Project Enlighten (P.E.) was developed by two passionate individuals who were inspired by a chance encounter with a young landmine survivor, begging on the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  Originally formed as the Landmine College Fund in 2006, the P.E. Founders recognized the need for a professional non-profit organization to facilitate educational opportunities in Southeast Asia, or wherever the call may come from. In this way, Project Enlighten aims to provide self-sustainable educational and humanitarian assistance to those who need it most.

The Story That Started the Dream

By Olivia Lorge

January 15, 2006

I am amazed by people in this world and commend a man named Akira for the work he is doing. This man is bound for Nobel Peace Prize Nomination.

While traveling this winter, I had the opportunity to visit the Landmines Museum just outside of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. What initially was to be an educational experience became more emotional and home hitting. In 2004 I met Asad, my sweetheart, just after he returned from his first visit to Cambodia (late Dec. 2003). He sat me down and shared with me stories of his time spent there, one story in particular left a lasting impression on me but also more importantly with him. While in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, he'd encountered a group of street kids begging for food and money. If ever you've traveled to Asia you'd know that this is part of the norm, seeing kids on the streets selling stuff and badgering you for money. I'm not just talking about teens either - there are little kids two, three, fours years on up starving or in need of warm clothes or shelter. Well, on this particular trip for Asad in 2003, he had met a lively group of youths, among which was a young boy 13 or 14 years who was missing part of his left leg - a landmine survivor. He didn't have too many words to share- about living on the streets or about what happened to him, but an artist he was. I suppose it was one way he could escape the reality of being homeless and hungry? At any rate, Asad and his friend Reed spent time with the homeless children- feeding them, buying clothing for them etc. The young artist drew a couple pictures of which Asad purchased from him saying, "all fine artwork must be purchased, I cannot accept your artwork for free!" Leaving Cambodia was heartbreaking but Asad promised to return and find the boy…he wanted to know that he was all right. At home, last year as a gift to Asad, I had the picture of the boy artist from Phnom Penh and his artwork framed. Asad had previously kept the drawing and pictures of the boy and his street friends on his refrigerator as a reminder of how thankful we should all be for what we have. The children in the pictures don't have that same simple luxury that we have... to be able to get food with ease whenever we want. The frames sit displayed in our dining room, a constant reminder of how fortunate we are.

FAST FORWARD, Dec 2005
Two years after his first visit to Cambodia, Asad and I returned together. This was my first trip to Asia. I was awestruck by everything I saw. Beautiful places, beautiful people, wonderful experiences. We were in Siem Reap, visiting one of few extraordinary manmade wonders of the world, Angkor Wat and surrounding temples. We decided to spend Christmas there and then we were to go to Phnom Penh and spin our luck on finding the young artist and the other street children Asad had previously met. It was our last day at Angkor Wat and we had planned to visit a somewhat controversial place, The Landmines Museum. We had been told it was a "must see" place by various travelers. It was our last stop before returning to our lodging and packing for our boat trip the following day. We arrived by tuk-tuk (motorbike with passenger cart attached) and were greeting by a young Cambodian girl clad in the old Khmer Rouge uniform- black peasant clothing, a military style hat and a red and white checkered scarf. She was standing under a blue sign that read, in multiple languages, "Welcome to the Landmines Museum." Our tuk-tuk driver (an old friend of Asad's) commented in awe, "...that's the Khmer Rouge soldier uniform, look what she's wearing!" The girl lifted a makeshift stick barrier that had a Cambodian flag attached to it, along with a red and white sign that stated "DANGER! LANDMINES." Passing through the gates - old relics of a war, still fresh in the many hearts, minds and lives of Cambodian people, are everywhere...Landmines, more than I've ever seen in my life. They are hidden in places one would not see- I walk on a few before I even notice them, thank God they've all been made safe by Aki Ra. I begin to see how easy it is to detonate a landmine with out even seeing one. I am sickened BUT even more so when I watch a video on Aki Ra and learn what he went through during the time of the Khmer Rouge. Walking through the landmine exhibit, I am furthermore saddened and even humiliated to learn of the United States role in landmine production and storage AND their lack of involvement on signing treaty which would ban the production and use of landmines. Although the U.S. is not alone in this, they are one of a handful of countries that have continued produced landmines since 2002 (Big surprise- Iraq, China, the Russian zone, India, Burma, Indonesia, Cuba, Egypt, Nepal, Iran, Pakistan, Vietnam and N. and S. Korea are also in this category). Part of the irony, to me anyways, is that a more than a handful of these countries (U.S. included), are not directly affected by landmines UNLESS their soldiers are at war on land that is not their own. In stark comparison, civilians in Cambodia are directly at risk. Over 21,000 people in the surrounding area of Siem Reap alone (not including non documented cases) have been injured, maimed or killed by landmines. A dark part of the world's history continued to be unleashed as I made my way around the museum. Caught up in a world of my own, my thoughts were broken by Asad yelling over "Hey Liv, come here quick, I need you to tell me something- this is him right? The kid?"

I walked over to a section of the museum where they have profiles of the children who live at the Landmines Museum. There are about twenty kids there who have encountered landmines and have been disfigured in some way. Their stories along with a photo are attached to trees and wood posts. I took a look at the second profile - low and behold there was a familiar face, a boy named Chet! The same artist Asad had met in Phnom Penh two years prior! Asad immediately found Hourt, Akira's wife and inquired about the boy in the picture. Hourt is a sweet woman whom all the children there call Mom. In Chet's biography, there was no mention of his artistic ability, so when Asad asked about the boy and his art, "Mom" was moved by Asad's story. She confirmed that Chet was indeed an artist and that two years ago, he had been living on the streets of Phnom Penh. Asad asked to see Chet but to both our disappointment and joy, he was still in class at school a mere ten minutes away! Although we were not able to exchange our boat ticket (for the following day) for another day, Asad and I were able to return to the Museum that evening. It was a beautiful and emotional union for both Chet and Asad as we arrived. I can't explain it any other way, than to say that there was an intense magic like energy fusing the two together, there were tears in both of their eyes. To our amazement, Chet, now sixteen years old - remembered Asad. It seems they left lasting impressions on one another. That evening, Chet drew another picture for us- depicting his story of encountering landmines as a much younger child. He also shared with us that he now legitimately sells his artwork at the Landmines Museum gift shop (the proceeds go to the museum). In Chet, we saw a different, much more happy boy than who was encounter 2 years prior. He now has happiness, hope and a positive future because of Akira and the Landmines Museum. Asad and I have vowed to follow Chet's progression in school. We plan to continue to support Akira and the Landmines Museum in whatever ways we can and to return to Cambodia- to fulfill a new promised to a boy whom has given us inspiration and hope.