200x150.jpg


Welcome
Recently, I have been encouraged to "speak up" and "speak out".  I figured what better way to do this than by launching a blog to go with my new website layout?  For those of you who don't know me, I'm Rachael... the younger of the two sisters that co-own Cymbidium.  After a year of doing our accounting (and hating my life) I was pushed by a slightly older and wiser sister to pursue my dreams of being a photographer.  A lot of research, a few trips to the camera store, and an extended stay abroad later... CYMBIDIUM photography was born.  It's been a few years now but the excitement of showing the world how I see things returns every time I pick up the camera and LOOK THROUGH MY LENS. 
Twitter
18
08.04.09
moses.jpg

Meet Moses.  He was one of the first kids I met working on Lake Volta.  I watched as George pulled the quiet boy aside and asked him vital questions that would need to be answered before the boy's release would be possible... What's your master's name?, Do you have any living relatives?, Where are you from originally?, etc.  I vividly remember my heart breaking at one point in their conversation as I saw Moses flench as George raised his hand. You could see the relief on the boy's face when George placed it on his shoulder.  Throughout the next few days we met countless other small children working on the lake, but the sight of Moses just wouldn't leave my head... to be honest it still hasn't.  Each night, I, the non-crier, was in tears for having to just walk away from the situation.  I felt completely helpless... George, having the ok from Moses's master, would still have to track down Moses's mother for the formal permission to take her son under his care, but he assured me that he would do everything in his power to find her.  Months after I had returned to Texas, George did get the permission needed, but when he returned to the master's home he found that because of the rainy season, everyone had left.  Frustrated and impatiently I waited and prayed for word from George on Moses's release.  Months later, on my return to Lake Volta, to document more children working, we stopped at a familiar village.  Peering out from behind a tree in front of his master's home, was Moses.  With all the formal permission and paperwork in hand (although the jury's still out on whether not having it would have stopped me), we packed a small backpack with all of Moses's possessions.  The next morning I left Lake Volta, headed for Tema, holding Moses in my arms.   

mosesandgeorge.jpg

Above: George Achibra in celebration with Moses. Below: Rachel Johnson (Director of Project Development at Touch A Life) with Moses, on the way to his new home in Tema.  

mosesandrachel.jpg



Trackbacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Meet Moses . TrackBack URL for this entry: http://cymbidiumphotography.com/darkroom/mt/mt-tb.cgi/17

Comments
Zyon:

This is very touching and I hope when i grow up to help kids as you did and lift their lives to the next level.

(01.14.10)
Nicole Salerno:

Rachael you are an angel.

(03.27.10)

"); pageTracker._trackPageview();