Rescue Cambodia

This graphic illustrates the perilous conditions that Cambodian people face on an ongoing basis while performing normal daily activities, such as playing soccer or plowing the fields.

Mine Victim Story

	These children should be in school, but their parents can’t afford to send them there or to buy them books for their classes. Instead they are rooting through the garbage dump looking for anything they can sell for money. They all have family members who have been injured or killed by landmines left over from prior wars. Their families barely have enough money to feed themselves. These children in the photo live in Boeng Am Pil Village, Sdao Commune, Ratanak Mondul District, Battambang Province, one of the most affected landmine areas in Cambodia.
	This is Da. While collecting firewood in her village one day, she stepped on a live landmine. She was only 14 years old, but she lost more than her leg. In order to pay for her $5,000 in medical bills, Da’s family had to sell their house, their cows and the farmland that they owned. The family now lives in a shack. They no longer farm their land, and Da can no longer go to school. Their village has lost a contributing family, and Cambodia has lost a participant in the agricultural economy.
	These children are starving. They only have a mother now after they lost their father, who used to work on the farm to provide for his family. In Cambodia, when the parent who is the main source of the family income dies, the rest of the family struggles to survive.
	This young mine victim named Sok must take care of himself. I found him sleeping in the mud and begging in the Battambang market. While playing with three of his friends, a landmine exploded and killed all three of them. Although he survived, his arm was badly injured from the impact of the explosion. I met him when I went to Cambodia in 2000, and took him to the local medical clinic. The doctor at the clinic informed me that some of his fingers were so badly damaged that he had to remove them. His parents were also killed by landmines when they went into the forest to collect honey.
	This is Seng Eang. He is now a single father with four children to raise on his own. He lost his wife while she was gathering firewood in her village and stepped on a live landmine, which killed her instantly.
	This 11-year-old girl has to take care of her little brother every day while her mother goes to the market to sell whatever she can to make some money in order to put food on the table. As a result, she can not attend school during the day.
	Chandra visited Cambodia in 2000, cooking for and talking with mine victims from over 100 villages. What he learned there formed the basis for the idea of the model village and the framework for AVCLM’s grassroots organization. In this photo, he is shown donating rice, clothing and money to a family of mine victims. The woman he gave the money to is named Khouen, a single mother with four children. Her husband died a few years ago when a mine exploded while he was working on his farm.




		Aid for Victims of Cambodian Landmines (AVCLM) Member of Mines Action Canada - Registered Charity 614 Gerrard ST.E, Toronto, Ontario M4M 1Y3, CANADA.