Make music not war

I was fortunate enough to visit Siem Reap Cambodia earlier this year. If you have been there, you would know the town centre’s Art Night Market, a glowing tourist hub filled with souvenir shops, fish pedicure tanks (not for me thanks), restaurants and predictably herds of middle-aged men hanging around neon lit bars.

In amongst this mire is the band whose members make a living busking traditional Khmer music. Often found sitting on platforms in groups of five, the music is good but the scene distressing as several of the performers are missing limbs. These are the survivors of the Khmer Rouge or land mine contamination in Cambodia.

A band playing at the Siem Reap night market

Cambodia is a poor country where physical work is central to most citizens survival and prosperity. In a country with weak protections for people with disabilities coupled with deeply embedded discrimination, losing a leg to land mine contamination guarantees you a one-way ticket to lifelong poverty.

The land mines in Cambodia, Laos and a host of other nations around the world were manufactured by countries such as the United States, China, France and Russia. Laid there years ago in the name of some distant memory of a political ideology yet remain a hard reality for the local people to endure. This really bothered me and reminded me of how insulated we are here in the west from such insidious and persistent dangers.

The good news is that unlike many complex problems, land mine contamination in Cambodia is a problem that can be solved. The APOPO HeroRATs is an NGO that train African giant pouched rats to sniff out and scratch at the ground when they locate explosives. Mine detection rats can search an area the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes, an area that would take a human deminer up to four days. By supporting landmine clearing teams, the HeroRATs can significantly speed up the process of eliminating landmines from Cambodia.

An APOPO HeroRat getting ready for work

To help you can support the HeroRATS via a donation gateway I have set up on the WOOD DUST Australia website. Any donations go directly to the APOP HeroRATs via their Australian partner the Global Development Group (GDG). And because GDG is a Deductible Gift Recipient registered organisation, every donation over AU $2 is fully tax deductible.

Back to the music. The tempo increases as passing tourists drop a few thousand Riel or maye an American fiver in the collection bowel. The members of the band nod in thanks. We all need to take responsibility for past actions and work towards creating a safe environment for the Cambodian people. Visit the HERORATs page on the WOOD DUST website and donate today if you can.

Thank you for your support

Help keep Cambodian families safe