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Cambodia Diary
15-21 March, 2004
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Hello! My name is Kang Thy. I am a single man who was born in 1974 in Sam Rong Sno village in Ek Phnum district, Battambang province. I have three siblings: myself and my 2 younger sisters.
Life after the end of Pol Pot regime should have been enjoyable; however; my people were still in great difficulty because this period of genocide took our parents away from us and left most people orphans. As a result I have to be in charge of the family burden. To be able to meet with our daily basic needs, I then worked as a soldier earning only 60000 riel (15 USD) per month; moreover, I had worked during my free time as a carpenter for building houses and earned 5000 riel (1.25USD) per day.
After my demobilization from the army on July 15, 2000, I was hoping to get a job to feed my family. I got a job in early 2001 as a waiter in a restaurant where I was offered 100,000 Riel (25 UDS) per month. Sadly, the restaurant did not stay in business long so I became unemployed again.
Though finding a job was so complicated for me, I never lost hope and kept telling myself to be optimistic about it. Sure enough, luck does come to a man who struggles and believes in himself. On July 28, 2003, I heard about HALO’s need for demobilized soldiers to become deminers. As soon as I heard this, I was so excited about the news and went there to apply. I passed the interview and was sent to the HALO Trust training center at Kdeb Thma three days later. It was a good turning point of my life that I have never forgotten. For me, life has got better. What makes me happy now is that one of my sisters is already married, and they insist that I should find a good lady to marry too.
Regarding my work this week I have been working in Kdeb Thma road 4 minefield, Thma Puok location. In such a dry season, the weather is rather hot, but I’m still happy and find myself so busy clearing mines. So far I have found 16 anti- personnel- mines. They were types 69, PMD6, and PMN.
Before ending my diary, I wish to express my warm regards to all HALO donors, especially AAR/TBS that has supported this demining programme and is interested to learn about my personal life story.
Best wishes,
Kang Thy
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