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THE CAMBODIAN LANDMINE MUSEUM RELIEF FUND (CLMMRF)
www.cambodialandminemuseum.org/
The CLMMRF is more than just a museum. . . .
It is also the home of an incredible family that provides education and support for dozens of at-risk, landmine-affected
children rescued by the CLMMRF NGO. Many children who are part of this family have suffered overwhelming hardships. The Landmine
Museum 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.
It
build futures. . . .
The
facility contains a school, an orphanage with living facilities for up to 30 at-risk children, a medical clinic that serves
as a rehabilitation centre, and a training facility for landmine accident prevention and safety.
It also provides employment opportunities for several teachers and local Khmers who play an important part in
the Landmine Museum
family. Moreover, it is a place for action, serving as a launching pad for humanitarian and landmine relief initiatives.
. . . .and remember the past
The
Landmine Museum
illustrates a valuable historical lesson. It is a grim warning for us all regarding the terrible consequences of war. As such,
it has become one of the most important cultural heritage sites in the world.
It has been estimated that as many as 10 million landmines were deployed across Cambodia over the span of two decades of fighting. Many mines have been removed
by various de-mining organizations, but it is still widely assumed that there are millions still scattered across Cambodia’s countryside. Landmines and UXO’s (un-exploded
ordnance) will continue to be a problem until they are all removed. Until that day we will be here to help.
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The
CLMMRF is registered as a NGO non-for-profit organisation with both the Canadian and Cambodian Governments and serves to provide
financial legitimacy for the Landmine Museum.
The CLMMRF NGO was created to serve two distinct functions that deal with specific charitable initiatives. These are outlined
in the CLMMRF’s by-laws, and letters patent. The goals of the CLMMRF are:
The Cambodian Landmine Museum, formerly in Siem Reap,
has recently relocated to a new facility near Banteay Srei.
Further information on the fantastic work the CLMMRF are undertaking is available on their website.
AKI
RA
National
Project Manger
Aki Ra is a former child conscript of the Khmer Rouge Army. He survived his formative years by fighting with
each of the various factions who fought in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge Revolution
of 1975. As a child soldier, Aki Ra soon developed deadly first-hand experience with mines and weapons of all kinds. He spent
well over a decade laying mines and booby traps made from almost every explosive ordnance deployed during those long years
at war.
In
1994, Aki Ra joined the United Nations Transitional Authority of Cambodia (UNTAC) and received formal training as a de-miner.
After working for UNTAC, Aki Ra continued to clear mines and UXO (un-exploded ordnance) devices in communities around the
country. By 1998 he had acquired an impressive number of de-commissioned casings
from various mortars, mines, and artillery shells. To date it is estimated that Aki Ra has cleared over 50,000 mines and has
been documented by dozens of filmmakers and journalists from around the world.
In 1999 Aki Ra founded the Cambodia Landmine Museum, a Cambodian non-governmental
organization (NGO), based in Siem Reap, together with the Akira Mine Action Gallery, supported by the Akira Mine Action Centre;
an enterprise which provides some of the funding for the landmine safety and education program which Aki Ra regularly conducts
in Cambodia's still extremely dangerous rural countryside and jungles. According to Aki Ra, his mission in life is to "make
my country safe for my people."
Aki
Ra has since completed further de-mining safety and explosives certification from the International School of Explosive Engineering
(ISEE) in Salsbury, UK.
The ISEE is one of the most highly recognized de-mining training schools in the world. Aki Ra continues to clear hundreds
of mines per year. This museum houses a tiny fraction of his de-mining efforts.
BOU
SENGHOURT (HOURT)
Administrative Director
In
2000, Bou Senghourt travelled with some classmates from her school to visit the Landmine Museum in search of a Japanese man
she heard was responsible for doing many wonderful things to help clear landmines from her war-ravaged country. When she could
not find him, Hourt asked a young Khmer man that was showing tourists around the museum if he knew of this man. The Khmer
man smiled at her for a moment, rather taken by the beautiful young woman. After a few minutes of conversation he revealed
to her that he was the “Japanese” man named Aki Ra (How Aki Ra got his Japanese name is a long story!). Within
a year Aki Ra and Hourt had fallen in love and were married.
Today,
Hourt and Aki Ra have two children and share their home at the museum with young landmine amputees who are supported by the
NGO. Hourt spends most of her time seeing to the health and welfare of the children who live under the care of the CLMMRF
while also managing to balance tending her own household and raising two boys of her own. She is a mother to a very unique
and special family. Hourt is also responsible for the operation of the NGO’s school, dormitory, and health clinic, and
is in charge of overseeing the day-to-day operation of the Landmine Museum.
RICHARD
FITOUSSI
International Project Manager
Canadian
photojournalist, Richard Fitoussi, met Aki Ra for the first time in April of 2000 while photographing him de-mining near Poi
Pet. At the end of their meeting Fitoussi asked Aki Ra if he had a dream for the future now that the war had ended. Aki Ra
responded by saying he wished to one day have a “real” landmine museum NGO so that he could continue to clear
mines around his country. Fitoussi returned to Canada to realize Aki Ra’s vision of a landmine free Cambodia. He spoke at schools and service clubs across
North America, fundraised, and developed an NGO mandate that embraced Aki Ra’s dream.
Over the course of seven years, while Fitoussi worked to find donors to finance the project, he also implemented diplomacy
strategies that helped to provide international support for the organization.
In
addition to holding the positions of the CLMMRF’s founder in Canada
and International Project Manager in Cambodia,
Working in conditions of human suffering has motivated him to seek hope in places that are often the darkest. During his second
tour in Afghanistan in the spring of 2006,
Fitoussi survived a Taliban roadside bomb attack that killed four Canadian NATO soldiers whom he was travelling with. He plans
to work with the CLMMRF in the future and continue to photograph conflict in an effort to raise global awareness about war.
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