PROJECTS

It was truly a privilege to be able to collaborate with photography as the conduit on the following social impact projects. The opportunity to be able to increase visibility for these shared stories has been extremely fulfilling.

These projects have all helped in some form or fashion refine my photography skills and meeting amazing humans along the way has been the highlight. From shooting at high altitudes with extremely contrasting light in Nepal to building long-lasting connections after asking strangers to do their portrait in Egypt to witnessing the pride of thriving children in Singapore holding images of themselves as premature babies fighting to survive…

My appreciation for the details of our everyday existence continues to be heightened thanks to photography especially due to the cherished interactions necessary for meaningful portrait photography.

It is my hope that developing a deeper understanding and appreciation of our collective diversity and cultural nuances lends itself towards ensuring a worthwhile visual legacy.

Thanks for reading this far!- Charissa

NEPAL:“Come as a Tourist; Leave as a Friend”

I will be eternally grateful to the Nepalese people for their warm hospitality and inspiring resilience post the Gorkha earthquake of 2015.

It was an incredible honour to have been able to document these moments…धन्यवाद

  • Mother & Son

  • Home is where the heart is…

  • Fresh Laundry

  • We spy

  • On the Road

  • “Let me fix my Hair first”

  • Facing North

  • Knitting Time

  • At Grandma’s

  • Bombastic Side Eye

  • My Brother’s Keeper

  • Father & Son

  • 2500m

  • We were Mushroom Gathering

  • Airlifted

  • All Smiles: Rock On His House

  • Heavy Lifting

  • Cookout

  • At School

  • Colorful in the Field

  • Jamling

  • Offloading

  • Ciggie Break

  • Calf carrying

  • Hula Hoop

  • Artisan

  • Mushroom Hunting

  • Shop Owner

The Chain Reaction Project: NEPAL

Background

When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in April 2015, the country was  devastated. The area that was hit the hardest by a quake-fueled avalanche was the Langtang Valley. Over 300 locals and foreigners lost their lives.

In November 2016 I formed part of a team of 7 catalysts to raise $15,000 for a 14 day charity trek in Nepal for the Disaster-relief agency Mercy Relief.

We were seven strangers from all walks of life that agreed from the onset to make this life changing trip to fulfill the purpose driven mission laid out to us by The Chain Reaction Project. Our mission was three-fold: understand and raise awareness of the challenges faced for continued recovery; support local businesses through adventure tourism and capture stories about the resilience of the Nepali people.

The engagement with the Nepali people was profound. They showed such strength of the human spirit, as well as kindness and care for their community.


"The trip was life changing. However it wouldn't have been made possible by the collective. With Charissa calling out the beauty out of the rubble and devastation from only the zoomed in view she could see, to Jonas being all vulnerable with his feelings that made us all more compassionate, to Amazonian tall Hannah with her Maori strength and pulling us all along, to the Mom and Dad of the crew Amy and Boon dancing up a storm to show us how 18 years of love and family roll, to Ken and Jamlin leading from behind..."

                                                                                    -TCRP Catalyst Amanda Goh recounts their experience

As seen on The Chain Reaction Project Website

Team Photos (Below): Ken Koh, Jamling Bhote & Charissa Cheong

GUYANA: Ongoing…

GUYANA: On the Map: Guyana's Intrigue… Currently The Fastest Growing Economy in the World

Guyana, "The Land of Many Waters" is the place of my birth or rather "the place where my navel string is buried". The intrigue of Guyana lies not only in its extremely colourful past but in the transcendental changes currently reverberating throughout the country that has resulted in Guyana being catapulted into the limelight as the country with the world's fastest growing economy.

"Guyana Is World’s Most Booming Economy — And Is Set to Grow 38% This Year-Massive crude deposits first drilled by Exxon transform Guyana; Last year economy grew 62%; boom forecast to last for years..." (Bloomberg, September 2023)

I make up one of the one million diaspora living outside of Guyana and I plan to continue exploring and documenting my motherland with every opportunity I get.

"Guyana: On the Map": Personal Project: Ongoing…

GUYANA: "The Land of Many Waters"

EGYPT: Where it all began…

Egypt usually makes the top ten destination list for most travelers due to its well known status as one of the oldest civilizations in the world…I am extremely grateful to have been able to experience Egypt for an extended period of time during an incredibly transformative moment in my life. It afforded me the opportunity to fully indulge my culturally curious nature and love for the people, their everyday musings and our shared stories.

These images represent a curated selection out of the 1500+ images captured throughout my journey…. ﺷﻜﺮﺍﹰ

INDONESIA: “Yayasan Mentari Dunia is a registered non-profit organization (License No. 31.626.780.6-215.000) with the main purpose of serving the disadvantaged and under-privileged children in Indonesia.

Vision: To provide hope and a future to the disadvantaged children and nurturing them to be a generation of movers and shakers who can make a valuable contribution and create a positive impact in Indonesia and beyond.

Mission: Provide a clean and safe haven that meet children’s physical, emotional and social needs; Provide formal education from Primary level to University; Develop children’s latent potential to the fullest through our system of meaningful engagements and opportunities

How Can You Help?: Meeting basic needs is an achievable goal but to ensure that each child's cognitive and socio-emotional needs are met is a continuous task that requires money, time and effort. As such, your donation will not only go towards maintaining the operational costs but most importantly, to meeting the various needs of the children.

We appreciate any forms of help: Sponsor a child at $70.00 per month with a minimum commitment of one year sponsorship; Make a one-time donation; Volunteer your time or expertise at the Children’s Home on a regular or ad hoc basis; Donate groceries on a regular or ad hoc basis.

Any items donated may be sent to our childcare center, Moriah Schoolhouse LLP, located at 1 Seletar #02-07/08 S(807011), Singapore. Yayasan Mentari Dunia is the charity arm of Moriah Schoolhouse LLP and we will help transport the food items to Batam. Alternatively, we will collect the items from you personally.

All monetary donations will be furnished with receipts.

If you wish to donate in cash or in kind, do email us at admin@mentaridunia.org or call us at (+65) 62579877.

We thank you for being a blessing to us”.

SINGAPORE: KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital-World Prematurity Day

It was an extremely humbling and inspiring experience to be able to witness the strength and determination of these warriors on World Prematurity Day and to be able to document their journey was truly an honor.