Yoeun Sam En

I am 43 years old and I am a father, a husband and a rice farmer. I come from Kratie, which is located in the northeast of Cambodia.

I have four children: Three daughters, En Vet (18 years old), En Ya (14 years old), En Yan (13 years old) and one son, En Sok (16 years old). I have been married to my wife, Morn Von, for 18 years.

Decades after the cluster bombs were dropped during the Vietnam War, I was happily supporting my children and living in peace with my family when this cluster munition accident occurred and changed my life completely on 12 April 2004.

As I farmed, I often came across cluster bomb remnants, and removed them so no harm could come to my children as they played in the fields. On that dark day in 2004, I was trying to remove a cluster bomblet from the area when a major explosion occurred. I had wanted to add the fourth bomblet to a hole where three other bomblets where already hidden.

Nobody ever explained to us what we should do with those cluster bomb remnants. In order to be able to still work the rice fields, I had to take care, by myself, to clear the area, as nobody else was taking care of those cluster bomb remnants.

I lost both my eyes and arms. My concern now is how I can feed and care for my children. Now my wife is playing a crucial role to support the entire family. Not only she, but also my two older children had to stop studying and start working in the fields after my accident, since I cannot help them anymore!

What concerns me is that even 30 years after the war, these bombs kill and maim. They took my eyes and my arms, and they continue to destroy the lives of so many other farmers just like me.

I am now in Dublin to obtain a strong treaty, and thanks to my Cambodian friends; I can find my way to meet with delegates and the media. Even though I cannot see them, I still have my voice to tell them: Look at me and stop destroying lives!