Using Landmines to Save Children's Lives
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- čas přidán 29. 09. 2017
- Edit (12/15/2018): Local corruption has seen the landmine museum being forced to close, and its operators (Akira and his wife) imprisoned. We live in a crazy world.
This is the story of Akira, who has lived a life most of us could never imagine. A child soldier saving children with the very weapons he was forced to use against them. Akira makes life better.
Help him: www.landmine-relief-fund.com/d...
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The music for this video was graciously provided by Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com. It is Creative Commons, and he is no doubt unaware we're using it, but hey. I still think he's great for letting it happen.
incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Thanks for watching! You're clearly one of the good ones.
Thanks to everyone who asked about our Patreon. I'll put out a full video when I get the time, but for those who want to jump the gun and get on board from the start, here's the link: www.patreon.com/rareearth
It means a huge deal that so many have asked us to start an account. I never thought anyone would watch these videos, let alone support them.
Perhaps it would help to send mine removing technology, and the means to care & feed it.
While people can remove mines by hand, I will never forget my grandfathers description of one of soldiers they euthanized, at the field hospital he served in, because the mine went off, but didn't immediately kill him.
The US bought many MRAPs for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Some of these armored machines had a digger tool designed to safely remove mines, and now they are surplus....
I dont trust Bill
Rare Earth From villages send their children to schools, After they get education, What good is that for them if they end up back in the village, Why is that a good thing to promise great thing with education to end up planting and picking rice?
Two days ago of today, Bill Morse created a GoFundMe to save The Landmine Museum.
Go help them out if you can.
Sadly, Akira is in jail today.
That is because he kept the exploitable mines and lately they exploded in that museum (not serious explosion) & this museum license has expired for 4 years already. So the government has sentenced him in jail.
We lose our hero now!!
r u serious?
Is the charity still running?
Well, civically speaking it does make sense that having the mines collected together in a public location can still be dangerous... obviously seeing as that was why they were a problem before.
Not AS dangerous now that they aren't scattered but still dangerous.
Perhaps the government should work with the guy to have these materials gathered up and disposed of legally.
We must do eany thing ! He´s my hero i look him some years... thanks from germany let help huim ??!!
That's terrible, they should be paying him to disarm them safely instead.
Akira is incredible, he's dismantled more mines than he planted, which is incredible when you consider he estimates he personally planted 40,000 of them.
I think Akira should be given a Noble prize for peace.
His effort and dedication are admirable, if not heroic: bringing the injuries by land mines from thousands to within 100 is quite a result.
Also, I like the foolish idea that sanitising the land from explosives kinda closes the circuit that Nobel himself started by inventing dynamite.
Should we start a petition?
Don't forget he spent the money he was given on others despite there being no expectation to and in a country where 1dollar buys a lot more than it does in the US- just a year late reply
I agree he should receive the Nobel piece prize where others like the last us president definitely didn't deserve it.
Yet now he's in jail. Like says the update on the description. I'm devastated.
@@metametodo That description is outdated and misleading.
He was brought in and kept behind bars for questioning when there was a fire at the museum and, according to the Khmer Times (one of the only news sources in English on the topic) there was an explosion; according to Akira (Mr Yang) there was no explosion. Either way, the police charged him with possession of deadly weapons after investigating and started digging into the museum. They noticed he did not have the proper permits/infrastructure to display live ordnance and that on top of that, his business license had expired 5 years before the incident. After the questioning he was shortly released on bail with charges of weapons possession. The weapons charges were dropped on December 27th 2018 and he is now free working at the museum.
By September 24th 2018 (the fire happened in late August 2018), he was free and by December, NGOs and government entities helped the museum get normalized (administratively and infrastructure wise) and the museum is now open again since December 27th 2018 (grant you, there was a back and forth but it still opened).
So yeah, he is not still in prison (and was quickly released on bail) and when he was it was not due to corrupt police/government. Let alone the fact that by the date of the update (December 15th 2018) he was already out on bail. His wife was never in a cell, it was him and two of his associates.
Sources:
www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mine-museum-boss-free-bail
www.phnompenhpost.com/national/court-drops-cnn-heros-illegal-weapons-charges
www.khmertimeskh.com/529283/akira-museum-owners-explosive-charge/
www.khmertimeskh.com/50563282/court-sanctions-museum-reopening/
Don't believe people on the internet; no matter how informative they may seem. Always check the information people claim they know, especially when it is not sourced. If it is sourced; check the sources to make sure the information relayed to you by the person is coherent with the sources (looking at Stephan Molyneux et al...).
@@SovietButcher Thanks for the follow up. I wasn't as strict with info as I should.
My uncle (Bill Morse) and aunt discovered Akira on a trip to Cambodia one year, and realized they needed to help. Now everyone works and lives over there, training teams to learn how to find land mines and disarm them.
I just sent this link to my entire family, and this is a wonderful video. I’m the only one that hasn’t flown out there yet. Akira is absolutely amazing!
Bill was a treasure. He's a true representative for the good of this world. All my best to him and the family.
that dude in the interview sounds legit, normally with this sort of thing i have this constant creeping sense of something being wrong, but this i can get behind. they clear dangerous shit out of the ground, they encourage villages to build schools and -then- keep them going, and they provide homes and clear tracks to university. doesnt seem like a setup that they would allow to be exploited. that dude is hecking cool, i wish i could tell him that
Many similar charities across Asia use human trafficking to raise funds and exploit victims. its hard to verify the legitimacy of such agencies. But yea this guy does seem legit.
@@TimTams_64 Hi, do you have a source for the claim of human trafficking?
@@reginatang9310 Mostly happens in Cambodia with orphanages, just Google child trafficking in Asia.
"This is not a technology problem, it's a commitment problem." Rings so true in so many aspects of the world today. No, there's not an app for it, ya gotta commit and do the thing, physically more so then talking about it or waiting for something else to fix things.
There's probably an app for it, still tho, if you don't use it there's no point, so commitment will still be a problem regardless of how technologically advanced we become.
hear hear, nicely said.
You and you alone are the source of change. This was a hard lesson for me to learn, and I am still figuring out how to implement it.
Well, it is an ongoing discussion. It certainly isn't wrong to start, but at some point individual action is pointless. Like in this case it took other people to jump on board to make this something more than one person's katharsis. Communities are formed to take over that postion. If just one person does it, it is about as much worth as nobody doing it.
Herr Schmidt I strongly disagree. Akira cleared thousands of mines by himself, and his example inspired people from around the world to do the same.
Individual action is incredibly valuable, probably the best way to get things done. Communities usually follow a trailblazing individual who took it upon themselves to make a change. Don't overlook the single dedicated person. They are powerful.
So he wears an "Akira" anime T-shirt. Haha.
This is such a good story to hear. I come from a family which three generations ago, were slaughtered by the Japanese empire. I didn't know a lot about my family not because no one wanted to keep it a secret but because most were killed or too young to remember. My Great uncle lost his eye and some of his hand when he went out to the jungle as a child, this was because of a land mine left by Japan. I always knew that some areas with heavy conflict in my home land were riddled with them, but I never knew that Cambodia had is far worse. I am thankful I live in areas where that never could happen, but I feel that Aki Ra has done so much to try to fix the problem that most people (including me) will never really have to think about.
When I was in Canadian Combat Engineers, I knew Canadian Combat Engineers who were seconded to the United Nations to clear landmines in South East Asia, and like Evan says, it's an extremely dangerous job, not only people, but for the elephants and water buffaloes too.
This is, by far, my favorite YT channel. You guys should have millions of subs, the content is just amazing.
Thank you for making this! I was in Cambodia last year and was humbled by this museum and the story it tells. Amazing work by Aki Ra and Bill Morse, that deserve investment from those who are attracted to Siem Reap mostly by the Angkor ruins. Cambodia has been through very dark times recently, and this museum is one of the symbols of how Cambodians are recovering towards a brighter future.
I spent some time in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola in 2002 and 2003 during the Second Congo War and I've seen what landmines do to a body firsthand. It's not something that I ever care to think about, but it's important not to forget. I worked with a wonderful, drastically underfunded, now defunct charity that provided medical aid, famine relief and nutritional education, and any kind of education that our small bunch of volunteers could organize. There were always more victims than we had beds, supplies, or medical staff.
I think that what this museum is doing is wonderful and I will gladly donate to its cause.
Unfortunately, the museum has since been shut down and its founders imprisoned. A local general runs his own war museum in Siem Reap, and didn't like the competition.
@@RareEarthSeries That's... really messed up and disheartening. I came to this video a little late, I guess. I just recently discovered this channel. Fabulous content, by the way.
I love this stuff, it’s like Tom scott, but more in-depth.
Thomas Darch And more emotional/cultural rather than technical/historical. I quite like this channel as well :3
It's my replacement for Through the Wormhole.. Used to love that show.
I'm so glad youre making these videos about cambodia. I went there a couple years ago with my catholic highschool to build houses and the touristy atmosphere of the trip always disconcerted me. It was very hard to find any videos on youtube about cambodia and its history online, save a few low resolution documentaries. I hope to go back to cambodia once I finish my social work degree and these videos do wonders for really learning about cambodia in a way I wasnt able to when I was there. You really deserve more views and I wish this channel success.
He has done the right thing, it's so easy to say .. I can't even imagine what courage, love for his people and sense of justice have this man
Collegehumor gets ads for EVERY SINGLE video I watch of theirs but channels like this I feel probably do not get revenue they deserve. Thank you for the great content you always provide
Fear causes much hate in this world.
Fear causes hate, hates causes anger, and anger leads to the dark side.
Rusty Who'd a thunk it. Starwars, teaching lessons since '77.
It's wonderful that he's bringing attention to these places and peoples. Economy of attention means we need to be reminded of these things. There is good in the world to fight the bad if we only help it. Keep on keeping on Mr. Hadfield, and thanks for your work.
Another great video and this story is very touching
malika nuur +
Rare Earth
I've watched every video that's been released in the Rare Earth series so far, and I've heard you refer to yourself and this series multiple times as not a real interviewer, not a documentary that's 'up to snuff'.
You couldn't be more wrong. What's being done with this, the whole Rare Earth series, is nothing short of amazing. This is beautiful, clever, intriguing, heartwrenching and heartwarming all at the same time. You are doing work that NEEDS to be done.
Thank you, for all of your work, and for doing this, for the whole human race.
What they need more then anything funds to buy a flail tank. That would increase mine removal by an order of magnitude. When looking to farm new land it would be especially helpful, as the land would be tilled as the mines are removed.
More widely, guaranteed safe pathways can be dug all over the place quickly.
Elder Millennial problem is, ya cant take a flail tank into a forest. Way too many trees, the chains would twist and tangle around the trees, and would wreck the vehicle. For creating safe farmland, yes, a flail tank is fairly ideal and i’m sure they have them. Also, the government might not want a foreign entity bringing in a tank.
The CookieMeister you can label tracked vehicles with “farm equipment” and as long as there isn’t a giant cannon on it it should be fine
Modified bulldozers would work in forested areas. They're also cheaper than specifically designed flail tanks.
The Iron harvest in france still kills people every year. Outside farms you'll see 2 meter tall piles of unexploded ordnance waiting for the police to come by for a MONTHLY pick up. These are fields which have been tilled for a century and still produce tons of UXO.
In all honesty, a person on the ground will be required no matter how good of a mine clearing vehicle you have.
alot of the areas where mines are in Cambodia are not suited well to ANY heavy vehicle. Either tons of trees or ground that you sink in. Its not like clearing stuff from a field in Europe :/
Rare Earth > Vox Borders
Rare Earth > Every Other Channel on CZcams
Cornhub > Rare earth
Vox Political Videos < Anything else
Agree.
Thanks for making these videos. It inspired me to donate to the charity listed. I am looking forward to seeing where you go next.
This is such a excellent interview and explanation about Akira and what happened to him. Everything in the interview was so well documented and filmed! I will definately be using your interview to talk to my kids about uxo's and the effects of war on a country or region.
That hit right in the feels. Thank you for showing us the numerous good people there are on Earth instead of partaking in the media's fear-mongering campaign. Each video like that one is an additional nugget of hope and truly shows us how we can participate.
I don't think that's the right Akira on your shirt there.....
Thank you man for telling stories like this one. I really hope this is gonna get more views. I love the format as well, not too short, not too long, a little interview with segments of you walking in the lands you are talking about. Perfect.
I was in Cambodia and at the landmine museum just over a year ago. Bill Morse explained the challenge of locating the mines in jungle that has grown up around it. As Evan said, metal detectors are useless, it needs to be done by hand and even bomb disposal gear that has been donated for volunteers is too heavy and hot to be worn in the jungle. It is literally a job of crawling inch by inch to locate them. Incredible story about an incredible man and an inspiring cause. Rare Earth is a rare gift! Keep up the great work!
Akira for Nobel's Peace Price!
I feel as if he is one of the unsung heroes that are just now getting recognized.
Beautiful as always, thank you Evan and Francesco.
"Landmines might be a prison, but there are ways we can reduce that sentence" Damn, I love how poetic you are.
Hey dude, I love this show, I'm so glad you decided to make it. Thank you so much.
I love this show so much, awesome production with REAL stories about things you'd never know unless you live there. Love the vids, way underrated keep them up!!!
At the moment, this is the most interesting and informative as well as educational channel on youtube. Thank you so much for your work.
Land mine injuries and deaths are some of the most horrific and brutal anyone can ever be subjected too, Thank GOD these guys are doing so much.
I love your Akira T-shirt. Very appropriate, in a weird way ;)
I actually started applauding when the video was over. This is so good!
Truly inspiring and beautiful, one man to stand against this injustice, and so much will walk with him.
I'm so glad you guys are making this series.
I really like this series! It is wonderful to find out these things. I have never found this info from any studybook, but this gives so much insight and understanding to the countries, and the world. Thank you for helping me understand the world around me! Love you all, keep up the good work! :)
I did a trip to Cambodia in 2018 through girl guiding, it’s one of the most fantastic trips I’ve ever done and I came home telling Akira’s story and the story of the landmine issues in Cambodia. The work the museum does is incredible and I really really want to go back again and do volunteering for the area again.
My family visited cambodia when I was about 3 or 4 years old... this museum was one of my first clear memories...
You were there about the same time I was. So bittersweet but inspiring. So sad about his wife also.
Thank you for sharing a story like this! And for him, this is really great!
Rare Earth you rock!
Coolest thing, saddest thing, realest thing. Big thanks 🙏🏻
I LOVE that T-shirt!
was about to say the same thing
Especially since the name of the guy he's talking about is Aki Ra.
Maybe a souvenir from his time in Japan?
TETSUO! KANEDA!
T E T S U O
I want to cry every video.
So well done
This is eye opening and very optimistic! Very refreshing thank you!
This is probably the best Rare Earth video so far.
This is a great series, and I really think you're settling into your own presentation style Evan!
I see you guys have come back to the old fashion. Let’s not call it signature, as you said; still this style makes your documentaries more enjoyable. The spectator feels being involved and part of the action, so I am happy about this choice. Compliments for the job you are doing, cause it’s great. I will follow up next updates.
im pretty new to this channel, as in, i havent watched many videos in total, but his way of presenting things here gives insight without forcing sympathy or drama or anything, it just allows the viewer to see what is there and feel involved. it's kind of strange since its less about what it does, than what it doesn't, but it's great and im happy its here
This is really cool to me because I've been to the museum, and I've met Bill. Good to hear that the word about it is being spread!
When I was little I lived in Colombia, and I knew there were minefields out in the mountains and the rainforests from the decades of fighting between FARC insurgents and the Colombian government. Fortunately, growing up in Bogota meant I was always pretty far away from the mined areas, and while I was too young to know the extent of the mining and about the psychological impact you talked about, I did hear quite a few stories from relatives about poor farmers maimed by landmines.
Favorite CZcams series atm. Keep up the good work!
Very good, thanks Rare Earth
This is one of my favourite youtube chanels.
This series is amazing!
This is my new favourite channel
Perfect topic for a video, Evan. I visited Aki Ra's place in 2005 - glad to see it's still going strong. Was humbling to walk about amongst 30-40 kids, all missing one or more limbs, but all playing soccer together. Shame Aki Ra didn't make it into the video - I trust he is well.
Evan thank you so much for your work. I really am sorry that I don't have the right and best words to say. But I'm deeply grateful, you're a very good person.
I really don't know when was the last time 10 minutes of video made me cry so much. The devastating part was when I checked the description. I have no words to express what I'm feeling right now.
What an incredible person that Akira guy is.
This one quite got me. Great work guys.
You guys are great communicators.
Faith in humanity restored! Amazing guys!!
The owners of the museum have been imprisoned for their activities.
DUDE, that Akira Shirt. Mad props bro, old school.
yet another really well made and informative video. thank you for your hard work
I still believe that you deserve more views. Keep up the good work
you have great taste of t-shirts ... but this one is my absolute favourite ! (also this video is great and amazing ... ) thank you for making this quality content an i hope your audience will be much bigger in time because this series is awesome ..
Thank you for the video, I am learning a lot about things I never knew I needed to know!
You're a true champ for rocking the Akira shirt
No mines in Europe he says...
Bosnia & Herzegovina
This is a good series.
Something I sometimes forget is that every victim of war, famine, and poverty gets a life taken away from them, a life where they could really benefit themselves and those around them, a life of fulfillment. For every Mozart, Bill Gates and successful person with a career, there is another who is left to the dogs despite having the same talent and motivation. I commend Akira and everyone who give these children a future, and by doing so give the country and the world a future. I hope I can do but a fraction of the good they have done in my lifetime.
It is inconceivable that anyone would ever place a land mine anywhere
awesome story thanks for making this. Merry Christmas to you and yours from PEI Canada, Bryan.
AKIRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!people will share there prays with u in future!!!!!!!! And he is the true Saint! Bill and his wife just were lucky enough to find a job they like doing!
What a great story, Love your video man
I love this series
Yet another great video
They last longer in the earth than someone's memory. In fact, most of the people forget where they put them!
Great episode!
A real redemption story.
Hey that AKIRA t-shirt though. ... one of the most amazing anime I've ever seen
This needs more views
Strange that Akira was not interviewed or the reason behind that is not even mentioned. I thought he was dead, but checked later, he is still working.
I may not have grown up around minefields. But I dodged a lot of rattlesnakes and copperheads in my youth. Sometimes by inches. It's not quite the same thing... It just gives a *hint* of how stressful and dangerous life is in recent warzones.
Great explanation of a horrendous problem. Too bad it is never spoken of in American schools.
Been to Cambodia many times and consider Akira and Bill and Jill Morse my heroes and friends. Folks like this give me hope!
Been working on a robot to locate and detonate mines, hope to present it to Akira within a year.
Great video and end credits.
There are still some areas in the West that are heavily mined, but they are of course fewer than in Cambodia.
There is a national park in Germany that is still heavily mined from WWII and that is exactly the reason why it is a national park. It was deemed to be to expensive and dangerous to clear the mines, so it was just turned into a nature reserve.
Unlike the Khmer Rouge, the Wehrmacht did actually record where they mined, but in the first years after the war, there were no resources to demine said region and by now, the mines have shifted position in the ground. And they used mines with wooden housing, so metal detectors are useless.
I like true stories with a happy end.
This is amazing
Another great video
Akira prevented so many deaths in Cambodia without the government’s help, yet they wanna shut him down because it’s too dangerous? So much help from the govt then... Buddha bless Akira!
That akira t shirt is simply fabulous!
Hell yeah i hoped you would make a video about Akira.
(Nice Akira shirt btw.)
I'm saddened to hear that they were imprisoned and their museum closed. :(
Me and my family drove through a land that had been a war zone just recently. My mom had to "do her business" and walked into the bushes. When we went back the same road they had put up a sign that said "warning- landmines". So happy nothing happened....
Ah, hence the Akira t shirt. Plus, it's poetically fitting that Akira closes with one of the most famous explosion sequences in anime.