Khmerization: Miss Landmine Cambodia 2009 : Mission accomplished

Saturday 2 January 2010

Miss Landmine Cambodia 2009 : Mission accomplished

Dear friends Khmer and far :-)

For reasons of security we have been waiting a while with sharing this information, but we now regard it as safe enough for all parties involved to happily announce that on December 4, Dos Sopheap (19) was crowned Miss Landmine 2009 in a secret ceremony inside Cambodia.

Her half-finished 1st prize titanium leg was fitted and personalized, and will be taken back to Norway for building its exterior before she receives the finished prosthesis later this spring.

Sopheap says the new prosthesis feels like having a new leg again. She also received a cash prize of 1000 USD earmarked her future education as an economist.

On the same trip, director Morten Traavik travelled around Cambodia and managed to meet up with 10 of the Miss Landmine candidates in their home villages. Due to the governmental ban on Miss Landmine and the deteriorating human rights situation in Cambodia, the candidates were not told about our visit in advance and were naturally both surprised and delighted to see us again and to hear about the global attention their stories and pictures have received since we saw each other the last time. They also received a press pack with selected newspaper clippings from the international coverage, and were shown video footage from the Cambodian final-in-exile in Norway on November 14.

All candidates also received a cash prize of 300 USD each for their brave and beautiful contributions to the Miss Landmine project, enabling them to invest in household goods or set up a small business in their home villages.

With this ends this year愀 Miss Landmine.
We thank you all for your support in the bygone year - every vote mattered! -
and wish you a 2010 filled with challenges and rewards.

On behalf of the 20 candidates and the whole team that has made
Miss Landmine 2009 possible,

Morten
www.miss-landmine.org/cambodia
www.facebook.com/freemisslandminecambodia

All photos (c) Rene Solari

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