Report and photo by Pang Chamreun, Community Liaison Worker.
MAG has been working to clear mines and UXO in Cambodia to allow safe access to land to allow communities to develop. Out of thousands of beneficiaries, this case study focuses on one family whose life has changed for the better thanks to the intervention of MAG – funded by ECHO.
Sok Sameth, aged 41, and Uk Chandara, his 38-year-old wife, have five children, four boys and a girl. Sameth’s wife is a grocery seller, and he is a group leader in the village. He also helps his wife with her small business and takes care of cows and goats. Sok Mao, one of their children, who has already left school, helps Sameth to tend the cattle. They have lived in Tumnub village – Steung Trang commune, Sala Krau district, Pailin Province – since 2002.
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Sameth and his wife selling groceries at home in Tumnub village |
Before 1998, their family was living in the UN-supported Side II camp on the Thai and Cambodian border. From 1998 to 1999, they lived in Chamkar Mrich village in Kampong Som.
In 2000, they came to live in O Tapuk Leu in Pailin. They moved many times to look for better jobs which could help them to improve their standard of living, but they were faced with many difficulties in their lives. Sameth said. “Sometimes, because of war and conflict, we had to run, escape and stay in the forest just like monkeys.”
They have lived in Tumnub since 2002. At first they raised goats and cattle. “When I tended the cattle in the forest behind my house I found lots of UXO”, said Sameth, “I think probably about 100. I reported these to MAG, to their EOD team.” In total, MAG’s EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team cleared 221 items of UXO (unexploded ordnance) and 21 anti-personnel mines in the village.
Asked about whether his life had changed since MAG had taken away these items of UXO, Sameth said, “Yes, there may be some more mines and UXO in this area but it is much better than before, and more and more people come to live here.
“We now have a small grocery business and it’s safer for me to tend my goats and cattle. I have good co-operation with the EOD team of MAG when I report about mines and UXO.
“Yes, our life is getting better. I can expand my grocery business and I feel safe to tend my cattle. I have up to 20 cows and 20 goats now. I have also been able to build a pond in the land behind my house, where the land was full of mines and UXO before MAG’s arrival.
“I would like MAG to continue their work until there are no more mines and UXO in this area. I want to see my community develop by having a school, a pagoda, a healthcare centre, a market, better bridges, roads, and a water supply. I think that it is very good if the people here are also trained how to use new technology – it will help us to increase our productivity from agriculture.”
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