I know you’re time poor, I get that. But even if you don’t leave a comment I hope you’ll be able to find 20 minutes or so to watch the video below; a beautiful story of a young Amerasian girl told by photographer Rick Smolan.

I’d never even heard the word ‘Amerasian’ before I watched this video. Wikipedia defines an Amerasian as a person born in Asia, to a U.S. military father and an Asian mother. Smolan had never heard the word either until, in 1978, Time magazine sent him on assignment to South East Asia to photograph some of the 40,000 abandoned children fathered by American soldiers.

Unhappy with the article that Time ran with his pictures, Smolan returned to South East Asia to spend more time on the story. He had found that because the Amerasian children looked different to their peers they were often traumatized from the effects of bullying and being seen as something of an outcast in their communities.

In the course of his travels he met a bright young 11 year old Amerasian girl from Korea called Un-sok Lee who was being raised by her sick grandmother. Smolan became very fond of Un-sok but was unprepared for a telephone call from his Time magazine editor telling him that Un-sok’s grandmother had died and left Un-sok to him in her will! The story that unfolded from there is both beautiful and uplifting, and well worth 20 minutes of your time I’m sure.

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Rick Smolan’s talk at TED
Be Inspired : Sir Ken Robinson
Be Inspired : Ben Saunders