Taipei, Aug. 20 (CNA) Song Kosal, a Cambodian landmine survivor and youth ambassador of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), is currently on a weeklong visit to Taiwan to attend Republic of China's centennial celebrations and promote the anti-personnel landmine campaign.
Kosal, who lost her right leg at the age of 5 when she trod on a mine, will travel to the outlying island of Kinmen to meet with landmine victims there and join President Ma Ying-jeou in ringing the "peace bell" Aug. 23.
Kinmen, which used to be an anti-communist bastion for Taiwan during the Cold War era, was heavily fortified and liberally seeded with landmines in the 1950s, and some Kinmen residents have fallen victim to the devices, many of which are still there.
A memorial service is held every Aug. 23 to commemorate the Aug. 23 artillery battle of 1958 in which the Chinese communists launched a heavy attack on ROC troops stationed on Kinmen, which lies closer to China's Fujian Province than to Taiwan proper.
As this year marks the ROC centennial, a special "peace bell" ceremony will take place at this year's event. With relations across the Taiwan Strait improving steadily in recent years, Kinmen is being gradually transformed into a new tourist destination.
The 26-year-old Cambodian anti-landmine activist met with local reporters Saturday after arriving a day earlier on the sponsorship of the ROC Centenary Foundation and the Cabinet-level Council for Cultural Affairs.
Kosal, who now walks with the assistance of a single crutch, said she sometimes dreamed that she had two legs again.
"I hope I could run freely in the rice fields, feeling the grass under my toes...I really wish that there would be no more mines in the world," she said with a warm smile.
With the support of the Jesuit Refugee Service, Kosal became active in the Cambodian campaign to ban landmines when she was 12.
After campaigning extensively in Cambodia, she traveled to Vienna, Austria in 1995 and spoke to government officials at the Convention on Conventional Weapons. She was the first person to sign the People's Treaty in Ottawa, Canada, and was present in Oslo, Norway, when the ICBL and Jody Williams were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.
Kosal has taken her message to Spain, Australia, Japan, Canada, United States, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Mozambique, Morocco, Belgium, Switzerland and France. She has met with heads of states and dignitaries around the world including the King of Cambodia, Queen of Spain, Queen of Jordan.
She has given addresses at the Hague Appeal for Peace and many other world meetings to push for landmine ban. She created the Youth Against War Treaty and presented the over 263,000 signatures collected to the Bush administration in 2001 in an effort to influence the U.S. to join the Mine Ban Treaty.
As an ICBL youth ambassador, Kosal represents youth campiagners and survivors at events worldwide. She has succeeded in putting a face to the many lesser-known young landmine survivors around the world.
During her stay in Taiwan, Kosal said she hopes to tour local night markets and sample Taiwanese delicacies as well as visit Taipei 101 tower and the National Palace Museum. (By Chen Ching-fang and Sofia Wu) enditem
Kosal, who lost her right leg at the age of 5 when she trod on a mine, will travel to the outlying island of Kinmen to meet with landmine victims there and join President Ma Ying-jeou in ringing the "peace bell" Aug. 23.
Kinmen, which used to be an anti-communist bastion for Taiwan during the Cold War era, was heavily fortified and liberally seeded with landmines in the 1950s, and some Kinmen residents have fallen victim to the devices, many of which are still there.
A memorial service is held every Aug. 23 to commemorate the Aug. 23 artillery battle of 1958 in which the Chinese communists launched a heavy attack on ROC troops stationed on Kinmen, which lies closer to China's Fujian Province than to Taiwan proper.
As this year marks the ROC centennial, a special "peace bell" ceremony will take place at this year's event. With relations across the Taiwan Strait improving steadily in recent years, Kinmen is being gradually transformed into a new tourist destination.
The 26-year-old Cambodian anti-landmine activist met with local reporters Saturday after arriving a day earlier on the sponsorship of the ROC Centenary Foundation and the Cabinet-level Council for Cultural Affairs.
Kosal, who now walks with the assistance of a single crutch, said she sometimes dreamed that she had two legs again.
"I hope I could run freely in the rice fields, feeling the grass under my toes...I really wish that there would be no more mines in the world," she said with a warm smile.
With the support of the Jesuit Refugee Service, Kosal became active in the Cambodian campaign to ban landmines when she was 12.
After campaigning extensively in Cambodia, she traveled to Vienna, Austria in 1995 and spoke to government officials at the Convention on Conventional Weapons. She was the first person to sign the People's Treaty in Ottawa, Canada, and was present in Oslo, Norway, when the ICBL and Jody Williams were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.
Kosal has taken her message to Spain, Australia, Japan, Canada, United States, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Mozambique, Morocco, Belgium, Switzerland and France. She has met with heads of states and dignitaries around the world including the King of Cambodia, Queen of Spain, Queen of Jordan.
She has given addresses at the Hague Appeal for Peace and many other world meetings to push for landmine ban. She created the Youth Against War Treaty and presented the over 263,000 signatures collected to the Bush administration in 2001 in an effort to influence the U.S. to join the Mine Ban Treaty.
As an ICBL youth ambassador, Kosal represents youth campiagners and survivors at events worldwide. She has succeeded in putting a face to the many lesser-known young landmine survivors around the world.
During her stay in Taiwan, Kosal said she hopes to tour local night markets and sample Taiwanese delicacies as well as visit Taipei 101 tower and the National Palace Museum. (By Chen Ching-fang and Sofia Wu) enditem
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