How one person can make a difference

Today while I was discovering the Temples of Angkor around Siem Reap, Cambodia, I made a detour to the Cambodia Landmine Museum (www.cambodialandminemuseum.org). What I thought was going to be a lesson on landmines, their history, their debilitating effects and ways for clearing them, turned out to be so much more...


The man who founded and runs the museum with his uncle and aunt, is named Aki Ra. When he was 10 years old he was taken by the Khmer Rouge (who killed his mother and father) and turned into a child soldier. He spent the next 13 years fighting, killing, maiming and - believe it or not - laying landmines all over Cambodia, first for the Khmer Rouge and later for the Vietnamese & Cambodian Armies. Some of the stories he has shared over the years can be read in the museum or seen in a video at the museum - they will chill you to the bone. He openly shares stories of killing and destruction during the civil war. However, he no longer personally shares those stories as he prefers to look to the future rather than dwell on the painful past.

In 1994 Aki Ra began working to de-mine the very areas he had previously mined. Because he had spent so many years working with mines he was excellent at detecting and defusing them. Word quickly spread about him and local villages would call him in to de-mine their fields. He kept all the mines he de-fused (30 000 plus) and eventually opened a small museum in Siem Reap to showcase his findings and raise awareness.

As word spread and money came in he got the help and funding to be an official NGO and opened a new museum as well as an orphanage/school for children affected by landmines. These children can also be seen in the video, as well as photos around the museum - scarred and limbless, but laughing, playing sports (soccer with crutches, for instance), swimming without arms and living life as children should. They also share their stories on the walls of the museum. These stories always begin with unimaginable horror and heartache, but all end with such hope for the future speaking of their new home, their chance at education and how happy they are now - as well as their love for Aki Ra and his family. It is beautiful to see the tangible effects this man is having on these children, as well as the work he is doing in his country.

As well as running this museum and orphanage and raising landmine awareness, Aki Ra still helps to de-mine areas in Cambodia - and when you see the videos you understand how dangerous this task is. He continues to risk his own safety in order to save the lives of people he will never know, and who will never even know they were saved, let alone by whom. Aki Ra is the definition of a hero, he is an inspiration, and he is proof that one person can make a difference.