These photos depict an average day in a Phnom Penh slum during monsoon season. The children in the pictures are my neighbors, with whom I shared life with during the six months this community was home for me in 2013. "Every day, with rare exception, there is a torrential rain storm that surges over the city. It is the equivalent of titanic buckets of water being poured over your homes, with the volume of a clattering freight train making its way through your front yard. It silences everything with its boisterousness, from teachers lecturing at school in mid-afternoon, to life at the market, to traffic in the hustle-bustle of Phnom Penh. The city waits, cooling down, as water plummets from the sky. At home, life is summoned at the roar of the storm. Children shriek with joy, and streets are occupied with dancing, running, screaming, with laughing. It is time for tag. It is time for swimming. It is time for a free shower. Every existing child I know on our street is drenched with rain, playing, faces ready to take on any challenge."
