News Summary

SPRINGFIELD — Eyes Wide Open Worldwide continues to take its name to heart.

Ty Fischer, founder of the Springfield-based children's photography program, is in Cambodia, returning there for the Angkor Photography Festival.

"We hope to continue to inspire Cambodian children in the arts through photography, while raising awareness of their environment through our exhibits," Fischer said in an e-mail from the Asian country.

He traveled there last year as well and worked with children from villages, giving them cameras to photograph their daily lives.

An exhibit of their photos in Springfield raised $1,300, which Fischer brought to Cambodia and donated to the Anjoli Center. It works with the festival and street children, teaching their native language of Khmer, English, photography and dance.

This year Fischer is working with children from the Tonle Sap region, a large lake where entire villages float on the water.

Eyes Wide Open Worldwide will exhibit their photos there, possibly in April.

"We will be working with children having them document their life on the lake and bringing this exhibit back to the U.S. to raise awareness about this very unique life," Fischer said.

The next step for the organization is to connect Cambodian and U.S. children through letters, photos and e-mail.

"So children can share their differences and similarities of their life and environment," Fischer said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0363 or ssommer@coxohio.com.