The face of Laos

It seems like a dream now. I went to Laos in March this year with TEAR Australia. It was an amazing trip. You can see some earlier photos I posted here. How quickly this year has powered on.

The scenery was beautiful but to me these trips are about the people. Actually everywhere I go I think it is about the people…hahah!

Each country I visit has a different way to deal with me taking photos of them. In India I found everyone wanted photos taken… they loved the camera. In Africa in the remote villages we visited I scared the babies with my pale face and the big kids cautiously tailed me desperate to see the images of themselves but not wanting to get to close to this ghostly woman.

In Laos the people I met were a little shy but so welcoming and warm, as I signed to them that I would like to take their picture I occasionally got a friendly shaking of the head… no… not keen to be in the spotlight of my camera.

Then each person who agreed to a photo, cautious at first, quickly moved to warmth and laughter as I tried to communicate with my two words in their language.

Here are a few images of the people I met.

The grandma who had eyes that sparkled.

The man in charge of the rice bank who even though we could only communicate through hand gestures and small skits humored me and let me take his photo over and over… 😉

The woman who had learned to read as an adult thanks to the program run by the TEAR partners.

And the old woman who laughed so hard as I got closer and closer with my camera.