處看見小女孩專心吃著她的早點，在早晨日光映照下十分美麗，便走上前拍攝，剛好她媽媽走出來，我便用有限的尼泊爾話與她交談，我隨便問：孩子在吃蘋果？她的反應實在太令我難忘，好像我在說一些不可能的事。後來知道一公斤的蘋果可以是他們幾天的工資！難怪她有這樣的神情表達。有點心痛，希望有機會送她們蘋果。

- Violin

Photo-A-Week #23: Nepalese Women

The women in Nepal stir up many thoughts within me. When I saw the women from the mountainous areas, the villages, and also some from the capital, I thought about how they perform various house chores since young, cultivate the land, and shepherd cattle and sheep. Moreover, it is common for them to participate in labour-intensive work such as quarrying, producing bricks, and working in constructions for prolonged periods of time. They pour their lives into labouring for their children and husbands, often until well advanced in age. In the end, despite their sacrifices, they may not receive the respect and honour that they should deserve. But they don't mind and continue to labour in silence. These women have earned my appreciation and sympathy. They are the true capable women, the pillars of their families and societies.

尼泊爾的婦女引起我很多的感想，這不包括受英語敎育、穿時尚服飾的新一代。但見那些在山區、鄉村、甚至首都的婦女們，他們從小學習家務、農耕、牧放牛羊，甚至石礦場、磚廠、地氊工場、承擔沉重的工作，長時間的勞動、為家庭、為兒女、丈夫，甚或丈夫的全家付出，直到年老。然而他們不一定被尊重，受欣賞，一切都像是應該，但她們那樣甘心，實在惹我憐愛，她們是真正的「女強人」，家庭和社會的支柱。

- Violin