Thanks to your generosity, the PTPI-sponsored HALO Team in Cambodia cleared 7.2 acres of priority-mined ground in 2009. What does that mean? Take a look at the result of clearing that land:
- 264 anti-personnel mines were found and destroyed
- 11 items of unexploded ordnance were found and destroyed
- 196 local Cambodians were directly benefited
- 9,704 more people were indirectly benefited
Mrs. Houen and Am Sreyleak
Mrs. Houen is a 52-year-old widow with five children. The youngest, her 13-year-old daughter, Am Sreyleak, still lives at their home in Cambodia. Due to extreme poverty, they moved to the Malai District to find inexpensive land. Unfortunately, they did not realize it was mined. Mrs. Houen’s husband lost a leg in a mine accident. Unable to afford proper medical care, he never fully recovered and died a few months later.
Struggling as a laborer across the border in Thailand, Mrs. Houen has trouble providing for her family. Now that the land behind her home ha been cleared of mines she said, “I will be able to grow enough rice, bananas, papayas and vegetables to support myself and my daughter.”
Support our efforts on both the occasion of United Nations’ Mine Awareness Day (April 4, 2010) and Global Youth Service Day (April 23-24, 2010).
Also, keep PTPI’s Global Landmine Initiative in mind when planning chapter events. We can pool our efforts to continue supporting our HSTAMIDS (smart-detector) team, which has a proven record of success in Cambodia.
