LocationsBy Chhunmuoy ATH, Communications Analyst
Ms. Chhuon Heng wears her prosthetic limb at home.
“I lost hope. I wanted to die. But then I thought of my children. What would they do without me? How would they survive? So, I carried on working hard, relying on a walking stick and determined to feed my children,” shared Ms. Chhuon Heng, a 57-year-old mine survivor living in Battambang province.
In 2003, while clearing her farmland, Ms. Heng stepped on a landmine and lost part of her right leg. As a widow and mother of five young children, she struggled to support her family. She could only access a prosthetic leg a year after her accident.
Mrs. Heng’s condition requires regular attention. Since 2021, she has been receiving prosthetic free physiotherapy services and prosthetic leg replacements from the Battambang Physical Rehabilitation Center, supported by UNDP and partners, namely, Australia, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea under the framework of the Clearing for Results Project. In addition to mine clearance and risk education, the project also assists survivors like Ms. Heng to regain mobility and autonomy by providing them with physiotherapy services and prosthetic limbs at the Battambang Physical Rehabilitation Centre.
Ms. Chhuon Heng rides a motorbike with her prosthetic limb to get supplies for her grocery stall.
Ms. Chhuon Heng at her home grocery stall.
Ms. Chhuon Heng practices the mirror therapy technique at the Battambang Physical Rehabilitation Center.
She explained, "With the prosthetic leg, I can ride a motorbike, so I go to buy fish, crabs, and snails to sell. I can go to pick up morning glory and harvest water lilies. Basically, I find ways to do whatever it takes to feed my children."
Beyond regaining mobility, Ms. Heng has also benefited from livelihoods development training and financial support. She used the funds to set up a small grocery stall in front of her house. As she is growing older and given her chronic health challenges, this business has become a vital source of income for supporting her family.
Thirty years after the conflicts, Cambodia remains one of the world's most heavily landmine-contaminated countries, with over 65,000 people reported killed or injured by mines and unexploded ordnance. Since 2006, the Clearing for Results Project supported the clearance and release of over 384 square kilometers of contaminated land for safe use and local development and provided physiotherapy services and prosthetics to 15,379 landmine survivors, including 804 women.
Thanks to victim assistance interventions, survivors like Ms. Heng are rebuilding their lives with dignity and hope.
