On the streets of Phnom Penh and in rural villages of Cambodia, children are expressing themselves through painting thanks to a Japanese artist on a mission.
Their paintings and drawings have, in turn, been helping to make their lives a little better and brighter.
Tateshi Kajiyama, 56, is an artist based here who specializes in water colors. In Cambodia, he is known simply as "ta ku rouk," which translates as "grandpapa drawer."
For the past decade, Kajiyama has regularly visited the country between four and five times a year.
While there, he spends his time giving art lessons to young children, even handing out brushes to those who live on the streets of the capital.
Back home, he has been raising money at private exhibitions and collecting donations that he sends to schools in Cambodia to support children's education.
It was a chance meeting with a Cambodian student in Japan that got him started on his mission.
In late April 1998, Kajiyama befriended the student at a store in Shinjuku. They sat in a nearby cafe and talked for over two hours.
Everything Kajiyama learned that day about the daily lives of ordinary people in Cambodia was different from what he had learned about the country through the media. In his mind, Cambodia was a country filled with land mines and terrible poverty.
He said he came to realize that despite the lingering confusion and devastation of civil war, Cambodians were resilient and intent on moving forward to rebuild their country.
Intrigued, he flew off to Cambodia that summer.
"I wanted to visit a country that was undergoing change and to see the daily lives of the people with my own eyes," Kajiyama said.
He visited a village in Kandal province in southern Cambodia, where his student friend was from.
At a local elementary and junior high school, he rented classroom space. He spread out the painting supplies he had brought with him from Japan and invited the children there to draw.
"These were children who were encountering paint for the first time in their lives. Some just went ahead and tried to eat it straight out of the tube," he said.
The children painted local birds, flowers and fresh produce. They drew to their hearts' content on big sheets of paper. Kajiyama said: "In Japan, children like to draw anime characters. Cambodian children faithfully draw what they see."
He was surprised to see them come up with powerful and vibrant images. It was hard to imagine that the children were drawing for the first time.
Kajiyama pondered how to help them through these drawings.
He noticed that the school had no chalkboard, nor textbooks for students.
So he decided to take the paintings back to Japan. He held exhibitions in Tokyo and sought donations--to be put to good use for the children.
Since then, he visits the country as often as he can.
In Phnom Penh, he has shown street children how to draw while they camp out on the sidewalks. He was again very impressed.
"(The children) are so intense. There is so much concentration. They can draw for three to four hours without a break under the tropical sun, something I can't do," Kajiyama said.
He said he had collected more than 200 drawings during his visits over the past 10 years.
Based on the funds he has sent in, the school in Kandal was able from last year to start distributing textbooks to all its students. The broken well is fixed and a new gate was installed to welcome the kids.
Thanks to these renovations, more children are coming back to the school.
Today, Kajiyama is working toward a new goal.
He wants to build an art studio-cum-gallery in Cambodia.
"I want to create a space where people can communicate through art," he said.
With passion in his heart Kajiyama looks forward to returning to Cambodia this year to visit his budding students.(IHT/Asahi: February 5,2008)
Their paintings and drawings have, in turn, been helping to make their lives a little better and brighter.
Tateshi Kajiyama, 56, is an artist based here who specializes in water colors. In Cambodia, he is known simply as "ta ku rouk," which translates as "grandpapa drawer."
For the past decade, Kajiyama has regularly visited the country between four and five times a year.
While there, he spends his time giving art lessons to young children, even handing out brushes to those who live on the streets of the capital.
Back home, he has been raising money at private exhibitions and collecting donations that he sends to schools in Cambodia to support children's education.
It was a chance meeting with a Cambodian student in Japan that got him started on his mission.
In late April 1998, Kajiyama befriended the student at a store in Shinjuku. They sat in a nearby cafe and talked for over two hours.
Everything Kajiyama learned that day about the daily lives of ordinary people in Cambodia was different from what he had learned about the country through the media. In his mind, Cambodia was a country filled with land mines and terrible poverty.
He said he came to realize that despite the lingering confusion and devastation of civil war, Cambodians were resilient and intent on moving forward to rebuild their country.
Intrigued, he flew off to Cambodia that summer.
"I wanted to visit a country that was undergoing change and to see the daily lives of the people with my own eyes," Kajiyama said.
He visited a village in Kandal province in southern Cambodia, where his student friend was from.
At a local elementary and junior high school, he rented classroom space. He spread out the painting supplies he had brought with him from Japan and invited the children there to draw.
"These were children who were encountering paint for the first time in their lives. Some just went ahead and tried to eat it straight out of the tube," he said.
The children painted local birds, flowers and fresh produce. They drew to their hearts' content on big sheets of paper. Kajiyama said: "In Japan, children like to draw anime characters. Cambodian children faithfully draw what they see."
He was surprised to see them come up with powerful and vibrant images. It was hard to imagine that the children were drawing for the first time.
Kajiyama pondered how to help them through these drawings.
He noticed that the school had no chalkboard, nor textbooks for students.
So he decided to take the paintings back to Japan. He held exhibitions in Tokyo and sought donations--to be put to good use for the children.
Since then, he visits the country as often as he can.
In Phnom Penh, he has shown street children how to draw while they camp out on the sidewalks. He was again very impressed.
"(The children) are so intense. There is so much concentration. They can draw for three to four hours without a break under the tropical sun, something I can't do," Kajiyama said.
He said he had collected more than 200 drawings during his visits over the past 10 years.
Based on the funds he has sent in, the school in Kandal was able from last year to start distributing textbooks to all its students. The broken well is fixed and a new gate was installed to welcome the kids.
Thanks to these renovations, more children are coming back to the school.
Today, Kajiyama is working toward a new goal.
He wants to build an art studio-cum-gallery in Cambodia.
"I want to create a space where people can communicate through art," he said.
With passion in his heart Kajiyama looks forward to returning to Cambodia this year to visit his budding students.(IHT/Asahi: February 5,2008)
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