Cambodia Land Mine Museum Relief Fund

The Cambodian Land Mine Museum Relief Fund's main agenda is to decrease land mine casualties in Cambodia. By developing an existing historical attraction to tourists in the city of Siem Reap, The Cambodian Land Mine Museum could operate to provide aid to the Cambodian people in the form of a land mine awareness and education center. The center would employ land mine educational consultants and technicians contracted to travel to mined communities in an effort to teach farmers and school children land mine safety. It is estimated that land mines could still be a problem for Cambodia well into the next century. Avoiding mine casualties through awareness, safety, and prevention will help to protect Cambodian communities from further suffering and devastation.

When the institution is successfully established and operating at its maximum potential, the relief fund will be dissolved as charitable subsidies shall no longer be required to cover operating expenses. Tourism revenue generated by the museum will subsidize both its operating expenses and aid agenda. The Cambodian Land Mine Museum Relief Fund will have helped to create sustainable development for Cambodia using the country's existing tourism industry as a vehicle for education and awareness. The paramount goal of the Cambodian Land Mine Museum Relief Fund is to increase survival rates in remote and heavily mined areas within Cambodia. We are confident that the museum could provide a means for this to happen.

Developing the existing land mine museum to its full potential also means that many employment opportunities shall become available to local Cambodians. Our aim is that these positions -consultants, technicians, tour guides, accountants, and managers- will be filled by victims who have been most severely affected by land mines. The relief fund intends to cover education and training expenses for the museum's staff that will be educated at the A.C.E. (Australian Center for Education) also located in Siem Reap. The A.C.E. has been offering skill related training in Cambodia for several years and provides courses in English language skills, business management, accounting, and tourism related training. A land mine museum run by land mine victims will provide both a support community for amputees and financial survival for victims who would otherwise be economically destitute. In addition, the project will help to provide commerce to the Siem Reap community and increase tourist spending.

The Cambodian Land Mine Museum Relief Fund feels that the museum will help to educate thousands of tourists visiting Cambodia about the country's land mine crisis. The museum will also provide a forum for information about each of the land mine agencies working in Cambodia, and land mine statistics. Visitors of The Cambodian Land Mine Museum will be more informed about the effects of land mines both in Cambodia and around the world. We hope that visitors of the museum will be inspired to contribute to land mine removal programs in other countries. Land mine tragedies can only be defeated through co-operation, unity. and compassion.