By the inMotion Editorial Staff Cambodia has nine million people and almost ten million active explosives buried in its ground. Two-fifths of its productive soil is riddled with landmines. Earth that should nourish an impoverished population is too dangerous to plant too risky to plow or even walk upon.
People go hungry while the earth lies fallow.
Even worse, innocent people are maimed, mutilated, and murdered on a regular basis because of these insidious devices. Although peace nominally came to Cambodia four years ago, buried mines are no respecters of treaties. Many who don't die of the injury succomb to resulting infections due to lack of adequate health care. Medical facilities are too few and too far away for the heavily rural population. Thanks to landmines, Cambodia presently has over 36,000 amputees, one among every 200 residents.