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

Photo-A-Week #22: Dishwashing in a Nepali Village

In the villages outside Kathmandu, life is simpler and children have to help do household chores early in their childhood. After the morning meal, they help to clean up. They not only wash their own dishes, take care of themselves, but also take care of their families. The two sisters are only 7 and 9 years old. To conserve water, one is washing dishes with the water that the other is pouring from a bottle. Children from the metropolitan cities, however, lack this kind of practical training. Like greenhouse flowers, they are often too reliant on their overprotective care.

離開加德滿都，走進山區的小村，村民生活更簡樸，孩子們從年幼擔起家務。早上吃過飯，（慶幸有温飽），便要協助清潔，不單是自己的小碟，自己照顧自己，還要「照顧」家庭，兩姊妹，一個九歳，一個七歲，一個倒水，一個忙著沖洗，免得浪費。這樣的生活環境也許是一個幫助，大都市的孩子卻缺少這些鍛鍊，像温室的小花，太嬌，太要小心輕放！

- Violin