Now, to him, everything seemed over. I told the German doctor in the hospital where they took me, 'please kill me. Blindness in Cambodia is caused by a number of factors, including war injuries, landmines, disease, physical birth defects, accidents, the side effects of poverty such as poor nutrition and back of adequate medical care. The blind are one of Cambodia's most marginalised groups. In Cambodia, the blind are believed hopeless.
People think all they can do is stay at home and do nothing.
You have knowledge. The Cambodian people need you'. He treated Boun Mao and contacted Maryknoll, an NGO helping the blind in Cambodia. They want ed to train a handful of blind and visually-impaired Cambodian volunteers in a skill they could then use to support themselves as a group. Maryknoll Project Director, Father John Barth, had already travelled to neighbouring countries trying to find a suitable skill to teach blind Khmers.