Annie was the last person I went to photograph and I found out what it meant to speak with your eyes. She spoke the least but I understood the pain that radiated from her. Her eyes haunted every image that I took, filling a photograph from edge to edge with grief a girl her age should not have been able to feel.

Annie wore a romper, a beautiful piece of clothing, a soft pink that complemented her pale skin. Her hair had been let down and pushed over her shoulders. She had dressed up for our visit.

When taking us to the market, Annie quickly grabbed a hoodie before meeting us outside her apartment. The hoodie was pink, but it was a bolder pink than the romper. She seemed to like the color.

May, one of the warmest people that I met, lives in one of the units on the left.

The thing that May treasures the most is her certification for teaching. She has the piece of paper framed and it hangs on her wall right above her bed in the midst of personal pictures. When I asked what she valued the most, she stood up from where we were sitting and proceeded to lift the frame from its place. She ran her hands over the glass lovingly and paused before continuing her answer.

On the ledge indented in the wall, a purple covered book sits. When asked about what May does in her free time, she tells me that she likes to cook and read her bible. When I ask her if she can show me her bible, it is the purple covered book she pulls out.

Elise is young, very young, but the way she presents herself doesn't give a hint to her real age. She was one of the few I had trouble communicating with but when it came to caring for her child, there was no misunderstanding there. And her little one is the sweetest. He held out a snack for me and proceeded to follow me, unyielding, until I took the cracker.

Mari works at a bakery through the job training program that Hagar provides to empower the survivors to be one step closer to being financially independent. Mari is completely work driven, unwilling to even take five minutes out of her workday to take a quick photo. She works quickly and precisely moving from side to side, cutting, kneading, and shaping the dough.

Dave was uncomfortable with me. It wasn’t obvious to me and I thought he was just a little reserved. Only when I had gone to grab a bottle of water and came back did I notice how relaxed he become without me there. He was sitting on the edge of the playground slide, talking freely to one of the Hagar employees, a smile on his face. He spoke as much as he listened.

Sam is a natural in front of the camera, easily positioning himself for the best shot. He has this boyish charm to him, still in the in-between of child and adulthood.

Dani’s household was the only one that I went to that was filled with laughter from beginning to end. We had arrived a bit late, to the apartment, but Dani was waiting on the top of the stairs, rushing us in and beaming with youthful joy. Right from the start her mom and older sister made jokes and as most families do, divulged embarrassing information to us that Dani had hoped to keep secret.

Dani holds her mother’s hand in this image. Their mother daughter relationship is strong. They joke back and forth, Dani playfully hits her mother on the arm when the conversation is not going her way, laughter seeming to volley back and forth between them.

Dani was one of the youngest people that I had been introduced to that had been through Hagar. She was not yet sixteen, she was a dancer but was too shy to show us her moves, she enjoyed taking photos especially selfies, and seemed to completely trust me. Her smile was unabashed, her interactions genuine, and she looked happy.

About:
In 2015, I spent some time working with Hagar International in Cambodia. Hagar International is a non-profit on a mission to aid women and children who suffer extreme human rights violations. Domestic violence, pedophilia, sexual exploitation, and slavery are some of the reasons why these women and children come to Hagar.

As a foreign stranger, who didn't know the language, and was attempting to document the men and women that been through the this program, shattering their well deserved privacy, it was a wonder to not see these people slam the door or curse in my face. Instead most greeted me with warmth and went out of their way to make me comfortable. The reason? They want their stories to be heard so that these stories don't continue to multiple and quadruple in tens, hundreds, thousands across the world. They hope for change.

They understand that the horrors that they went through are happening to other women and children right in this moment and so they let me intrude and probe, willing to make this part of their life public. In this way, through my pictures and the information that Hagar provides, their stories will be heard and more awareness can be raised so that we are one step closer to stopping these human rights abuses from happening again.

However I am not here to tell you their past, which I do not have any right to tell. Instead I want to give you a glimpse of their recovery, seen through my own eyes. Documenting their success as they reintegrate back into their own communities says just as much about who they are as people as much as their past.

The people that I met in Cambodia are survivors. They have been through the most excruciating human rights abuses, yet they are striving to live their lives. This, says so much about their character, their will, their determination. My hope is that I will be shedding light on the little things they do, maybe it will only be a detail or a habit that I picked up on, yet these are the little acts that build up to create how they live their days, surviving, overcoming the most extreme challenges that were and are thrown in their way. In these next thirteen images, let me introduce you to these awe-inspiring men and women.

Note: All names used have been changed for their safety.

To learn more about Hagar International and how you can help visit https://hagarinternational.org

Small Steps