By: Stuart Harris
Storytelling is an ancient practice. It’s how we transfer information to one another, and humans have told stories since time began. What we discover in this short documentary series is the way story captures our hearts and imaginations.
New ACCTV documentary series I See You introduces Lyn Wake, a passionate supporter and CBM ambassador as she travels to the remote southeastern corner of Nepal, far off the beaten Himalayan tourist track, and to a small village where 11-year old Yangsang Limbu lives with his family. Yangsang is like any young boy. He loves to kick a ball around and get up to all sorts of adventures, however recently he was diagnosed with a cataract. His eyesight was slowly deteriorating, and it would certainly have affected every aspect of his life as it continued to grow. Fortunately, Yangsang was the recipient of life-changing surgery to remove the cataract from his eye restoring hope for his future.
As a documentary storyteller and keen adventurer, I’ve always dreamed of travelling to Nepal. For me, the trip was more than I could have imagined. Experiencing the culture for myself was a privilege and joy I will never forget. Photographing the people in their environment, observing their lives, capturing their customs and being able to share their stories is when I feel I’m most operating to my strengths and passion. The work of CBM around the world is inspiring and to be a part of helping bring more miracles to more people is exciting. To witness surgeries first-hand and then see just hours later the immediate impact it has on the person’s life is quite amazing.
When I’m shooting in the field, I anticipate the moment I get what photographers sometimes refer to as “the money shot”. It’s an exciting moment, and documentary photography is unpredictable. You never know when or even if that opportunity will present itself. The moment came one day while meeting Reena Tamang, a young orphaned child who was on standby for her operation. We were in a dimly lit serving area in a restaurant that her guardians owned and operated. It was a run-down timber structure, and shards of daylight pierced through the gaps in the exterior facing walls. The light was just right, and I just knew that as the young child peered at me from behind a vertical beam, I had the shot.
Miracles Day is something I really enjoy sharing with my own children. We listen in to the stories and predictably my kids ask whether they can help too. It’s a powerful and valuable lesson for them to learn how they can be generous and support another child in another part of the world receive the gift of sight.
I can’t wait to hear the stories of people who are impacted this year by Miracles Day, especially as they will be able to listen on their local Christian community radio station and see for themselves on ACCTV, the impact of what partnership looks like. When we see an opportunity to love our neighbour and provide the means to restore sight, that is hard to resist.
Article supplied with thanks to ACCTV.
About the Author: Stuart Harris is General Manager at ACCTV. He is passionate about story, and lives on the Sunshine Coast with his wife and three children.