Cambodian Landmine Museum

Aki Ra, the founder and curator of the Cambodian Landmine Museum, is a very amazing man.  He has cleared countless landmines by hand, literally, in the Cambodian jungles and has saved numerous lives in the process.  He was a CNN Heroes finalist in 2010 and after visiting his museum, I understand how he earned that distinction.

As a former child-soldier conscripted into the Khmer Rogue army at ten years old, Aki Ra saw first hand the destructive nature of landmines.  Orphaned at a young age, Aki Ra's life was full of struggle - and still is.  While fighting for the Khmer Rogue, he was captured by the Vietnamese army and forced into their army.  During these years as a soldier, Aki Ra placed innumerable landmines while forced into the armies.  Ironically, since he laid so many landmines himself, it made him rather adept in removing them.  Nearly all of the landmines, bombs, hand grenades, and other ordinances at the museum were defused by Aki Ra over the years.  He had to involuntarily suspend his work in the past because the government said he needed to stop removing the landmines using a stick while crawling on the ground.  This did little to deter him, as he soon resumed removing landmines and working toward his ultimate goal of removing all landmines from these jungles.

At this museum, you are educated on how devastating landmines are and specifically how much havoc they have wreaked on the Cambodian people.  There are multiple rooms located around a central lilly pad pond, each room dedicated to a different aspect of landmines and their removal in Cambodia.  You see so many defused landmines and bombs used in the infamous carpet-bombings of the countryside, it is something you will not forget.  There is also a display showing what the different Cambodian and Vietnamese soldiers wore and the guns, grenade launchers, and various other weapons used while fighting - the uniforms and weapons were all found in former camps by Aki Ra and other people in the organization.  While at the museum, we met an American man working for the organization who provided a ton of interesting information about the organization and what they do.  We were there for what came to be an insightful hour on the way to Phnom Kulen National Park.  (little did I know at the time, but the man at the museum goes to the same pub quiz I do, it is the only pub quiz in town - there is a very small expat community here)

the entrance to the museum

a room full of landmines and hand grenades

landmines

more landmines and grenades

bombs

more bombs

and even more bombs

old bombs found in the jungle

uniformed soldier with a .50 cal machine gun

display of uniforms

landmines and...

landmines and...

landmines

The Cambodian Landmine Museum not only aides in the clearing of landmines, but they also aide in sending local kids to school and helping them enroll in and pay for college.  Many of the students they assist are somehow directly impacted by the devastating power of landmines.  Some of the students live in housing provided by the organization and all students receive laptops when they graduate.  Last school year saw them send their first graduate to college in Phnom Penh and this year they will send more.  Their mission to educate the public about the dangers of landmines and educate local children impacted by landmines, in addition to the on-going struggle to clear landmines is something to really admire.

The museum also contained some interesting art.  There was not a lot of art there, but what was there was unique to Cambodia and landmine related issues.  Below are a few pictures of the art there.

a sculpture made from guns, grenades, and a helmet

this painting is huge, you can see the top of a friends head in the bottom left corner

a painting in the museum showing the damage of landmines

As I experience more and more of what there is to experience in Cambodia, which I must admit is rather limited, I gain a better understanding of how the people here have been treated like the bastard child of SE Asia.  For how many atrocities have been committed against the Cambodian people, they are amazingly positive and caring.  This museum really opened my eyes to how ruthless countries behave in war times.  Cambodia has a culture and history that is drawing me in as I never imagined would happen.  Boarding the trans-Pacific flight from Chicago with little knowledge of Cambodia, I must say that this experience has far exceeded any of my expectations.

If you're looking for an organization to support, I suggest visiting the museum's website: http://www.cambodialandminemuseum.org/menu.html