By Cynthia Empleo

Cynthia Empleo is one of six Filipino Columban Lay Missionaries sent to Fiji in 2000. Before they were assigned to different parishes, they made regular visits to various institutions to practice the local language. This was also their first apostolate. Cynthia was assigned to Vale Levu Hearts Home, a low-cost housing projects started by the late Columban Father Dermot Hurley. Local nuns now run it.

The film count said 20. I had taken some precious shots the previous week and was frantic to finish the roll. A few more shots, and I could bring it to the camera shop. But then, it was Sunday! Almost everything closes in Fiji come Saturday afternoon and the whole of Sunday, except for a few Chinese stores and the Big Cinema. I’m really impressed by the way Fijians respect the Lord’s Day. Anyway, I thought I could just bring my camera to Vale Levu and finish the shots there. The kids were more than willing to pose with me and Jennifer “Ifer” Chan, another lay missionary. We finished the remaining shots while they were playing and resting in the shade. One marama (lady) asked me to take a shot of her ailing husband. She feared he wouldn’t last long. I took the remaining shots with them and the neighbors joined in. It was a happy mess. Even the sick husband was very cooperative. I promised to bring them copies the following Sunday.

Broken promise

The next Sunday was a busy one for we were finishing our language study and a retreat was coming up. I forgot all about the pictures. The children asked once or twice and I felt bad about not having fulfilled my promise. The following Sunday I made sure I had them in my backpack. When I showed the photos, the children just loved them and were jumping up and down. They crawled over my small frame just to have a peep at themselves. It was fun looking at the glowing faces of the mothers as they tried to find their children’s faces in the pictures. Young girls boasted that they had been sitting beside me or holding my hand. I never experienced such reactions before.

Unexpected reactions

I was so surprised by the impact of the pictures. Usually the people were reserved while talking to me. It was even hard for me to start a conversation with them. They just shied away. I never realized how much photographs meant to them. Some were even requesting a family picture with me. One mother was teary-eyed thanking me while holding her daughter’s picture to her breast. I really felt strange but was happy all the same.

This little black box changed and affected my ministry – because it captured what it saw. All my life I’ve been carrying cameras for special moments I wanted to capture, but it had never been this precious.

Film is very expensive in Fiji, not to mention the cost of even a modest camera. These people are poor, very poor, and photographs are the last they would think of including in their daily budget. They might even grow old and die without a family picture to keep, to look at, or to use when telling stories. I thank God for making me an instrument in bringing the simple joy of a photo of themselves to these simple people.