HELP CAMBODIANS SUSTAINABLY GROW CROPS. SUPPORT THE TOGETHER PROJECT

The Landmine Relief Fund supports its sister NGO, Rural School Support Organization. One of Rural Schools Support Organization’s initiatives is called, THE TOGETHER PROJECT (TTP). The Together Project has an organic teaching farm in Bakong (30 minutes outside of Siem Reap, Cambodia).

The farm teaches people to grow chemical-free nutritious crops, alternative to what is typically grown in Cambodia (corn, rice, cassava), to supplement people’s diet and wallet. The Together Project has a hydroponic greenhouse, a netted greenhouse, a mushroom house, and a schoolhouse. 

The Together built mushroom houses at Bakong High School and Chansar Middle School. The Together Project plans to bring mushroom houses to other schools in the future. Each mushroom house can yield over 100 kilos a month and the mushrooms wholesale for $4.50/kilo and retail for $6/kilo. Mushroom houses are a unique way for Cambodians to generate additional income. 

The Together Project was started during the COVID-19 Pandemic and distributed over 400 metric tons of food from 2020-2022.

None of this is done alone. We can only sustain this program with your help.  Please, click the donations button above and donate whatever you can. No donation is too small. A little goes a long way. Currently, we have funded half of our operational budget and none of our capital budget. The operational budget keeps the program running and the capital budget helps us expand. 

You can read more about The Together Project at our website.

Landmines and UXO in Cambodia.  Help Cambodia reach ‘Landmine Free’ status by 2025

Cambodians have suffered through decades of conflict, including a civil war, American bombings, the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, and Vietnamese occupation. The country has been working for decades to clear all the minefields.  The objective is ‘Mine Free Cambodia’ by 2025.  This can be done. But it will be difficult to do alone. The Landmine Relief Fund has been supporting mine clearance in Cambodia since 2003. Today, it supports three Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) teams at the cost of $200,000. This isn’t done alone. Two EOD teams get funding from World Without Mines managed by Landmine Relief Fund. The third team is funded by the Landmine Relief fund through August. We are actively pursuing funding for this team. We also get a grant from the U.S. Department of State, which is managed by Handicap International. 

Landmines and unexploded ordnances are leftover from the fighting, contaminating the land in Cambodia. Dozens of civilians are injured or killed every year. Millions of the landmines have now been cleared, but there is still a long way to go; it is estimated Cambodia will not be entirely cleared of landmines for several decades to come. 

On top of the landmines in Cambodia, unexploded ordnance (UXO) also litter the land. UXO is left over from extensive fighting in the 60s and 70s, and the American bombing campaigns in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The United States had dropped approximately 110,00 tons of bombs during B-52 raids in Cambodia- estimated to be more bombs than dropped on Japan in the whole of World War II. It is estimated that around 30% of these dropped bombs never exploded, being left there for decades causing injuries and death to local people.

You can support our mine clearance work at our website here. 

HELP BUILD AND SUPPORT RURAL SCHOOLS IN CAMBODIA

The RURAL SCHOOL VILLAGE PROGRAM (RSVP), another one of Rural School Support Organization’s initiatives, has built 29 schools, mostly in northern and western Cambodia, many on old minefields and in areas where landmines and UXO had been threatening the population for decades.  These schools are all part of the Cambodian education system, recognized by the government and provided with certified school teachers.  Rural School Support Organization, with funding from the Landmine Relief Fund, maintains the buildings, provides school supplies, and pays the teachers a monthly bonus above their government salary.  Beginning with one school and 35 children in 2011, Rural School Village Program, has built 29 schools, some with more than one building, supporting over 100 teachers and 3,300 students.

You can read more about our work on our website here. We have funded the operational budget of Rural School Village Program. This includes school supplies, scholarships, and supplemental teacher wages. We have not funded the capital budget that builds new schools.

HELP SUPPORT THE CAMBODIAN LANDMINE MUSEUM

The Landmine Museum was started in the 1990s by Aki Ra, an ex-child soldier, the founder of Cambodian Self Help Demining, and a CNN Hero.  Before the COVID-19 Pandemic, it drew over 30,000 visitors a year. The museum teaches people about the history of landmines and UXO in Cambodia, the history of the war, how landmines are cleared, and how they, and you, can help end this horrible problem.

In 2019, there were 2.2 million tickets sold to Angkor Wat; January – June 2022:  65,000.  It’s going to be a while until the economy in Siem Reap recovers.

None of this is done alone.  Support us at www.landmine-relief-fund.com

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