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Land Mines and their Legacy 
People don't realize how bad the Killing Fields in Cambodia really were. If you're like most of us, you've heard about it, but don't know much about what happened, or give it a second thought. It is estimated that about 2 million people were executed by the Khmer Rouge, or almost 30% of the population at the time. The Khmer Rouge, with their leader Pol Pot, was a self-professed Communist movement that took power in Cambodia about the same time that the US involvement in Vietnam was ending in 1975. They wanted to revert Cambodia to a completely agrarian society, to "Year Zero". Their rule was based on fear, and they were ruthless. All institutions were closed - stores, schools, hospitals, everything - and the central bank was blown up. Parents were separated from children and sent into the fields for grueling, nonstop manual labor. Anybody with an education was killed. Anyone with glasses was killed. Anyone from the wrong family, or who spoke up, or who couldn't work hard enough, was killed. Many thousands died in the fields from exhaustion or lack of food, and people were killed randomly - babies, adults, and elderly alike. Landmines were planted everywhere. In fact, somewhere between 2 to 6 million landmines are still strewn across the country, injuring or killing nearly 1000 people each year (pbs.org). Ironically, it was the Communist government of Vietnam, after the US pullout, who finally put a stop to their neighbors in Cambodia. Despite the fact that they were both Communist, tensions were high, and escalating skirmishes over land and border areas finally led to a Vietnamese invasion. Vietnam sent 100,000 troops into Cambodia on Christmas day, 1978, and within two weeks had taken over the country and sent Pol Pot into hiding. Today, Cambodia is a multi-party democracy, but they are still one of the poorest and least-educated countries in the world. Their infant mortality rate approaches 10%, the literacy rate is just 35%, and they have a per capita GNP of just $280 (1999, pbs.org). Sadly, they also have the highest rate of land-mine amputees in the world, with over 35,000 missing one or more limbs. I traveled to Cambodia in the fall of 2004, and I was shocked at the conditions there. The people are very friendly and desperate for work that just doesn't exist. The population is young, and most every family has numerous stories to tell of parents, uncles and siblings who did not survive the Khmer Rouge. Most tragic of all are the amputees, who are very visible since they make up 1 in every 236 Cambodians, and for the most part they are reduced to begging in the streets for their survival. There is no safety net in Cambodia. If people get sick, or don't get enough to eat, they die. The Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields were an tragedy that unfortunately continues today in the form of a broken country with the world's most severe land-mine problem. That's why we're supporting Clear Path International as our first cause. Clear Path does work in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand with land-mine victims. In Cambodia, they work to supply local hospitals, provide vocational training and follow-up support for land-mine victims, and are helping a rice mill project aimed at increasing economic opportunities. We hope you'll read more about the work they do to help these victims have a chance at life, and join us in supporting them.
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