Photo Gallery Eleven
INTERESTING ADVENTURE
BIOGRAPHY OF CHUM-DA
This is a biography of a student we have helped though school. He has now graduated from the university intending to get his masters degree and he is now married. He was injured by what we think was a hand granade played with by his best friend. He is an incredible man not at all inhibited by his challenge. We are very proud of this incredible man.The following is a copy of his first biography, written by him, and given to us when we first interviewed him. Get your handkerchef ready.
"My name is chum-Da, I was born on the 13th of April, 1986, in Stung Village, Siem Reap province. Now I'm a student at "10 January 1979" high school. I have two sisters and three brothers. My father died when I was 10 months old and I have only my mother left. After he died, my family beame very poor. Although my mother worked hard, there was never enough food to eat. We were always hungry.
When I was ten years old, I was always go into the jungle to collect firewood with my friends every Sundays. One dayin the jungle, we split up to collect the wood and when I had enough I called my friends back. I saw one of them was sitting and holding a rock. I didn't know, what was he hit. Suddenly I'm not sure that's bomb or landmine exploded, then the fragments were hit. At first I tried to stand up, but then I was unconscious. When I came to, I looked down at my right arm, which had been blown off. Local farmers found me and took me to hospital. I was heavily medicated, but the next day I was aware enough to ask about my best friend. eventually my uncle told me "he had been killed in the explosion." That's time, I was crying too much and I said "no!" my friend wasn't died and I don't believe you. I have just seen him and he's called me while I was sleeping here, I know he still alive. You're saying not true, are you? Then my uncle said again "DA! you must recognize, that's true and I don't lie you." I stopped cry but I was feeling very terrible that I couldn't help him although I've lost my arm, I still have lived. But my friend had been gone so far aways from my life. Now, I would stop talking about this because when I've talked about its, it's always made me cry.
After my accident thing got worse for my family, because of my medical expenses, we had to sell the little land we had, which originally belonged to my father. that meant we had no fields to grow rice in and no house to live in. Because we were so desperatly poor, my mother moed to Battambong Province in 1999 to work. In Siem Reap Province you could only earn 50 cents a day, but because Battambong Province with Thailand you could earn as much as $4 in a day. After approximately five months, two of my sisters and one brother followed mother to Battambong Province near Thailand border. I stayed in Siem Reap because I had just begun to attend school again. Because of my accident I had missed an entire year of school not only was I depressed with the lost of my closeest friend and my right arm, but I had to learn to write all over again with my left hand.
In 2703, Handicap International came to my village and offered free prosthetic limbs to those who needed them. Another girl from my school and I caught the pickup truck into Siem Reap town, to Handicap international office. This was my first time away from my village, and my very scary and intimidating. I didn't know where the office was, and was taken all around the town on a moto, as the driver tied to get more and more money from me! Finally I arrived at this office, where I stayed for one week. They fitted me a prosthetic arm,
and sent me home to my village.
Three weeks later, Handicap International returned to my village and asked me if I wanted to live in Siem Reap permanently. They said "I'd have opportunity to study foreign languages as well as Khmer, and I have the chance to study future." At home there were no opportunities for and little hope for the future. The other way I've worked hard to earn money for my studying also. So after finishing my year at school, I decided to come to Siem Reap to live with Mr. Aki Ra at The Landmine Museum. In Aki Ra Landmine Museum, I have alot of good things. I've eaten enough, a good cloth and specially
I can go to Khmer school without hard work."