The War Legacy

“ I lost my hand and it broke my soul. I survive by fishing and some construction work, but it is hard life with four children. I feel hurt and sad sometimes. But its okay.” Loy Lourn, a landmine survivor said to me.

Cambodia has witnessed three decades of war. The landmines in Cambodia were placed by different governments and factions that clashed during the Civil War in Cambodia in the 1970s and 1980s. They were placed in the whole territory of the country.

There are more than 60,000 landmine and unexploded ordnance casualties from 1979 to the end of 2013 in Cambodia and One-third of the casualties are children. Thousands more have lost their arms, limbs, eyes but they continue to survive and struggle. Some have lost families; some have lost faith in life. Some have accepted their disabilities; some find it hard to express. My work is an attempt to document the survivors of landmines, their emotional & physical relationship with the world around them and with themselves.

Photographs & Text: Rahul Shah