This is the message I just got from one of my students (the class I had started to teach in 2005 and I which I taught until 2007). He has found me on Facebook. He should be about 16 or 17 years old now.

wow wow! I so happy when I heard that you are fine and you are continue the photography class to the children from Afghanistan.You know I am very happy and proud for you that you try the best from your heart to help them. These actions it made me reminded all the past when we was walking to take the photos and it make me want to study again and again.I think that i can be study by you. One more if i can move back the earth i want to move it at the same time when you taught us.I WISH YOU HAVE SAFETY.

I'm just so proud... My students and their own project:

Dear u
This is Chhay (MKF Student)
Hello !!! How are u ? We are fine !!! Sorry that i can not email to u .
so I'm very and very miss u .do u miss me ?

How about ur study ? And what happen in ur life ?
For my study is very good but i still be poor of English ,so what can i do to improve my self?
Now i'm finish the Leadership class,and we have the project:
Sophos project is the( MKF Community Education throgh Art )and we can say that(M.C.E.A ).
And Sohor (Student Club and Follow Up) And Mousoun ( MKF Libary )And Sokleng (MKF Controling )and the last one is me (MKF Leadership and MKF Development).All the project it's like our job eventhoug we have no the salary .
What do u think about our project ?and when u come here?
The love from M.K.F
See u soon ,good beye From me

There is a chance that Amanda and I can put our students in Cambodia, in touch with some Khmer-American kids that are now having photography classes with Amanda in the US. Our student Chhay is so excited about this:

dear Setareh
i'm very and very exciting that i got good information from U .Can thay speak khmer ? how old are thay ? where are they live ?can u tell me about their email ?
how many boy and girl? what graet are they in?
can u tell me about Amanda email ?
because she never email to me .
thank U , that u coming soon !!
i will tell my classmate about U .
I thing that no one is like u .and u will coming soon and teach me more about photography.
do u know right now i can speak English very well because i practice English every day with the foriegner and my friend also.
i hope that i will communicate with U !!!

BECAUSE I HAVE THE CONFFIDENT.U WILL BE AGOOD TEACHER THAN BEFOR .BECAUSE FOR ALONG TIME U GOT ALOTS OF EXPARENT FROM UR COUNTRY.

My student, Chhay, has been asked to make a statement about the progress of his class and the improvments he has made through the year. He has to make a speech in front of many people and that's the reason he's a little bit afraid(affrit). It's amazing how he wants to give it a try though...
The second email is after he has done his presentation. He sounds so confident, doesn't he?

Dear S.

Do U know today is saturday Do U know what do i do ?
I'm very affrit when make the statement,because there are alot of people, and i think that my English is still poor.
But i try to do it !!! and i think that u will have confident on me!!
And i want to thank u that u offered a good time for me to study any skill.
I hope that u will coming soon, to teach us about photography.
So i want to say good bye. and i want to know the cheistmas day at your country. send photos to me.

Dear S.
I have success.i could do it.And i got alot of giffs from MKF and the Citeficat.
I'm 1st of photographyer and computer , and dancing ,and 2nd of study English.
Do u know ? when i make the statement all the teacher and student especilly all the foreingner are compliment on me.
So i'm very and very happy . And u what do u think ?
i'm very miss u .I will study the leadership. In new year I will start. What do u think? Is it good?
good bye

I keep receiving these cute emails but this one is just hilarious. Well, I have to share it with you!

So I sent an email to one of my students and attached a photo of me and my friend in Chinatown. I think I totally forgot to mention that the photo has not been taken in China. So my other student, Chhay, has guessed that I’ve won a lottery(lutory) and that has made everybody so surprised(suppry)!

Dear setareh
Hi! are u fine today? For I am fine.
I saw your photo is verry nice I like this photo in CHINA.
Oh! so when do u go to China?what is China? merry happy?
so by the way ,Chhay told me that u winned lutory.
so when i heard like this i ,teacher and students are suppry.
but later we findout Chhay is lie to me.
i want to tell u that on this monday humen right festifal teacher will bring us ride boat trip like before.

GOOD LUCK . GOOD DREAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phos

The children took pictures of different parts of their body, creating their own personal peace sign. We put together all those pictures to create this one big poster of body peace signs.

In the Peace Project that I did with my awesome friend, Amanda, we asked the kids to photograph peace!
The kids had to choose objects that are peaceful to them or that make them feel safe. Then they wrote about them to tell us about their reasons.

CHHAY
Glass:
I chose the glass because glasses are shared by all of the people around the world. It brings everyone together, like when people get together to drink tea or when someone comes to our house and we give them water. I took the picture at this angle outside because the wires confirm how we are all connected. The glass is like the globe and the sky and clouds represent the world.

CHHAY
Umbrella:
We use umbrella to protect ourselves against sunshine, heavy rain and other things. We use it to protect our skin, our body… ourselves. It’s actually very peaceful when it rains and we are under the rain with an umbrella. In this picture, the umbrella has coconut trees all around which makes it more beautiful.

SOURNG
Bird:
I took this picture because birds in general are symbols of peace. In this picture I focused on the background to show a peaceful environment. The reflection of the flash is like a moon and the shadow beneath the bird’s wings looks like a sea or a lake.

SOURNG
Buddha House:
Almost every Cambodian family has a Buddha house in their home. It might be different colors or different sizes but they are all so peaceful. In this picture I also wanted to show the plant we call ANKOOCHUM. We believe it brings us success and happiness. The white light on the Buddha house has made it look so dreamy.

SOHOUR
Study Equipments:
Why I took this picture?
Books and study equipments are really important to me. When you look at this picture and you see the note book and the pens you know these belong to a person who wants to be educated to become a scientist, a professor, a director, or a teacher. The shadow down the picture represents people who are not eduacated. When we are all educated then we will understand how important it is to have peace. We will hate wars, violence, censorship, and corruption and then the world will become a peaceful place.

SOHOUR
Walking Legs:
This picture wants to show the cycle of economic, politic and commerce and development of a country. The two legs can also be a symbol of people who get a long with each and when they work together everything works out so well.

PHOS
Cassette player:
I think radio is very important in our lives. For example if we don’t have TV we can always listen to the radio and it doesn’t matter if it’s big or small. We can listen to different programs and hear the news. We can learn about other countries, their culture and they way they live. By following the news we would know what’s going on in our country and we will find out about education, health, development and other things. After knowing all these things we can all join to help to develop our country.

PHOS
Water Filter:
I took this picture because I think it’s very important to have accesses to clean water. People can get really sick if they drink bad water.
I think each house must have one of these water filters because it’s very expensive to buy clean water and by using this filter, we can make clean water.

PHOS
Volley Ball:
People who play sports are healthy and it prevents them from using drugs. When we play sports we get less sick so we don’t need to spend money on doctors and medicines. We can save that money for other purposes instead. The other reason that I took this picture is that the volley ball is round and it looks like the world. I think sports should replace wars between the countries.

LENG:
Candle:
Candles make me feel safe because when you light a candle, the dark goes away. When you look at this picture as a whole, it looks like the world… and the candle is the equator. I say this because one side of the world is dark and the other is light.

LENG
Shoes:
When I wear these shoes I feel safe. I am free to go everywhere and I am peaceful because my feet are not getting hurt from nails and other things on the ground.

MARINA
Pen:
This picture shows how writing is important to me. I think a pen can be a symbol of educated people. People who can write and understand each other fight less. To me a pen is an opposite of a gun.

MARINA
Motorbike:
This is a photo of my motorbike. I feel safe when I’m on my motor bike. I can quickly drive away if someone follows me. Look at the old gate in the photo. That can be a symbol of something that I’m driving away from.

HENG
Ruler:
I think if people around the world don’t lie then we will all live in peace. The shape of the ruler reminds me of people who are honest with others. They say good thing to each other and never trick one another. I really think that rulers are the most peaceful objects.

HENG
Pillow:
I took this picture because pillows make us feel comfortable. When we get a good sleep then we can wake up early in the morning and feel fresh and not sleepy at all. When we go to school we don’t get tired and we can study hard.

My student's who have been studing photography for the past few years, are now teaching other kids in one of the slum areas in Phnom Penh. They emailed me to tell me about this experience. I got so excited that I decided to share it with all of you...


Dear Setareh
From so phos and chhay

today we very happy that we e'mail to u !
so we are veryyyy miss u when we not saw u when we learn photography .

do u have lunch yet ?
why we ask like this? because we send e'mail to u at night.
when u turn back your country u gave duty us to teached at AZIZA school,
now we join hands together to teached the camera at AZIZA so we like your wish. and AMANDA bring us to know how used the film canera to teach them .
so we have little difficult for us of younger student because they don't understand ,whereas older student is very easy for us because they know about photography.when we went to AZIZA we ride byecycle because we don't west of AMANDA money because we pay 4$ a day for TOK TOK !.
We teached them on Monday, wednesday , and friday.
according to the time we muse pay money for internet computer
So, we want to say good beye !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we wish u good luck ,good dream ,good success for your study !!!!
volunteerer to teached at AZIZA are ( chhay . phos . leng . sam . hor .mouy soung . marina.heng)

One terrible truth about photographs is that they can only ever show us what happened, never what is happening or will happen. They are always about something that is gone and so are in league with death.
There is one thing Photographs can do well; they can fix an image in memory, so that it is not forgotten. Tough it is not enough in relation to all discriminations and corruptions, it is something.

I write in the night, but I see not only the tyranny. If that were all I saw, I would probably not have the courage to continue. I see people sleeping, stirring, getting up to drink water, whispering their projects or fears, cooking something while the rest of the family is asleep.
I see pastry cooks in Tehran, and the shepherds, thought of as bandits, sleeping beside their sheep in Sardinia, I see a man in the Friedrichshain quarter of Berlin sitting in his pajamas with a bottle of beer reading Heidegger and he has hands of a proletarian. I see a small boat of illegal immigrants off the Spanish coast near Alicante. I see a mother in Mali, her name is Aya, which means Born on Friday--swaying her baby to sleep, I see the ruins of Kabul and a man going home, and I know that, despite the pain, the ingenuity of the survivors in undiminished, an ingenuity that scavenges and collects energy, and in the ceaseless cunning of this ingenuity, there is a spiritual value, something that I am convinced of it at night, although I don't know why.
Without money each daily human need becomes a pain.
I write in the night. In war, the dark is on nobody's side, in love the dark confirms that we are together.

It happens, it happens to all of us who are engaged with people’s life, all of us who gradually start to observe every human reason for doing everything.
We come back, in a shock of all the horrible things we have seen, we look in the mirror and we ask ourselves “what am I doing here?”
I think there's a price to be paid for living adventurous lives, and there's a price to be paid for drawing on empathy as one of the main things that you must contribute to this work to do it well, because you're dealing with humans and you are dealing on a very intimate level with human beings and they are at their most vulnerable.
I think one has to be fantastically self-contained, and has to be able to work intimately with every culture in the world and not get distressed or distracted, one has to be able to look horror in the eye and go to work the next day.

Photography is light-writing, the language of images. Less abstract than written or spoken language, it selects images from the existing world of appearances and arranges them in patterns. The camera-eye doesn't think, it recognizes. It shows us what we already know, but don't know that we know.
Its syntax is less constrained than its grammar, so the way images are put together is important.