VCOM - Virginia 2018 Yearbook

VCOM Focus Winners Segment 1 Theme: Compassionate Spirits

1 st Place Riley Ewen - Class of 2021 Photo Title: "Compassionate Man”

Description: Saw Tah Lah Moo was a patient for nearly a month in a small jungle hospital I worked at in Karen State, Myanmar (Burma). He was a compassionate man, always comforting children and others (often less sick than he) and always cracking jokes. He was universally loved, and he loved others deeply during his time in our hospital. He is the embodiment of Karen culture; deeply generous, sincere, yet joyous in all things. I often think of him when I think of what compassion means to me; to walk alongside others as they suffer even though he had his own suffering and pain is his way of walking through life.

2 nd Place Riley Ewen - Class of 2021 Photo Title: "Shaheen” Description: I took this photo of my

translator, Shaheen, during the offensive to reclaim Mosul, Iraq from the Islamic State. He was standing in the ruins of Salam Hospital, the city’s largest hospital and medical school. Shaheen was the embodiment of a compassionate spirit. He cared deeply for his people and gave unconditionally. He later was killed while trying to rescue a young girl who had been shot while fleeing the city’s wicked captors. I will never forget his compassion for others, especially children, and his willingness to give up his life for the life of another.

3 rd Place Riley Ewen - Class of 2021 Photo Title: “Krathong”

Description: A krathong is held before it is released into the Ping River in Chiang Mai, Thailand, during Loi Krathong, a Buddhist festival in Southeast Asia. The krathong is comprised traditionally of banana trunks and leaves, with a small offering. The floating of the krathong away from the person that releases it is supposed to represent the letting go of hatred, anger, and wrongdo- ings, giving way to the light of the spirits of compassion and wisdom.

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