Tales From a Female Traveller

Land Mine Museum

http://au.blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-a6zLd1M9bqXYFufi8VqDDClTLg--?cq=1

You haven’t experienced true Cambodia if you’ve never spoken to a Land Mines victim, and once you have done so you will never be the same. It will change you for life and it will smash every bit of security and innocence you’ve been brought up with.

On the last day of our 7 Day Angkor pass we had no idea what we were going to do next, we were so templed out that I would have screamed if I had to climb the steps to another Temple and when our Tuk Tuk driver suggested we visited the Land Mines Museum I was a little hesistant.. I was exhausted from visiting killing fields and seeing bones and clothes from those that were killed, and I thought the entry fee would be outrageous, so I was a little unsure. He assured us that it was fine and that entry was free so we decided to give it a go. It was about a 20 minute Tuk Tuk drive through back lanes and alley ways in the countryside near the main Angkor park and when we arrived we were greeted with a bunch of kids repeating “hello and welcome” like they were rehearsing their newly learnt English sentences.

The Museum itself is actually not a museum by modern standards, but rather a piece of land dedicated to showcasing the different types of bombs and guns used during the various wars and is run by a man named Akira as an awareness program. He takes in kids that have been victims of land mines and teaches them to be guides around the compound which is the most hard hitting thing I’ve seen yet. Our guide’s name was Poiy and when he was younger he was sent into the bush to gather some firewood where he stood on what is known as a Two Leg Mine. When his father found him he was so weak from blood loss that his father could do nothing but leave him alone to try and find some help, which could be miles away. While he was gone, Poiy was attacked by a Tiger that had smelt the blood from his maimed leg and had come to find an easy feed… Poiy had grabbed his father’s gun and shot at the Tiger and upon hearing the gunshot his father came rushing back thinking that his son had been killed only to find his son laying there with a gun and still losing blood. He had missed the tiger but managed to scare the tiger away, saving his own life. As Poiy was showing us an inactive version of the mine that took his leg it was unbelievable, walking around the compound you have no idea you’ve just stepped on a concealed mine until he points it out to you and you realise how such things happen to people, how they lose their limbs and their lives.. just like that.. step, boom, gone. You never even see what you step on.

B was so distressed by this that as Poiy was telling us the story he could not look into Poiy’s eyes… I on the other hand, couldn’t help it. Hearing the emotion in Poiy’s voice and watching the tears well in his eyes as he shared something about himself that’s so horrible no one would want to relive it the way he was… I wanted nothing more than to reach out and hug him, but something in me told me it would be inappropriate and that Poiy would lose face through the pity a hug would portray to him. So I didn’t. I stood there and just silently let the tears roll down my face as he fought back his own tears to continue his story.

We saw the mines and the guns and we read the stories, but nothing touched me more than Poiy’s story. So true and honest. I truly am changed from it. I won't say too much because it's too emotional for me to recount and I don't want top drip my tears all over this internet cafe's keyboard.. so I'll just leave you with what I've written and point you to take a look at the photo link.

posted by Lucyspeak @ 9:18 pm