Stories

Stories

Tol has been living at the Land Mine Museum since 2000. Before that, he and his family lived in the Banteay
Mean Chey province near the Thai border. Tol has four brothers and sisters.

One day when he was playing with four friends, they found a pineapple mine. The boys didn't know what it was
so out of pure innocent curiosity they picked it up. The mine exploded and three of the boys were killed instantly.
Tol lost his leg and a girl walking behind him lost her arm.. Tol went to hospital in his own province where he
stayed a month. His leg had to be amputated because the bone was broken and the skin around it was badly
damaged.

When he left the hospital, Tol returned to live with his family and stayed there four years. At the age of twelve,
Tol came to live with Aki Ra at the Land Mine Museum.

Tol's family is only able to support one of their children through school. With Aki Ra's help, Tol has now been
given the opportunity to be educated at school. He now goes to Khmer school and is learning English at the
Land Mine Museum.

In the future Tol wants to be a doctor but while laughing, also said working as a tour guide would be easier.

Hak's parents live near the Tanle Sap Lake. He has three brothers and three sisters. He cam to live at the Land
Mine Museum in 2002.

Hak's accident took place when he was looking after some cows in a field with three of his friends. Hak was eight
years old. When he stepped on the land mine he fell down and fragments were blown in all directions. One of his
friends died of his injuries. Hak can't remember what happened. He only discovered a day later that he had lost
his leg.

When Aki Ra came to visit Tonle Sap district he saw Hak and took photos of him. Aki Ra returned offering to take
Hak home to live with him and educate and feed him properly. Hak's family is happy for him to get the chance to
study. Hak's family is very poor. They are unable to pay for him to go to school.

When he first came to live with Aki Ra, Hak was shy and was also malnutritious. He used to cry every night. He
had never been to school before and was very nervous. Now however, he happily attends the school and his
further English lessons at Aki Ra's museum. He has returned to good health.

Poiy's parent live in Siem Reap province but far out of the city center. In the past they both fought for the Khmer
Rouge but currently are farmers. They grow rice and vegetables. Poiy has three brothers and one sister who all
help on the farm and are always very busy.

Poiy's accident happened when he went into the rice fields one day with some soldiers. The soldiers always let
the children walk ahead of them so they could test out the road for mines. The children didn't know of the
dangers of the mines or that they were walking in a mined area. Poiy stepped on a landmine that lay on the road.
He remembers being blown into the air by the explosion and landing on the road again. His friend tried to carry
him to the hospital. Later a farmer who brought him to the hospital on his oxcart picked him up. They drove for
two hours. When he was in the hospital the Khmer Rouge soldiers were fighting the Vietnamese at night. Poiy's
leg was badly injured and needed removing. A Khmer Rouge doctor amputated his leg using a wood saw. He
tore Poiy's clothes and put a piece of the cloth in his mouth so that the Vietnamese soldiers couldn't hear his
screams of pain.

Poiy was six years old.

Once at home again, Poiy was left alone while his family went out fighting. At the age of six he had to learn to
collect his own food and defend himself. On one occasion he was in his house with two friends. They were faced
with a tiger that was looking for food. Poiy didn't know how to use an AK-47 properly but he know enough to be
able to shoot the gun so that the sound scared it away. He had to do the same in the evening when the tiger
returned.

Poiy is a really good hunter and his parents want him to return home so he can go into the jungle and collect food
for them His mother is an alcoholic and he wouldn't be able to go to school if he returned. Poiy wants to stay with
Aki Ra so he can learn how to read and write Khmer.

Da comes from the Siem Reap district but far from the city center. His mother works far away, near the Thai
border and he almost never sees her. He has got three brothers and two sisters and came to the live at the
Landmine Museum in 2002.

Da's accident took place when he was ten years old. Every week he and his friends would go into the forest to
collect wood for their families to cook with. On this particular day he was with four friends about 50 kilometers
from his home. One of his friends saw the landmine and didn't know what it was. Out of curiosity he picked it up
and played with it. It exploded. One of Da's friends died and the other three were injured by the fragments the
mine produced. Da lost his arm below the elbow in the explosion. He was too young at the time to remember
any further details of his accident.

After his accident Da lived and worked for a different family. He worked hard for his money, looking after the
baby of the house, cooking and cleaning. However, he saw no future ahead for himself and so used to cry in the
evenings.

Da heard about Aki Ra when he visited his village. He asked Aki Ra if he would take him with him so that he had
the chance to go to school again. Aki Ra agreed. There is no school for the older children in Da's village and
the nearest one was too far away for him to travel because of his leg injury.

Da is very smart and is now enjoying school and is a very keen English student. In the future he hopes ot be a
teacher or a tour guide.

Belgium Handicap International told Jon and his family about Aki Ra and the museum. He came to live at the
museum in 2003.

Ara's family lives in South Nikom. He has three sisters and two brothers. When Ara was only three months old he
and his family lived near Kulen Mountain.

The Khmer Rouge were fighting with the Vietnamese at the time. Planes were dropping mortars on the villages.
Ara's mother was carrying him while she tried to escape the bombs. Ara was hit in the arm by a piece of mortar
and his mother was hit on the side. They had to pay three dogs in order to receive surgery because they had no
money. Because he was so young at the time we don't know all the details of his story.

Belgium Handicap International sent Ara to the Land Mine Museum to live with Aki Ra.