I want to tell you a story about someone I met over here in Cambodia.

Before I tell you about her, a bit of 'backstory' on how we wound up over here:

My name is Bill Morse. In 2009 my wife and I moved to Cambodia to help 2 Cambodian NGOs (non-governmental organizatons). One cares for injured, orphaned and poor children, the other clears landmines in low priority villages.

In 2003 I heard about a young man in Camobdia, an ex-child soldier of the Khmer Rouge who was going around the country clearing landmines with his bare hands. I went to Cambodia in 2004 to find him, and ultimately my wife and I moved here to help him in his work.

He was indeed clearing landmines by hand. He and his wife had also 'adopted' over a dozen children to raise as their own. Some were landmine victims, some were born without limbs, others contracted polio as children, some were orphans and some had parents who could simply not care for them. Today we care for 27 of these kids at the Cambodian Landmine Museum and Relief Center. My wife runs the volunteer program there and teaches English.

The man who started all this is named Aki Ra. He was orphaned at 5 and a soldier at 10. He fought for 3 different armies before he reched 21. The UN hired him to help clear landmines and he found he was quite adept at this unique profession. He went out on his own, clearing mines and unexploded ordinance wherever he could find them. In 2007 he was, for a number of reasons, ordered to cease all his activities in this regard, or lose his Museum.

In 2004 I had established the Landmine Relief Fund to help raise money to support his mine clearing work. In 2007 I closed my business in Palm Springs to spend all my time getting Aki Ra back into the mine fields. In 2008, with the help of a lot of people inside and outside Cambodia, we were able to establish a new NGO, Cambodian Self Help Demining (CSHD). CSHD is Aki Ra's de-mining NGO. We clear landmines in low-priority villages throughout the kingdom of Cambodia. It is run BY Cambodian, FOR Cambodians. In our first year we cleared over 163,000 square meters of land and returned over 2,400 people to fields that had killled them in the past. And we did it for $4,313 a month. Many of our deminers are ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers working to help repair the damage done in over 30 years of warfare.

Enough of that....let me tell you about Sophary:

Our Ops Manager, Sophin Sophary graduates from university in July with a degree in accounting. She has worked with us since 2008. She first worked at the Cambodian Landmine Museum and Relief Center helping us care for the children who live there. When Aki Ra started CSHD, she moved over there as the Office Secretary. She soon became our Office Manager and now holds the job of Operations Manager. She coordiantes all the activities of our NGO with the government officials who monitor mine clearing in the Kingdom. Without her we could not function.

She also goes to school full time, puts 2 siblings through school and supports her parents. In her spare time she has a volunteer job. Sophary has decided that rather than go on to graduate school she will start an 'all-ladies 'demining team. She has already secured approval from the government to clear some minefields near her home village. Fields she walked past daily as a child.

Sophary is 23 years old.

Sophary is an amazing woman, and an inspiration to all who know her. She will be visiting California from August 3rd through the 31st this year. Her purpose in coming is to meet current supporters, and tell her story. To establish her 'all-ladies' team she needs assistance wherever we can find it. Her story is amazing, and her dedication to her country and its terrible legacy is one that is difficult to grasp.

There will a free "Meet Sophary" night in Palm Springs in August. If you are in the desert, come and meet her. Be inspired and learn that one person with a vision can indeed make a difference. If you're not in the desert, or if you want more information about Sophary's work and how you can help, let me hear from you. Either on Facebook or by email bill@landmine-relief-fund.com.

She is one of our heroes, and when you meet her, she will be one of yours.

Thank you
Bill Morse
Landmine Relief Fund
Cambodian Self Help Demining

Musing on Cambodia

Musing...I like that word. Webster defines it as 'calm, lengthy, intent consideration.'


I've been in Cambodia now the better part of two and a half years. Considerably longer than I would have been in Vietnam had I been able to stay in the army. But alas, that is another story altogether.


Jill came here with me in October last year, and has really settled into the rhythm of the work.


Cambodia is a difficult country to come to grips with. People here are dragging themselves into the 21st century. Most of the country doesn't have electricity, running water, garbage collection, or schools. So the people run their one flourescent light off a car battery, walk 5 km (in the dry season) to get water they have to boil, and build grass shack schools to teach themselves how to read and write Khmer.

Our demining NGO is paying for 2 teachers in villages we've cleared. We pay them $40 a month. I think one has a 12th grade education and the other a 10th grade. We're not trying to get the villagers into college. We just want them to have the basic 3Rs.


The kids stand in line to come to the school. In Chrung our youngerst student was maybe 6. Our oldest perhaps 60; and they sweep the school out every day with tree branches, so they have a clean area to learn.


Last year they couldn't play outside because the landmines hadn't been cleared. Now they have, and they have a yard to play football. and when the ball goes out of bounds, they don't die.

PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is a problem here....a BIG problem. I was told by a health worker that perhaps 40% of the country suffers from it in some degree or another. It can be treated with drugs and therapy. It's best to treat it with both if you use drugs. The psychiatrist can evaluate moods, etc. and modify and manage the drug regimen.

Sounds reasonable enough except there are only about 12 Cambodian psychiatrists in the entire country. And talking to a foreign doctor is pointless. One - they don't speak the language. Two - they don't understand the culture. Three - they are only here for short periods of time.


It's scary to see children curled into a ball wimpering and delusional as they relive the horrors of the past....often times landmine accidents. I've seen it more than once. And I am sure to see it again.


I have friend, the operations manager at CSHD, our demining NGO, who graduates from university next month. She could go on for a graduate degree on a full scholarship. Instead, she's going to start an all-ladies demining team and clear landmines and UXOs in small villages.


We had promised Aki Ra we'd be here for 2 years. ..... I think it will be longer.


Babu in the Jungle

Meet Veasna

My name is Chron Veasna (Veasna). I am 31 years old.

I lived with my parents until I was 5 years old.

Then I went to school. I finished grade 5 and quit school to move back home and help my father farm. One day when he was plowing he found a landmine, and we had to stay far away from it. Sometimes we could not farm for days because of the fighting near our village.

When I was 21 I got married. My husband died in 2008. I left my home and Aki Ra gave me a job working at the Landmine Museum. I did that until CSHD started. Now I work as a deminer.

I want to clear landmines because I want to see them gone from Cambodia. I want my country to be safe and be able to develop. We cannot use a lot of the land because of landmines. We cannot farm the land. We cannot build schools for the children. We cannot build roads. Landmines are part of the problem and I want to help get rid of them.

G'dao na!!!

G'DAO NA!!!

In English that means it is freakin HOT over here.

The weather report for this week says that the last 3 days have been the hottest of the year.

Today the temperature is about 95, but feels well into the 100s. And the humidity is runing in the 80% range. Our house is dark inside with high ceilings and ceiling fans, so it feels a bit better. BUT the a/c in the bedroom is on the fritz and working only at about 50% efficiency. I have the repairman coming out today at 2 to take a look at it. Money is no problem in getting that thing fixed!

Today is the Buddha's birthday and a holiday in Cambodia. Buddhist monks from throughout Asia are meeting at Angkor Wat this week. This morning Jill and 3 others went to Bayon Temple at 7:30 to give gifts of food to the monks. I was a bit under the weather and stayed home (and slept). There were thousands of people there today, many arriving as early as 3am to be able to feed the visiting monks. Jill and I bought 100 packets of noodles (like Top Raman - for $10) and she distributed them along with a bit of money.

Mikki, our dog, is dealing as well as can be expected with the heat. We thought we'd have to cut her coat (she's a border collie) but she's shed most of her undercoat and has found the coolest places in the house.

We got real decadent over the weekend and bought a vacuum cleaner. We're running out of tape to pick up the dog hair, and there are just places we can't clean well with a broom. My car also needs to be vacuumed pretty regularly. I brought a Dust Devil back with me from the states earlier this month, but the motor burned up in the 220v system here. Ah well......

More holidays are coming this next week, including the planting festival where King Sihimoni plants a field to open the planting season. It happens at the Elephant Terrace at Angkor Wat. We will be there for that.

We've pretty much had visitors since the first of the year. Most recently Pierre Odier, a buddy from the Adventurers Club of LA was here for 2 weeks. We're not expecting anyone else til fall, but if you want to visit, let us know.

More later
Babu in the Jungle

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

WELL.....

The 3rd Annual Landmine Relief Fund Auction and Fundraiser was a roaring success.

The turnout, in person and online, was outstanding and we raised $6,775 to help clear landmines and unexploded bombs in Cambodia. That will clear nearly 22,000 square meters of land, and change countless lives.

On behalf of Cambodian Self Help Demining and all the people who are served by their work I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I'll be returning to Cambodia later this week to continue our work and this money will be put to use immediately to help people who are unable to help themselves.

The selflessness of all who support us, especially in these difficult times, is deeply appreciated.

I carry a notebook with me so I can remember what I talk about in meetings. On the first page I have quotation from John Donne:

"Every man's death deminshes me for I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."

I am proud to have all you as friends and on behalf of all of us.....thank you agian.

Babu

3rd Annual Landmine Relief Fund Auction and Fundraiser

THIRD ANNUAL

LANDMINE RELIEF FUND

AUCTION AND FUNDRAISER!

Cambodian Self Help Demining depends on donations from people like YOU to make a difference.

In the first 14 months we were in existence we:

• Cleared 4 'low priority' villages in Cambodia
• Cleared over 163,000 square meters of land
• Put over 2,400 people back on land that was killing them last year

AND WE DID IT FOR $4,313 PER MONTH.

That paid for 15 deminers, a support staff (cook, guards, etc) of 3 and an amazing office manager who attends school full time, works for us 6 days a week, is paying for her siblings to attend school and does some volunteer work in her free time.

All of this work is funded by private donation.

Peabody's Cafe, a wonderful place to meet and eat, in downtown Palm Springs, CA, helps with a fund raiser every year.

Come help us clear more of the 5,000,000 mines left in Cambodia.

This year our fundraiser is:

Tuesday 6 April, 2010

Where: Peabody's Cafe, 134 S. Palm canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA

When: 7pm

If you cannot attend, you can still support Aki Ra and the team by donating at our website:

http://www.landmine-relief-fund.com/

CLICK ON THE PAYPAL BUTTON

Thank you

Every dollar changes a life.

MINH MUI - CHEEVIT MUI

(one mine - one life)

Boots on the Ground

CSHD has finished its first year demining. Let me tell what we have all done:

• We cleared over 163,000 square meters of land.
• We cleared 75 landmines
• We put over 2,400 people back on land that was killing them
• We did it for $4,313 per month!

Now maybe 75 landmines doesn't seem like a lot. It cleared land in 4 villages. It freed the population from the fear of death and dismemberment. It changed the lives of over 2,400 people. It is a huge accomplishment.

How much did that cost us? $26 to change a life!

That is what you have accomplished. That is what your donations do. They put 'Boots on the Ground'. And those boots are changing lives.

This year we intend to add a second team. It'll be run by Sophary, who graduates from university in July with a degree in accounting. She wants start an all woman team, to work alongside our current demining team.

You can help Sophary make this happen.

Watch a new video on CSHD. Here is the link: http://www.blip.tv/file/3071875

Arkoon Babu

Akira