Battambang, Cambodia

EMERGENCY Hospital in Battambang, Cambodia
Map of mine fields in rural Cambodia at the Mine Advisory Group's site.
The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is a British based NGO that expertly clears abandoned weapons and land mines. This Cambodian is a de-miner working for MAG in the Samlot district of northwestern Cambodia.
An exploded land mine in Plou Meas.
Operating room at EMERGENCY.
Many Cambodians with mine injuries live very far from daily access to a hospital and most lack the means to get there. When patients do make it to the hospital to get their wounds checked, often way past their scheduled time, the doctors find the wound has not healed correctly, they are behind in their physical therapy treatment, and/or their prosthesis is very old and no longer properly fitted.
Sam is a 19-year-old girl who has fallen victim to a land mine injury. Her family needed to pay back $20 to their neighbor who had loaned the money to help them fix their roof. It was the rainy season in Cambodia and the leaky roof needed attention immediately. At $2 a day, Sam's mother usually does yard work to help with the cost, but had recently come down with Typhoid fever. Sam felt a responsibility as being the oldest child to take her mother's place as the grounds keeper. Both Sam and her mother were assured there were no land mines in the area. At the cost of $20, Sam now has a partial amputation of her right foot, partial amputation of her right hand, and shrapnel wounds and burns all over her body.
This is a 16 year-old Cambodian victim of a shell explosion. Cambodia does not just have a land mine crisis, but also extreme poverty. This young boy saw an unexploded shell and tried to diffuse it and sell the parts for money. The scrap metal trade is a large industry in Cambodia and a quick way to accrue additional funds for one's family. He is now blind in both eyes, missing most of his teeth, part of the left side of his mouth and face are destroyed, has shrapnel and subsequent burns all over his body, and has an amputation of the lower portion of his left arm.
A 16 year-old land mine victim.
A 16 year-old land mine victim.
A 16 year-old land mine victim.
A 16 year-old land mine victim.
Every morning around 7:00 am, Cambodians from Battambang and surrounding areas wait to get into EMERGENCY Hospital. Only a certain amount of patients without urgent trauma related issues can be seen each day.
There are a total of five wards within EMERGENCY's hospital. This is the woman and children's ward. En Sophea spends his day cruising around in his wheel chair as he awaits discharge from the hospital. Often times patients do not wish to be discharged because the hospital provides a safe roof over their heads, excellent medical care, showers, clothing, and three nutritious meals a day, all of which is never guaranteed outside of these hospital walls.
Patients receive haircuts.
Pediatric patients practicing their English after class.
A patient in physical therapy.
A prosthetic leg being made at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facility.
Various prostheses at the ICRC.
Making a prosthetic leg at the ICRC.
The ICRC facility.
Patients play games at the ICRC facility. Games allow the patients to interact with each other while also doing important movements that are needed to recover from their injuries, including learning to walk with a prosthetic.

“From April 1975 to January 1979, the Khmer Rouge government of Cambodia committed one of the most egregious slaughters of humanity in modern times.”  It is estimated that two million people died from execution, starvation, forced labor, and disease.  Approximately twenty-one percent of Cambodia’s population died in a span of three years, eight months, and twenty-eight days.  Once the Khmer Rouge came into power under Pol Pot, new rules were put into place banning religion, money, and private ownership.  The regime emptied Cambodia’s cities and towns, engaged in the forced relocation of large populations from urban to rural areas, turned many parts of the country into forced labor camps, and targeted political opponents and minority groups.  It was not until 1979 that Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, was taken by the Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge subsequently fell.

Cambodia is no longer an active war zone but it is certainly war torn.  Following the Khmer Rouge rule, there not only exists a land mine issue, but also extreme poverty.  According to the Mine Advisory Group (MAG), there is about 4,000 square kilometers of suspect land still left today.  Bringing justice to the Khmer Rouge and its leaders has been slow by both the Cambodian and international governments.  Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, once suggested that Cambodia, “dig a hole and bury the past.”  Cambodia is one of the most heavily unexploded ordinance and mine-contaminated countries in the world.

In August 2007, I traveled to rural Cambodia to document the work of the non-government organization, EMERGENCY, an independent, neutral and nonpolitical humanitarian organization established to provide care to civilian victims of war and of land mines.  It provides free, high standard medical and surgical care and promotes the respect of human rights.

For more information on Cambodia and the land mine crisis:

EMERGENCY: http://www.emergency.it/index.php?ln=En

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): www.icrc.org

Mine Advisory Group (MAG):  http://www.maginternational.org/

The United Nations Mine Action: http://www.mineaction.org/country.asp?c=6