Cambodian History (Landmine Museum)

In order to feel at home in a country one needs to immerse oneself not only in the daily life and culture but also in that country’s history.   Amethyst and Sapphire start their journey into the history of Cambodia with a visit to the Landmine Museum.

Their day started out by leaving the busy Siem Reap town roads on their Tuk Tuk.  As Siem Reap is a rather compact town, very soon they were on a scenic drive through the countryside.  It was a wonderful feeling to be out in the open air again surrounded by lush green picturesque fields as far as the eye could see.

They arrived at the museum and walked down the entrance way which was lined on either side with rows of bomb casings setting the scene for what would be a disturbing, emotional yet educational experience.  Neither had realized the suffering and psychological damage caused to this country which had endured so many decades of war. Landmines and artillery shells used during the Khmer Rouge years, and the millions of bombs dropped on Cambodia during the Vietnam war continue to take their toll on the Cambodian people to this day.

After paying their entrance fee, they were issued with a head set and an audio player which played audio clips relating to the various exhibitions.  Before entering the exhibitions, they listened to the life story of the man who founded this museum, Aki Ra.

Aki Ra, a Cambodian, is unsure of his age, but believes he was born somewhere between 1970 – 1973.  After being orphaned when his parents were killed by the Khmer Rouge, under the rule of Pol Pot, Aki Ra, like thousands of other Cambodian children, were forced into the Khmer Rouge army as a child soldier when he was 5 years old.  He was handed his first gun at the tender age of 10 years old and forced to kill, plant mines and make bombs.  He had no choice but to do as he was ordered, or to be killed.  It was extremely difficult for both Amethyst and Sapphire to comprehend what it must have been like for any child at that age, after knowing that his parents were murdered by the Khmer Rouge, to then have to fight as a child soldier in the same army responsible for their deaths.

When Aki Ra was a teenager, the Vietnamese Army overthrew the village where he was staying.  He was captured by the Vietnamese and forced to join the Vietnamese Army, this time to fight against the Khmer Rouge.  He was now ordered to kill previous comrades of his who had fought alongside him in the Khmer Rouge.  Aki Ra stayed with the Vietnamese Army until it began to pull its troops from Cambodia in 1989, after which he was conscripted once again, this time for the Royal Cambodian Army.

Aki Ra spend most of his childhood and young adulthood in warfare.  During the war he had personally laid landmines in Cambodia, which after the war were still lying active.  Aki Ra has made it his lifelong mission to demine the fields and villages in order to make Cambodia safe again.  He no longer wishes to talk about the past but to focus rather on the future.  Aki Ra feels sad when he is reminded of the war and what he was forced to endure as a child soldier and also what pain and suffering was caused to others by his hand.  When listening to his story one cannot help but feel that although he is trying to make amends for the past and ease his own guilt, nothing he will ever do is going to destroy the ghosts and demons that still chase him.

After the war, Aki Ra began working to clear the very landmines he had planted as a child soldier. He also engaged fellow Cambodians in his mission, educating them on the dangers of landmines and training them to demine and defuse landmines. Aki Ra has deactivated and cleared over 50 000 (fifty thousand) various landmines using a pliers and a stick.  All of which can be seen at the landmine museum. Aki Ra was decommissioned from clearing landmines as his methods were questionable.  He has since been trained in more conventional methods and continues his work with international assistance and funding.

While removing and deactivating landmines in various villages, he and his wife, Hourt, whom he had also trained to demine, found many injured and abandoned children, whom they would then take home with them. Aki Ra and Hourt adopted these orphaned children and provided them with a home and an education.  This was his way of giving back for all the pain and suffering caused by the landmines that were planted during the war.

Hourt supported Aki Ra unconditionally in his demining project and vigilantly worked alongside him but sadly, Hourt died on 15 April 2009 due to complications related to a miscarriage. She was only 28 years old. She and Aki Ra have three children: Amatak, Mine, and Metta.

Aki Ra, with international assistance, ironically also from the USA who were responsible for dropping millions of bombs on Cambodia during the war, has established the Cambodia Landmine Relief Museum Facility and the Cambodia Landmine Museum and Relief Fund.  The entry fee to the museum goes towards this fund and also towards funding the removal of landmines of which there are estimated to be 3 – 5 million still unaccounted for.  Quite a scary thought………

There is a documentary on Aki Ra, called a Perfect Soldier, which is an interesting account of his life.  The name a “Perfect Soldier” is apparently derived from a statement made by Pol Pot during the Khmer Rouge where he referred to landmines as the most excellent of soldiers, for a landmine is “ever courageous, never sleeps and never misses”.

After listening to Aki Ra’s life story, Amethyst and Sapphire proceeded into the museum and were faced by a sealed glass gazebo filled with various types of landmines and other ordnance which were used during the war.

They proceeded slowly and silently through the various exhibition halls while listening to the related audio clips.  The afternoon light had somehow darkened and had taken on a sombre feeling.

They entered the final exhibition hall where some art work of the children from the Cambodian Relief Fund is displayed.  The bright colours of the hanging box art immediately captures your attention.  The bright and colourful pictures tell a story of the artists’ future aspirations.  However when you put your head inside the box, you are face to face with detailed drawings of how the artist was injured and you realize that this is a painting by a child that has been a victim of a landmine explosion.  The stories behind these box paintings kinda grabs you by the heart and squeezes………

On the way out, one passes a fenced in area made to represent an active mine field.  Some landmines could be seen easily while others were well camouflaged and one really had to look carefully to see the trip wires.

Leaving the museum one cannot help but feel a great pity for this remarkable man.  After what must have been a traumatic childhood which has scarred him psychologically for life, he tries to make up for the sins of the past, finds a woman who loves and supports him only to lose her.  Ironically her parents told her not to marry him as he lives in danger in his line of work and yet, she dies from complications relating to a miscarriage leaving him to carry on his life long work and to care for his own children and all the orphans they adopted, on his own.

Amethyst and Sapphire walked out of the Landmine Museum with a greater understanding of and a newfound respect for the Cambodian people. It is said that no knowledge should leave one unchanged, and the overwhelming sense of sadness and tragedy they felt, bears testimony to this. It is however heartening to see the efforts and collaboration by nations of the world and people like Aki Ra, to make right.

On the drive back Amethyst and Sapphire stopped at a Butterfly Sanctuary  for a much-needed lightening of the day. The wonderful colours and gentleness of the butterflies in their jungle environment eased the sadness they felt.