Support the Miss Landmine Program in Cambodia

[Breathe]

Miss Landmine is an international organization that increases awareness of these weapons of war left behind to destroy lives for decades. It also empowers and celebrates the beauty, both internal and external, of brave women and girls who have been mutilated by landmines. I am not normally keen on "beauty pageants". Most of them celebrate superficial qualities instead of substance. But this pageant is different. It is open to women of all ages and celebrates resilience, courage and strength, beauty from the inside out. It is a pageant that makes us think twice about our concept of physical perfection. Their goal is to replace the word "victim" with "survivor" and to advocate for the rights of the disabled around the world while putting a face on the people who are hurt by landmines.

The first Miss Landmine was held two years ago in Angola. You have only to look at the photos http://miss-landmine.org/ to see the effect it had on the women involved. It also raised awareness of the landmine issue around the globe. The next pageant was scheduled to come up this fall in Cambodia, a country so riddled with landmines that an average of 40 people have been blown apart every week for the last 20 years! But the Cambodian government just put the kibosh on the Miss Landmine pageant. Their government has banned it.

Miss Landmine is going forward by taking their pageant online! I encourage you to vote and express support for these women and for this program. Reading their stories touched me very much! The purpose of this pageant is to advocate for people with disabilities and to make women torn apart by war feel beautiful and to empower them but it is also to educate! When you vote, you get to see the face and read the story of someone who has been directly affected by these weapons of war, weapons that kill indiscriminately -- men, women, children animals, enemies and friends. More than that, with your vote you are helping complete a mission that has been started in Cambodia, one that lifts women's spirits and makes them feel beautiful! You can see it on their faces. Check it out here and vote while you're at it:

http://miss-landmine.org/cambodia/index.php/candidates.html

The Cambodian government released a statement Friday saying that this pageant would damage "the dignity and honor of our disabled." Funny, they haven't cared about their disabled for the last several decades! The Cambodian government has a long history of not caring for their disabled and also of not trying to clean up these landmines! In my opinion, it's a cover-up. One of many from a country that covered up for Pol Pot for decades and that even now incarcerates AIDS patients in unsanitary colonies. But that's another rant for another day.

The Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs for Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation is responsible for this ban. Can you believe it? A branch of government that is supposed to be supportive of people with disabilities!?! I encourage you to write them and respectfully express your support for the Miss Landmine Program and also for the eradication of landmines which hurt farmers and the poor disproportionately. (Several of the participants in this year's pageant are farmers. You can imagine how this has impacted their ability to earn a living.)

I've included an email address below. Be polite. Our letters have an effect and those effects could positively or negatively affect the future of this program and others that highlight the problems of landmines in Cambodia. Just let them know why the program is good for women and disabled people but also let them know the world is watching. It's unlikely they'll change their minds this year but our actions and our intention will echo into the future. Please act.

Here is the contact information: http://tiny.cc/DhNpe
Address #41, Russian Federation Blvd, Phnom Penh
Phone [phone]
Fax [phone]
Email [e-mail]
Homepage www.ocm.gov.kh

Everyone deserves to feel beautiful. After all, everyone IS beautiful! We are all the ever changing sculptures of our creator.

[Name removed]

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