Story by MAG Cambodia Project Officer Yean Maly
England football legend Sir Bobby Charlton has made what he described as “a very emotional visit” to Cambodia, to visit demining work undertaken by MAG Cambodia and support the Spirit of Soccer project at a school situated on a former minefield cleared by MAG.
 Photo: REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea |
“Seeing youngsters without limbs just getting on with their life is hard to take. It is awful to think that so many years after the fighting has ended, people are still being maimed by landmines.” - Sir Bobby Charlton |
Accompanied by fellow Laureus Sport for Good ambassador, skateboarder Tony Hawk, the Manchester United director touched down at a little-used airport in Battambang Province at around 8:00am on Wednesday 25th July.
He had arrived in Cambodia the day before for a goodwill visit to raise awareness about landmines and promote football in Cambodia, which is currently ranked 173rd out of 199 nations by FIFA.
Joining the goats and cows roaming around the landing site were a posse of national and international photographers, journalists and cameramen – from TVK (Television Kampuchea), CTN (Cambodian Television Networks), Reuters, AP, AFP and many other national and international magazines.
As well as MAG, there were representatives from other NGOs – including the Spirit of Soccer and CMVIS (Cambodian Mine and UXO Victim Information System) – plus the governor of Battambang, along with other provincial and district officers and policemen.
After a bumpy and very dusty one-hour drive, the group arrived at Rakapheng primary school, located on the site of a former minefield which had been cleared by a MAG Mine Action Team (MAT).
Under support of AusAid, the MAT 12 team (which is still operational, though now all-female) cleared 2,852 sq/m of land from June 4th to July 23rd, 2001, finding and destroying 10 mines. After clearance, a pond, pumping well and the school were constructed to benefit people from the surrounding villages.
Nevertheless, the villagers and their children are still under threat from mines and UXO (unexploded ordnance), which need the continued intervention of agencies such as MAG.
While Sir Bobby, Tony and the children enjoyed playing football, MAG Battambang’s Regional Manager Chea Sarim was interviewed by national TV station TVK about the organisation’s work and and how the area was turned into a safe place for the children’s education and happiness.
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| Sir Bobby teaches football techniques to children at Rakapheng primary school, located on the site of a former minefield which had been cleared by a MAG Mine Action Team |
After spending time coaching the children in football techniques and reinforcing the mine risk education messages given by the coaches – “Don’t play with landmines and UXO, play football” – Sir Bobby and the other delegates travelled by car to the Plove Meas minefield, about 50km from the Battambang Airport, where MAG team MAT10 is clearing land, funded by World Vision.
On leaving their vehicles, the visitors had to walk carefully along the track toward a control point, where a truck displaying MAG and World Vision logos was parked. Shaded by a blue tarpaulin from the intense midday heat, the VIPs listened to a briefing from the team supervisors about the general situation of the minefield, the marking system, safety rules and demining equipment and materials. This was followed by a display of explosive-free mines and UXO.
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| Tony Hawk takes part in a demolition task to destroy an anti-personnel mine and an item of UXO (unexploded ordnance) |
At around 2:20pm, Sir Bobby flew back to Phnom Penh, where he spent another two days on his mission to raise awareness of landmines and promote football in Cambodia.
It is hoped the visit will have influenced some Cambodian children not to play with dangerous items, but to focus more on other activities like football – particularly children from the countryside who usually go out to tend cows or cattle and are most at risk from landmines and UXO.
Sir Bobby told reporters of his hopes that the international community would take be spurred into taking more action in Cambodia, where it is estimated around four to six million landmines and UXO still present a very real threat to life, limb and the economic recovery of the country.
He talked passionately about his dismay that technology was available which could considerably speed up the process of demining if more funding was available to organisations like MAG.
“It was a very emotional visit,” he said. “Seeing youngsters without limbs just getting on with their life is hard to take. It is awful to think that so many years after the fighting has ended, people are still being maimed by landmines.
“I really would do absolutely anything I can, to help any young child who is unfortunate enough to lose a limb to a landmine”.
