AN ABRIDGED HISTORY OF HAPPINESS

 See the full version of the story here 

Written with Sam Weston and Ashleigh Whittaker.

A look into the lives and smiles of the people of Vietnam and Cambodia in 2015

Chapter One: Light in Dark Places

Vietnam, 1955-1975: Up to 2 million Vietnamese civilians die during the Vietnam War.
Cambodia, 1970-1975: Between 1.7 and 2.5 million Cambodians die during the Pol Pot-led Khmer regime, known as the Khmer Rouge.

Thirty years on, these two neighbouring nations continue rebuilding from two of the 20th century's most destructive conflicts. Remarkably, Vietnam was named the second happiest country in the world in a recent study. And in Cambodia, virtually an entire generation is eerily missing- but its young generations are upward bound, refusing to dwell on the past. Instead, they are pushing relentlessly to develop their country.
For outsiders, it is scarcely fathomable how a country can overcome such horrific histories to prosper once more. The conflicts loom over the two, spectre-like, but from Hanoi to Siem Reap, life moves on. Smiles have returned. So how do we measure our happiness as outsiders to people who've experienced such terrible things? Is there is a discrepancy between what the word 'happiness' means to us Westerners and what the word represents to the people of Vietnam and Cambodia?

In Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, a cluster of ugly buildings lies set back from the cacophony of peak hour traffic.

Scores of Vietnamese youth are growing up behind these grey walls, belonging to the Thanh Xuan Peace Village. They are being educated, nurtured, cared for. They sweat and howl in the oppressive heat of midsummer. Students and volunteers play with them and placate them. These children are the most terrible legacy of the ‘American’ war. They are, indeed, the all too forgotten legacy.

Thousands of Vietnamese children are born handicapped every year; even now thirty years have passed since hereditary effects of their ancestors’ exposure to the dioxins in America’s mutagenic pesticide, ‘Agent Orange’. Most of the kids we meet suffer what we would call autism or Downs Syndrome. They are the lucky ones: dreadful physical deformities are the trademark of Agent Orange.

The Peace Village was established in 1991, to help victims of a problem that has decimated swathes of family bloodlines across the nation. The war had so many victims the government cannot give enough to every organisation of this kind. Annually, it receives less than $13,000 from the government. Instead, it relies on the assistance of volunteers, both Vietnamese and foreign visitors.

We are a group of around 12, armed with expensive cameras and recording equipment. We march through the classrooms. The children's reactions to our strange presence are varied. Some laugh bemusedly, some stare or look away. Some are visibly distressed by us being there. They are comforted by the high school students who act as makeshift older siblings. 'Happiness', here, is another concept altogether. What can you possibly do to make these children happy - truly, happy? Some volunteer, others give money.

A student with Downs Syndrome uses our camera

 Thanh Xuan is hardly a sanctuary. It is a grim place. But it is, at least, a reminder that people care. Happiness equates to being comfortable; being accepted. Even in these darkest of places, there remains a defiant sense of looking after one another. These children, unlike many less fortunate than them, are not alone. For happiness, this is enough.

Chapter Two: The Happiness Gap

Part 4: The Return

While in country if feels like a million things are happening at once; where am I? What am I doing here? And who are these people around me? It's hard to take a step back and look at your work objectively while you're still in the middle of it and your brain is going at a thousand miles an hour trying to work out the answer to just one, let alone all, of these questions. Looking back on your work and thinking about your experiences from the comfort of your own home leads you to see it in an entirely different way. Was this the best work I have ever produced? No. But did I do as well as I could under the time, cultural and personal pressures as I could? I think so. Did I improve from start to finish? Absolutely.

This hasty video shows where I was when I began this project. The ideas were there but the execution was haphazard. While I really do wish I had a usable version of this for my final project, it's a good starting point to show what I have grown from.

Looking back
In my first blog post I cast my eyes forward and attempted to predict some of the key struggles I imagined I might face. Personally I thought I would struggle with doing work while abroad- with so many things going on at once. As you may have guessed from my opening passage, this was something I did find difficulty in. The high quality hotels aided in mentally removing us from the hectic scenes in the streets below, allowing us a better opportunity to focus on our work. However no amount of clean white sheets or comfortably air-conditioned rooms could save us from the weight of our eyelids after days that began at 4:30am and often lasted until after 11pm. More than this the days were exhausting in and of themselves, we were constantly mentally drained from our work and communication with locals. And it was hot. These challenges are something that I will continue to face in this kind of work, and it will only get worse. I can only hope that as I gain experience I will develop ways to deal with this and get my overseas work to the standard that I produce at home, if not better.

Technically I was concerned by the noise pollution I might experience when recording interviews. This didn't turn out to be as great of an issue as I anticipated. My audio recorder was fine but Sam's iPhone was of about equal quality and more convenient so we used that most of the time. Given the areas we were in it was usually easy enough to move somewhere quiet for interviews.

The biggest technical problem I encountered was with photography. My camera is old and can still take good photos when you have the time, lighting and ability to get the right shot. However, while on the move I didn't have these luxuries so unfortunately I was pretty unhappy with the vast majority of the photos I took.

This is one photo that I don't mind

Photos that weren't taken in natural light came out grainy

Looking back on my errors now I see that a lot of my problems may have been avoidable with more research and better camera know-how. While abroad I made many basic photographer errors outlined by Meyer (2014) such as dismissing opportunities as missed because my camera wouldn't have been able to shoot what I wanted instead of trying to figure out a way around the problem. Additionally as noted by Meyer I perhaps should have utilised my tripod more and should have done more reading into the functions of my camera before taking it with me.

In my initial blog post I mentioned concerns for how I would be able to work effectively on my own and my fears for my equipment usage, I neglected to mention concerns over group work. This is likely because I had very few. I assumed that anyone on the trip wanted to be there and would be willing to put in the effort and therefore group work wouldn't be a problem. I was absolutely right in that everyone on the trip was dedicated and willing to put in the work required. What I failed to account for was the delegation of roles and a lack of communication within our group. University of Melbourne list these among many other tips for effective group work that would have been highly useful before embarking on this trip.

The role of my reflective practice
At the end of each section of the trip (before leaving, Vietnam and Cambodia) I reflected on how I was feeling personally and about the work I was producing in this blog. In short, the idea is that by reflecting on such things we are able to improve on our actions in the future and develop professionally (Hill, S. 2007). Expanding on the ideas of Dr. Ojomo (2015), reflective practice can be used effectively with internships and real world experience such as that gained on this study tour, as a way of improving ones work by applying theories and frameworks obtained in the classroom to past scenarios and analysing how they might be utilised in the future.

While I am quite introspective Hill (2007) was accurate in his analysis of the use of reflective practice in journalism. Journalists are, by nature, constantly working towards deadlines. As soon as one deadline is met it's all about working towards the next. This is very much how I felt about my reflections while abroad. While I tried to take the time to reflect on what I was producing I was still very much in the middle of producing it and that was were my head remained. It is only now after returning from the trip that I feel I have the time and peace of mind to fully reflect on my work and my experiences. 



References
http://newjournalismreview.com/2007/05/05/reflective-practice-for-journalists/
http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_5_No_4_1_April_2015/12.pdf
http://petapixel.com/2014/05/06/15-easy-ways-improve-photo-skills-without-buying-new-gear/
http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/lasc/professional-skills/tips-for-effective-teamwork   

Part 3: Cambodia

Over the last week I've noticed a lot of differences in the things I shoot and the way I shoot them. Some of these are good but some may also have there downsides. The first is that I have gotten a lot more confident behind the lens of a video camera. It no longer bothers me to hold a video camera in social situations and just film the conversations and interactions occurring. I am however still getting use to this so some of my shots aren't as good as they could be but this is something that will improve with time and practise. Having the confidence to film these interactions is both good and bad as it means that I have more content to work with and am less likely to miss valuable moments but it also means that looking through my content to find grabs and shots that are relevant to our final piece will be time consuming. However this is probably better than missing shots entirely. I'm really excited for the possibilities that being able to shoot candid conversations will have on the impact of my work as I feel like some of the best content comes when people are involved in casual conversations and not thinking about speaking to a camera.

In front of the lens has been one of the areas I feel I have improved on the most. Where this use to be one of the most terrifying areas for me I am now able to approach it with a far more clear mind, allowing me to focus on what I am saying and how I am delivering it.

Photo: Paxton Roth

My new confidence in front of the came has also opened up new opportunities to do impromptu pieces to camera, even in some of the most challenging situations. These stand ups still need a lot of work but having the confidence to do them is something I wouldn't have felt was possible a week ago.

The area that I have found I am still the weakest in is photography. The combination of not having a good quality camera and having no training on how to produce a good quality photo lowers my confidence and adds to the poor quality of photos I am taking. Photography is also just not something I find enjoyment in the way many other on this trip do. I feel like being able to take powerful photos would be an extremely valuable tool to have but it is just not something I enjoy and at this stage in my training I would prefer to work hard on improving the skills I have and enjoy such as speaking to a camera, than spend time working on photography.

Another challenge I faced in my photography was my desire to take photos without tourists, which was obviously hugely difficult in such a busy tourist area. This resulted in lots of photos being poorly framed or disrupted by tourists.

 

 

Being in places like Cambodia and Vietnam as a journalist rather than a tourist gave me a heightened ability to step outside of my own moral and ethical codes and the opportunity to understand what has happening around me from a different point of view. As a journalist your job is to tell stories without imposing your own standards upon the situation. This is a difficult thing to do but definitely something that is becoming easier as I mature as a journalist.

Part 2: Vietnam

“Experience is a brutal teacher” – Oscar Wilde

There have been struggles from the beginning, and no doubt there will continue to be struggles. But as long they are different, I am okay with that. It’s from these trials and tribulations that we are able to grow and that is what is most important. 

We began day one with little idea of what to expect, let alone what we were doing. We arrived in a room with more bed than floor, there had been confusion over our sleeping arrangement. Should we just run with it or ask for it to be fixed? We ran with it. When working as a journalist in country things don’t always go to plan and you can never plan for everything. When things go wrong you often need to just run with it and hope for the best. On our first full day in Vietnam we were dumped at Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum with the task of retrieving an interview with a local about Ho Chi Minh. This wasn’t time or place to be myself, a shy small town girl, here I had to be who I wanted to be- a fearless international journalist. Approaching complete strangers who spoke little to no English for interviews tested our confidence but got easier with every approach and I am sure this trend will continue.



When reviewing the interviews I found that a lot pf background noise had been picked up. I have attempted to remove some of this but am now noticing something that sounds like microphone feedback. It'll take a bit more work to find a good midway point.

Professionally and personally the biggest challenge for most of us was our time spent at the peace village. As we entered the classrooms we were challenged by thoughts of whether we had the right to be there, were we doing more harm or good and how we could deal with the situation in an ethical manner and still come out with the best material possible. The classrooms were loud and crowded with 14 of us pouring into the small rooms already filled with children with varying levels of disabilities. At the time we were incredibly torn between treating the children like dignified humans and gathering as much material as we could in our dauntingly short amount of time. We all dealt with this pressure differently, I began my visit running around taking photos and recording ambient sound and interviews in as many areas as possible. Later, as my empathy took control, I sat with a boy and played blocks with him.

 

Reflecting on these stand ups I can see that I still have a long way to go to improve my stand ups. Mainly I need to work on my confidence and ability to relax in front of the camera. I see myself rushing through the words making them come out flat and without breath. Additionally, particularly in the second stand up the background noise is distracting. This may be able to be removed in post-production but it would be better to minimise it at the time of recording.

Photos have been one of my biggest challenges as I don't have a good quality camera or much experience behind the lens.

As my camera isn't the best quality I have faced challenges where photos that may have otherwise captured nice moments have been lost.

My camera's slow shutter speed has also mad shooting moments with movement difficult.

I'm still not entirely sure what went wrong to worsen the quality of this photo but I believe it could have been good were it more clear- though the sky in the background is blown out.

Despite these challenges I feel as though my photography has improved through the week.

 The week has been challenging in many ways but I can already see many of my skills being built on and I am sure this will continue over the week to come.