Just a note here:
My Moldovans are always asking for pictures of this and that. So in preparation for my upcoming trip I thought it might be fun to have THEM take some pictures - of whatever they wanted; whatever they found interesting. I figured that we could have the film developed when I arrived.
At first I intended to only send film. And then I realized that they don't have cameras. No problem, I thought - I decided to send them Kodak single-use cameras with 27 exposures and including flash.
Good idea? Nope. Both were very enthusiastic until I explained that they would have to return the enitire camera when the film was used up.
"I don't want them to break this camera. It is high quality. Is there any way that I can take the film out of this camera myself?"
That's pretty much what I heard from both of them. They seemed to see no logic whatsoever in the concept. I tried to explain camera "recycling" to no avail. (Besides now, I'm not even sure that any of the local film developing places in Moldova will know what to do with the "disposable camera" anyway.)
I have since promised to get them cameras that are of equally "high quality" (or better) that they don't have to have broken. And that they can reuse.
Just a different take on something we take for granted.
They hate to waste anything worth while mate thats the crux of it !!
What to us is throw away, to them is probably better than any camera their family have ever owned !!
NB: There were Kodak developing agents in every place I have visited in the FSU, I doubt Moldova is that far behind Uzbekistan !!! In fcat I would think they are quite a way ahead mate. All these agencys sell disposable cameras so they should know what to do with them when they are ready for processing :o))