The
Cambodian Landmine Museum

The
Cambodian Landmine Museum Relief Facility (CLMMRF) is more than a museum.
It is also a home that provides education and support for dozens of at-risk
youth and landmine affected children rescued by the CLMMRF NGO. Many
children who are part of this family suffered overwhelming hardships. The
Cambodian Landmine Museum Relief Facility was created so that it might serve as
a place of healing for bodies, hearts and minds. We believe that love,
support and education will help secure a better opportunity for the children
that live here.
WHO WE ARE
The
Cambodia Landmine Museum is a Cambodian NGO, run by and for Cambodians.
It
exists for three reasons:
*
To tell the story of landmines in Cambodia, how they have impacted the country’s
past, present and will continue to impact its future. The story is told
through the story of Aki Ra, our founder, who was suppressed into the Khmer
Rouge Army as a child soldier, and spent his youth fighting in the wars that
ravaged his country for nearly 35 years.
*
To show the world that, no matter who you are, whatever your background, your
education, you can make a difference in this world.
* The
Museum hosts a Relief Facility for at-risk village children. The money
raised by the museum allows this facility to continue. At the present
time (late 2012) the Museum supports a community of nearly 75 men, women, and
children.
The
Cambodian Landmine Museum and Relief Facility (Museum for short) was
established in 1997 by ex-child soldier Aki Ra. After years of fighting
he returned to the villages in which he planted thousands of mines and began
removing them, by hand, and defusing them with homemade tools.
In
2008 he established a formal demining NGO, Cambodian Self Help Demining (CSHD)
- www.cambodianselfhelpdemining.org. CSHD, a separate NGO from the
Museum, which clears landmines in small villages throughout the country.
While
working to make his country safe, Aki Ra saw many children wounded by landmines
and living desperately poor lives. He brought them to his home, where he
and his wife raised them as their own, alongside their own children.
Originally all the children at the facility were landmine victims. Today
the Facility cares for children who suffer from a variety of physical,
emotional, and familial difficutlies.
The
Relief Facility houses over 3 dozen children from small villages in
Cambodia. All children are educated, and are provided with continuing
education. The Facility has its own school to augment the
children’s public education, a computer lab, a library, English
language classes, a playground, and a staff of 14.
The
Relief Facility accepts volunteers to help teach English work in the Museum and
assist in the office. Please see the Volunteer page to learn how to
become a volunteer. You cannot simply show up and volunteer. To
conform with the Museum’s, as well as international child protection policies,
ALL volunteers are pre-screened and must be approved by Museum staff before
they can become volunteers.
Tourists are not allowed into
our children’s home.
No comments:
Post a Comment