holding on

I have been fortunate enough to have worked out in Cambodia as an artist for the last 5 years, and around this time of year I start to get itchy feet about going. I have worked in hospitals, remote villages, and seen the realities of how civil war ravages the very soul. I go out as an artist and work with the people of Cambodia, to look at how they can use arts for health, to heal and to become an integral part of individuals care and recovery. There is not a day that passes when I don't think about Cambodia and longing to be there I sometimes get scared that I will forget as we live this life. I found a piece in my diary from Nov 2006

Holding on Nov 2006
There have been times in my life, where I have wanted to hold on to a moment, stop time and treasure that thought, feeling or sense. I get scared that amongst all the chaos of life you will be robbed of those memories, as we busy ourselves with the sights, sounds and sensations of the now. I don't ever want to forget how I felt when I saw children dying around me, families sleeping on the floor waiting for news of their loved ones. The pain of mothers watching their children's lives slip away.I don't want to forget the children ravaged by Aids and malnutrition. I don't want to forget the many dead children I have seen whilst out here. I want to remember all these difficult things that we might try to forget.