Loeung Los (Banteay Meanchey). Photo: Marco Grob Aki Ra, a 2010 CNN Hero Award Recipient, was drafted into the Khmer Rouge and learned how to shoot a machine gun and lay landmines before his tenth birthday. In 1994, Cambodia entered into a peace agreement led by the United Nations. Aki Ra joined the UN and received the first formal training of his life – to safely remove and dispose of landmines. He vowed to do all he could to improve his country’s circumstance by removing the landmines he once laid. Today, Aki Ra devotes his time to training others to remove landmines. Photo: Marco Grob Sot Tol (Siem Reap). Photo: Marco Grob Oung Chansophal (Banteay Meanchey). Photo: Marco Grob Lonh Chean (Banteay Meanchey). Photo: Marco Grob Pen Narin (Siem Reap). Photo: Marco Grob Tun Channareth (Siem Reap). Photo: Marco Grob Khun Sokhoeun. Photo: Marco Grob Phang Chantrea (Phnom Penh). Photo: Marco Grob Song Kosal, a Youth Ambassador for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. One afternoon, at age six, Song lost her leg in a landmine explosion while she was working in the rice paddies with her mother. She has dedicated her live to creating a world free of landmines. Kosal, now 24, represents youth campaigners and survivors at events worldwide and has succeeded in putting a face to the many lesser-known young landmine survivors around the world. She is an inspiration to us all. Photo: Marco Grob Photo: Marco Grob In October 2011, TIME photographer Marco Grob went to Cambodia to support the work of the United Nations in Cambodia.
